Celebs Like Beyonce Move to Ban the Word "Bossy"

   By SheSpeaksTeam  Mar 10, 2014

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Ever notice how little girls often get labeled “bossy” whereas little boys just “know what they want”? The folks over at BanBossy.com have taken notice and want to put an end to the way we discourage young girls to be assertive.

Partners from Girls Scouts of the USA and LeanIn.Org have joined forces to get their #BanBossy campaign out there and have even received help from big names like Beyonce, Jennifer Garner and Jane Lynch. These celebrities have put together a Lifetime PSA with the message to ban the word bossy when describing girls and women.

In the PSA the celebs are joined by other notable women like Condoleeza Rice and Sheryl Sandberg who send the message that words like bossy, pushy, and stubborn are all derogatory words often used to describe an ambitious assertive women. Sheryl Sandberg admits she was called bossy as a child and Jane Lynch points out that the word bossy can be a “squasher” when it comes to a young woman’s ambitions.

According to the #BanBossy website these types of negative words discourage young girls from raising their hand in class or speaking up and by middle school young women are less interested in leadership positions than boys. The site also points out that, “Between elementary and high school, girls’ self-esteem drops 3.5 times more than boys’.”

In order to make sure our daughters reach their full potential we have to encourage them to assert themselves and not be afraid to speak up rather than attach labels like”bossy”. In the words of Beyonce, “I’m not bossy. I’m the boss.”

What do you think of the #BanBossy campaign?

Do you think words like bossy, pushy and stubborn are used too often to describe women who are simply asserting themselves?