March 11, 2014

• Ban Bossy?

  Good grief, the word police are at it again! Aren't there more important things to fix in society? Telling a girl not to be bossy is squelching her leadership skills and is discriminatory to females? And Beyonce is on Ms. Sandberg's Ban Bossy Bandwagon? Who would take Beyonce's advice about anything? And why is bossiness being assigned exclusively to the female gender when it is gender neutral? Being bossy is being assertive in an area in which you has no authority. (As in, "Who died and left you boss?") It is acting like the boss when you are not. Bossiness is over assertiveness that makes others feel uncomfortable and walked upon. At worst it is an expression of selfishness, self worship and a female version of bullying. Are the traits below really what we need to ingrain into the minds of our little girls?

  BOSSY: given to ordering people about, overly authoritative, demanding, interfering, domineering, highhanded, officious, dictational, overbearing, abrasive.

  One cannot arbitrarily redefine bossy to force it to fit one's own feminist ideas.

  Here are some comments on the topic from the peanut gallery.

  "When my son is being bossy, he's going to hear that he's being bossy, not that he's showing executive leadership skills. Why? Mainly because he's throwing his weight around, wanting things to be done his way, and it's a negative trait, not a positive one that I want to build up in him. Same thing for my daughter. If she's being bossy, she's not showing executive leadership traits. She wants things her way, and it's a negative behavior that I'm not going to encourage in order to build up her self-esteem."

  "Sorry, but when my 8 yr old is telling my 6yr old what she can and can't play then she is being bossy. When she tells her to clean her room because she had to clean hers, she is being bossy. If she were to say, lets both clean our rooms together and we can get it done faster, THAT is leadership. Plain and simple you CANNOT boss people around and think that you will be respected. You LEAD by EXAMPLE."

  "Aggressive boys are called bullies. I was taught to be assertive rather than aggressive. There is a risk of being aggressive while learning how to be a leader or manager, but we learn from making mistakes. Women should have as much right to learn leadership skills as men do; but to prohibit people from complaining about bad behavior decreases feedback and reduces the probability that the prospective leader will learn from their mistakes. It may prevent them from improving their skills."

  The media can spout all the filth it wants and we can't say a thing about it, but wants to be bossy about what everyone else can and can't say. Let's Ban Beyonce. The world would be a better place.

  • 09:15
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