The Ban Bossy campaign in theory is a great stride for equality, but what I have come to realize after researching Sandberg’s standpoint is that there are other aspects of feminism which this campaign may be overstepping. This being said, I do not agree that bossy is going to halt a woman’s or a young girl’s qualities of leadership and assertiveness; it may just quell a situation in which one individual is asserting their own beliefs and opinions on others in a dominant way. My challenge to Sandberg’s campaign is my disagreement that the word bossy is not as spiteful and upsetting as it as being portrayed, and that drawing attention to this word may be causing more problems than it is fixing.
To fully understand this dispute it is helpful to see Ban Bossy’s argument firsthand and this argument is as follows:
1. Women ought to have equal treatment/opportunities
2. Females who assert themselves and assume leadership roles are labeled bossy.
3. Bossy is a term used most often to describe a female
4. Bossy is demeaning and bars women from fulfilling their true leadership potential.
5. Therefore, we ought to ban the word bossy to allow women to achieve their true potential
This argument is valid but not even close to being sound. Yes I agree that if these premises were true that we would need to seriously contemplate banning this word for the sake of women everywhere. The fact is that these are not sound premises and that is where we run into problems.
Clearly premise one is undeniably true, premises two and three are also true to an extent. I say to an extant due to premise two. This is because bossy describes someone who is forcing rules, opinions, or actions onto someone else. A loose interpretation of the word could determine t...
... middle of paper ...
...women-in-leadership/2014/mar/17/sheryl-sandbergs-ban-bossy-campaign-shows-we-still-dont-think-of-women-as-leaders>.
Robyn Urback. “Ban bossy campaign aims to outlaw debilitating word, but women don’t need the protection." National Post Full Comment Robyn Urback Ban bossy campaign aims to outlaw debilitating word but women dont need theprotection Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2014. .
Friedman, Ann. "The Problem With Sheryl Sandberg's 'Ban Bossy' Campaign." The Cut. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Mar. 2014. .
Sandberg, Sheryl. "Ban Bossy. Encourage Girls to Lead." Ban Bossy. Encourage Girls to
Lead. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Mar. 2014. <http://banbossy.com/#>.
Deborah Tannen brings up the issue of how women are often labeled bossy when is positions of authority in her article. ““Bossy” Is More Than a Word to Women”. She explains the everyday struggle that these women go through and the on going patriarchy in the work force. From their diction down to minute ways that women present themselves it seems that they are scrutinized in every way possible. Deborah faces these issues head on with a woman’s perspective allowing those unaware and men a small glimpse into the difficult life of women everywhere. She falls a little short on some of her theories for why this may be because of the lack of research. Besides that it is a very passionate and informative article because these issues continue to happen, whether or not she is correct about the source of these issues. Deborah makes sure to have her points come across clearly by using buzz words, writing with a passionate tone, and falls short with some of her theories by having insignificant research.
In The 7 Worst Stereotypes Professional Women Face the author briefly touches on the key stereotypes mentioned in the book Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg. An important idea in the book is that girls who exude leadership qualities are oftentimes called bossy, while boys who present the same qualities are praised. The first example given is that women are expected to quit working once they have children. Women sometimes are not selected for positions due to employers not wanting their training to go to waste. The second stereotype pertains to women being the primary caregivers in the family. This idea can also affect men in that they are not given the “flexibility that would allow them to help their wives.” Third on the list is women being “judged more harshly when voicing their opinions.” In this example, women that are confident in themselves can experience backlash from the public, such as being called inappropriate names and being viewed as someone is self-centered. The fourth example is the idea that women excel in areas that
In the American society, we constantly hear people make sure they say that a chief executive officer, a racecar driver, or an astronaut is female when they are so because that is not deemed as stereotypically standard. Sheryl Sandberg is the, dare I say it, female chief operating officer of Facebook while Mark Zuckerberg is the chief executive officer. Notice that the word “female” sounds much more natural in front of an executive position, but you would typically not add male in front of an executive position because it is just implied. The fact that most of America and the world makes this distinction shows that there are too few women leaders. In Sheryl Sandberg’s book “Lean In,” she explains why that is and what can be done to change that by discussing women, work, and the will to lead.
Sexism is a highly talked about issue read about online, seen in the news, and experienced in the day to day lives of many. The importance of this issue can be found in many writings. Authors such as Sandra Cisneros, Linda Hasselstrom, and Judy Brady have all discussed the topic of sexism in writings and how they affected their lives. Although each writer addresses the issue of sexism, each author confronts a different type of sexism; the kind we are born into, the kind we learn growing up, and the kind that is accepted by society at the end of the day.
In today’s technological society it is hard to imagine that trivial things from the past like discrimination or prejudice are still present, but they are. Yes we still have racism, but for the most part this is only a problem of the less educated and vocal minority. There is a different prejudice that is deep rooted in this land of freedom and prosperity. This prejudice is sexism.
