According to a little side bit in the current issue of "Parents", Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook, is launching a campaign to stop the word "bossy' from our vocabulary when talking about a strong woman. She does not want her daughter or yours to be called this and has created a PSA campaign as well as working with the Girl Scouts of America to spread this message.
On one hand, I can see the idea, and then I just see one more word that we can't say. This is one more item in a long list of things that are being foist upon us as others decide that we need to become something more, or less depending on how you look at it. In another thread, I mentioned the movement in Sweden to become a gender neutral society, as a way to end labels.
Labels have become more prolific in our society as of late, as we feel the need to refine, redefine and quantify every type of disability, disease, disorder and what ever comes down the pike because we have to realize that those with special needs need special attention and help. O.K. fine, I get that. But what I don't get, is how a simple word can be seen as such a bad thing.
We have seen a shift if words moving away from their intended meanings and being bastardized into a whole new meaning, often being a negative one. Queer for example, was something odd, strange or unusual. Gay meant very happy and was even a woman's name. Somehow, these became associated with the homosexual community, who has worked hard to make those words a positive.
So, why is the word "bossy" so bad? I have been told I'm bossy all my life,from a young age. It's who I am. I like being in charge. So why is that a bad thing? For years, I have said my personal theme song is "The B**** is Back" by Elton John, and more recently I have added "B****" by Meredith Brooks as my other personal theme song. Why? Because I am one. All women are. We embrace that part of ourselves as a general whole and why shouldn't we?
PMS aside, we all need to stand up for ourselves and sometimes that means we will be labeled. Is it right? Not really, but that is the point. We need to OWN that label, and not try to do away with it. We need to take back the words to their original meanings and stop letting them be so easily morphed into something their not.
So, I am bossy, a bossy boots, a diva, a princess, a drama queen, a pain in the hind end, difficult, a card carrying b****, because buddy, if you are calling me that, then I have done my job. I got to you. I challenged your way of thinking.
It is a shame that women who stand up for themselves and others, who demonstrate any kind of leadership,or who act "like a man" are labeled this way. It is wrong, but again, removing the word just ads to the mystique, the power,feeds the negativity of it instead of changing the meaning. We need to take back words to their meanings, and not let the naysayers win.
So, I am standing up for myself, and if that makes me a fat bossy b****, then yay for me!
On one hand, I can see the idea, and then I just see one more word that we can't say. This is one more item in a long list of things that are being foist upon us as others decide that we need to become something more, or less depending on how you look at it. In another thread, I mentioned the movement in Sweden to become a gender neutral society, as a way to end labels.
Labels have become more prolific in our society as of late, as we feel the need to refine, redefine and quantify every type of disability, disease, disorder and what ever comes down the pike because we have to realize that those with special needs need special attention and help. O.K. fine, I get that. But what I don't get, is how a simple word can be seen as such a bad thing.
We have seen a shift if words moving away from their intended meanings and being bastardized into a whole new meaning, often being a negative one. Queer for example, was something odd, strange or unusual. Gay meant very happy and was even a woman's name. Somehow, these became associated with the homosexual community, who has worked hard to make those words a positive.
So, why is the word "bossy" so bad? I have been told I'm bossy all my life,from a young age. It's who I am. I like being in charge. So why is that a bad thing? For years, I have said my personal theme song is "The B**** is Back" by Elton John, and more recently I have added "B****" by Meredith Brooks as my other personal theme song. Why? Because I am one. All women are. We embrace that part of ourselves as a general whole and why shouldn't we?
PMS aside, we all need to stand up for ourselves and sometimes that means we will be labeled. Is it right? Not really, but that is the point. We need to OWN that label, and not try to do away with it. We need to take back the words to their original meanings and stop letting them be so easily morphed into something their not.
So, I am bossy, a bossy boots, a diva, a princess, a drama queen, a pain in the hind end, difficult, a card carrying b****, because buddy, if you are calling me that, then I have done my job. I got to you. I challenged your way of thinking.
It is a shame that women who stand up for themselves and others, who demonstrate any kind of leadership,or who act "like a man" are labeled this way. It is wrong, but again, removing the word just ads to the mystique, the power,feeds the negativity of it instead of changing the meaning. We need to take back words to their meanings, and not let the naysayers win.
So, I am standing up for myself, and if that makes me a fat bossy b****, then yay for me!