Should we stop calling our daughters 'bossy'?
Stars such as Beyoncé and Jennifer Garner are campaigning to ban the word 'bossy' to describe little girls who are assertive.
A-list celebs like Beyoncé and Jennifer Garner have joined a new campaign formed to encourage ambitious girls to be taken more seriously as the boss, rather than being branded as 'bossy'.
The campaign, launched by LeanIn.org, the charity founded by Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg to encourage women to acheive their ambitions, and Girl Scouts of the USA, features a promotional video starring celebs like Beyoncé, Jennifer Garner and designer Diane von Fürstenberg, who all argue that when a little boy asserts himself, he's called a leader, whereas when a little girl does the same, she's labelled bossy.
The stars argue that we should stop discouraging leadership in young girls and instead teach them the importance of asserting their authority and achieving their dreams, with Beyoncé stating: 'I'm not bossy. I'm the boss.'
Some critics have called the campaign ridiculous for trying to ban children from using a word that isn't necessarily derogatory, and that banning it may have the very opposite effect of making the word appear to be a bad thing.
Others have highlighted the bossiness of the campaign itself. There have been hundreds of tweets on the debate, with one person writing: 'Banning #Bossy is, well, bossy.'
- @AmyVernon, 12 March 2014
Another tweeted: 'Hey ladies, want to be taken seriously? Step #1 Dont call for a ban on words. #Bossy&Proud' - @ms_debsmith, 10 March 2014
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Watch the video below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dynbzMlCcw
What do you think? In theory a campaign that champions equality should be supported, but is banning a word the way to do it? Is it really going to hurt our daughters to call them bossy? Let us know in a comment below or join in the discussion on Facebook.
Where to next?
- 'I don't want my girls to worry about who they're marrying or how they're going to climb up a social ladder' - read the interview with Myleene Klass
- How the month your baby's born affects their life
- Breastfeeding mum hits back after being called a 'tramp'
Gemma Chandler is a lifestyle writer specialising in kids' educational media across a range of topics including nature, history, science and geography across digital, print, social media and video channels. She joined Creature & Co. at 2015, shortly becoming Digital Editor of National Geographic Kids magazine.
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