...rms of power and source of pride in society. Emphasizing sexism in language and rising the concern with words can be a vital feminist strategy to provoke social change (Weatherall, 2002). Language can produce a false imagination and represents women and men unequally, as if members of one sex were somehow less wholly human, less complex, and has fewer rights than members of the other sex. Sexist language also characterizes serotypes of women and men, sometimes to the disadvantage of both, but more often to the disadvantage of women. (Wareing & Thomas, 2012). As a result, it is necessary that individuals have the right to define, and to redefine as their lives unfold, their own gender identities, without regard to genitalia, assigned birth sex, or initial gender role. Language about women is not a nonaligned or an insignificant issue but profoundly a political one.
3. Sandberg, Sheryl, and Anna Mana Chares. "Sheryl Sandberg and Anna Mana Chares on 'BOSSY', the Other B-Word." SIRS Issues Reader. Wall Street Journal Online, 8 Mar. 2014. Web. 20 Mar. 2014. .
In her 2013 article featured on The Feminist Wire, “Dig Deeper: Beyond Lean In” bell hook describes “the feminist movement based on women gaining equal rights with men” (661). This essay is a response to Sheryl Sandberg’s book “Lean In: What Would You Do If You Weren’t Afraid?” which encourages women to aim for positions of leadership and power. Sandberg’s definition of a feminism is gender equality with an existing social system. Hook contrasts Sandberg’s definition of feminism and makes it her own “one that does not conjure up a battle between the sexes” (662). Since men and women are both greatly influenced by sexist social norms and ideals, it is important
The aim of Bell Hook’s article is to show the bias that is inherent in Madam Sandberg’s piece. For instance, she points out the fact that Sheryl is not only a wealthy white woman but that she is a billionaire and COO at Facebook. Consequently, although some people may consider Sandberg’s views to be groundbreaking, a close analysis of her text reveals
... that occurs by men upon women is neither stopped nor prevented because our society has yet to decide whether it is within gender roles for a man to act this way or whether this violence must be changed. In society today, violence is accepted by some people, as a way to maintain control, which is why men still believe that sexism is the right way to act like the ideal man.
The issue of misogyny has been a problem for decades. Cornell University and the advocacy group “Hollaback!” directed an international survey and found 90% of women in the U.K. first experienced misogyny when they were younger than 17. This means that misogynistic approaches were directed towards children: young girls.
Until recently, I was like a great number of people in today’s society who are afraid of being called a “feminist,” as if this were the same as being branded a witch in the 17th century Salem. Feminism is a word that everyone has heard of, but to most, it carries a disagreeable connotation. It brings up images of burning bras, the hatred of men and angry, overly passionate, bossy women who want to bring down the patriarchy. In short, feminist has become a “bad word,” viewed as something you do not want to be for fear of losing friends and relationships; but I would assert the only bad word in 2015 is not “feminism,” but rather “meninism,” the counter to the women’s rights movement. This is a topic that can no longer be ignored and shoved aside for being
This is particularly palpable in the phenomenon of gender roles. “Oversimplified conceptions pertaining to our behavior as females or males,” gender roles boil down our gender and anatomical performance into categories of “boy” or “girl” (Basow 3). Patriarchy then builds systemic inequality off this simplistic binary foundation, attaching “male” to spheres of power and “female” to spheres of powerlessness. Gender roles are one of many patriarchal infrastructures that thrive off a concrete definition of gender and/or sex, and so modern feminism has found power in dismantling both constructions.
Since men and women work closely in the workplace today, there are many complaints addressing the differences in the genders. Simma Lieberman addresses these differences in her article, “Better Communication Between Men and Women in the Workplace: Some Useful Tips”. Men tend to think that women take things too seriously, are slow in getting down to business, and try to be “one of the boys”. A complaint that women give about men is that they are being labeled names such as: “girls”, “honey”, and “darlin”. Other complaints are that men make women into objects, making decisions about work with other men and not including the women, and using expressions that only use sports, violence or sexual connotations s...
Feminism has negative connotations in popular culture. When people think about feminism or feminists, they envision angry women who absolutely hate men. This may be true for some feminists, but not all. It may surprise a few people that feminism is integral in all facets of life. Its roots lie in a social and political movement, the women’s liberation movement, aimed at improving conditions for women. Feminism has many definitions, but one common definition features the concept of equality, such as the belief that women and men should have equal opportunities. Feminism also examines women's social roles, experiences, interests, and politics in a variety of fields. Common themes explored in feminist theory are discrimination, objectification (especially sexual objectification), oppression, patriarchy, stereotyping and so forth. These themes have developed over time and have created feminist theory. This section of paper will describe the three waves of feminism, the feminist rhetorical pioneers and their critics, and will explain how to use feminist criticism.