Facebook COO Teams With Celebrities to " Ban Bossy"

by: April D. Byrd

A hot topic in the news this week has been Facebook Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg's campaign to Ban the word "Bossy" as it relates to womyn, from the American dialect. As noted in her book Lean In, a success guide geared toward career womyn, she grew up being called bossy a lot. Sandberg says the term hinders girls from pursuing leadership roles.

"We call girls bossy on the playground," "We call them too aggressive or other B-words in the workplace. They're bossy as little girls, and then they're aggressive, political, shrill, too ambitious as women." 

          -Sandberg told ABC News.


The Ban Bossy Campaign launched with the support of former Secretary Of State Condoleeza Rice and Girls Scouts USA CEO Anna Maria Chávez, Including a video with celebrity cameos from Actress Jennifer Garner, Beyonce', and others. The banbossy.com website gives tips to parents, kids, teachers, etc. on how to encourage young female leaders.

Some speculators and critics are pointing out a problem with "ban bossy". Correspondents from media outlets like CNN, New York Magazine, and Time Magazine suggested that Sandberg should have dug deeper or taken a different approach. Some womyn say the word is not nearly as harmful  as other B-words or slurs used toward  womyn. Perhaps Sandberg chose to keep it light because she also serves as a Director of The Walt Disney Co.

Although Sandberg herself concedes that true change is not as simple as banning one word, She is adamant about the cause:

"This is a word that is symbolic of systemic discouragement of girls to lead. We are not just talking about getting rid of a word, even though we want to get rid of a word," she said. "We're talking about getting rid of the negative messages that hold our daughters back."

Check out the official Video for the #BanBossy Campaign (below):




What are your thoughts about "Ban Bossy" initiative? and disregarding the star power, does anyone else find it totally cool that the CEO of Girl Scouts USA is a woman of color?! Love It!  Leave a comment below and follow the conversation on Trey Anthony's Fan Page.