Ban “bossy” Public Service Announcement:
Ban “bossy” on GMA:
In America today women in Texas are losing their right to free choice. ?As of August, 2013?sixty family planning centers in that state had already closed. ?More have followed since then and Rachel Maddow has widely publicized the estimation that by the end of this year there could be anywhere from fourteen to nine centers left open in the entire state. A disaster for women. The roll back of “freedom of choice” is happening all over the country. Women and girls are in real danger.
In America today women all over the country are losing their right to vote. Whether it is from the laws in Texas, again Texas, that make it difficult for married women to vote to North Carolina making it difficult for the old, the poor, the black, college students and in no small part the women of those populations who already live in a patriarchal society, who have already had to fight for the small portion of personhood they are allowed by this society are falling a rung back on the ladder of equality. Slaves were defined by the Constitution, for purposes of representation in Congress, as three fourths of a human being. Need the analogy be made that a woman making less than a man working the same job is basically the same concept? Women and girls are in real danger.
Where is Lysistrata when we need her? And if not her then what about any of the female warriors in this Sparknotes slide show: HERE.
It is not just in America that women are falling behind. It’s ?happening all over the world. As global income inequality leaves less and less it seems that in every part of ?the globe the suffering is settled mostly on the shoulders of women. Partly because men get the jobs to protect the rich or terrorize the poor. Partly because women are the only ones left when the men are in jail, at war, or driven out of their own countries looking for work as economic refugees.
But fear not! Beyonce Knowles, Sheryl Sandburg, Condoleeza Rice, Jane Lynch, and others have finally figured out what is holding women back! The culprit? In a word, the word, “bossy.” These leaders of society want us to know that the most pressing problem facing young girls today isn’t the lack of jobs, or drinking water if in West Virginia or North Carolina, or access to health care, or voting rights, or the breakdown in our culture caused by an out of control wealthy ?elite (see list of names at the beginning of paragraph for examples of the elite.) No. The danger to fifty percent of the population is to be called what used to be a compliment. My grandmother, Edna Hendon, was bossy, pushy, stubborn, could make a grown man cry just by looking at him mean and she never lost any sleep worrying about what people thought about her. You can imagine my surprise when I found out that not every “granny” slept with a loaded pistol by their bedside table and most definitely did not tell people, especially men, when and where to get off when they needed to be told. So I grew up loving a bossy woman.
Perhaps Beyonce joined this “rich peoples protest” to prove Harry Belafonte wrong. ?As you may know in 2012 Mr. Belafonte, a man who risked his life, wealth and career in the advancement of human rights in America had the temerity to suggest that Jay Z and Mrs. Z (Beyonce) weren’t doing much with their celebrity or riches other than being rich. Since the loss of even one promotional dollar is more important than any sense of dignity or obligation this campaign against a word is a perfect fit for Beyonce. It allows her to have an issue that no one can take issue with because it doesn’t exist.
Does she care she’s being used by a richer “do nothing” Sheryl Sandburg? ?Ms. Sandburg, net worth $1.7 billion (thanks Facebook IPO) obviously needed a charity to go with her image polishing and since internet privacy or encouraging responsible internet use to children would be too close to home and may cost her a future nickel the war on a word was born. ?Much like the successful War On Drugs, War On Terror, and now War On Bossy. Which I expect to be just as successful as those other wars.
Perhaps if these spokespeople had suggested that we come up with programs to help teach bossy kids how to become genuine leaders rather than just spoiled demanding brats I wouldn’t have a problem. There is nothing wrong with being bossy or opinionated or pushy for that matter. But there is something wrong with suggesting that being called “bossy” is so demoralizing to a girl that we must somehow ban the ‘b-word.’ How weak is the poor flower’s psyche? In the world of Ms. Sandburg the “weaker sex” is obviously too weak to withstand NOT being a conformist. The delicate female soul must be protected from any display of individuality or character trait that may turn off the boys? I ?think the sexism here is the lack of faith these people have in girls.
Once again rich people out of touch with reality and the needs of girls and women today and who don’t want to put any “skin in the game” that would create the social change needed to really empower women instead create a fake cause so they can “feel” like “they are giving back.”
At one point Beyonce says, “I’m not bossy, I’m the boss!” Which only illustrates how ridiculous their campaign FOR stupidity really is.
When we need, desperately need, social change, warrior women like days of yore, we get safely packaged Betty Crocker type activism. Bland, tasteless, boring, and not nearly as satisfying as the real homemade thing.
Women of America BE BOSSY! Daughters of America! BE BOSSY!
Embrace your power before those wrapped in extensions, colored contacts and spray painted an unnatural color take it from you.
Edited/Published by: SB
