Well, the Lean In Girl Scouts along with Sheryl Sandberg, chief operating officer of Facebook, have enlisted the likes of Beyoncé, Jennifer Garner, Arne Duncan, Condoleezza Rice among other prominent figures to encourage people to stop labeling girls as “bossy.”
Here’s their argument:
“When a little boy asserts himself, he’s called a “leader.” Yet when a little girl does the same, she risks being branded “bossy.” Words like bossy send a message: don’t raise your hand or speak up. By middle school, girls are less interested in leading than boys—a trend that continues into adulthood. Together we can encourage girls to lead. “
This ranks as one of the silliest and retrogressive movements I’ve encountered in quite awhile.
We would be doing girls a disservice by banning the word “bossy.” We constantly encourage them to be confident, outspoken, resilient but wait, let’s shield them from criticism.
Rather, we should embrace the word “bossy.” Criticism builds character and encourages girls to pursue their goals with the same unabashed confidence as their male counterparts. “Bossy” girls run the world because they grow up to be COO’s of multi-billion dollar companies, like you, Sandberg.
Let’s relax a bit, Sandberg, and extinguish that feminist torch of yours, at least for a little awhile.
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