In writing this blog, it's become amusing to me to point out the stupid that goes on in everyday life. And sometimes, it just spreads like an uncontained epidemic. Personally, I'm not the type to judge anybody for how they act or what they believe; if that's what you wanna do, go for it. But if you make a stupid point, like the one I'm about to introduce, in the public eye and the public consciousness, how can I not help but question the intelligence of those involved?
To keep it short, I stumbled across this article a friend of mine shared on Facebook and I just couldn't help not addressing this.
Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of the aforementioned Facebook, has launched a campaign aimed at getting women, name young and impressionable girls, to have more confidence in themselves and their abilities. At first glance you'd be like, "Okay, great. Sounds cool."
But how, pray tell, do they go about it? Well, if you check out this promo video for the campaign, which features and is endorsed by luminaries such as Beyoncé, Jennifer Garner, Jane Lynch and former Secretary of State for the Bush administration Condi Rice, they basically try to get girls to shed the label of being called "bossy" if they aspire to be leaders.
As quoted from the video, "by middle school, girls are less interested in leadership than boys, and that's because they worry about being called 'bossy'." It goes on to say, "We need to tell them, 'it's okay to be ambitious. We need to help them lean in!'"
The promo finishes by proposing the idea to (figuratively or literally, it's never really specified) "just ban the word 'bossy'." I assure you, Daniel Webster would be doing somersaults in his grave if that was actually put into motion.
Now, if they were referring to it in the figurative sense (which still is unclear), sure, I guess that works. As they say, words matter, and no one likes to be labeled with hurtful terms. But is being called "bossy" the end of the world? That label should be on the bottom of everyone's "hurtful names called at me" list. I'm sure people in executive positions have been called worse names than that, and depending on the thickness of that person's skin, they couldn't care less about the opinions of disgruntled others. Oh, you think I'm bossy. Well, sorry about that, but screw you. I'm gonna do my own thing, and if that makes you upset, I left you a pack of tissues so you can cry me a river.
That's one part of finding confidence, is letting the hateful words slide off your shoulder and not let it deter you from following what you want to do. But, bossy? I'm sorry, but it's true: only sissies fret about being called that.
This seems to become fodder for a few network commentators, including Glenn Beck (who I rarely follow, but this is a small exception in this case) and fellow TheBlaze host Dana Loesch (there's a woman who finds this whole thing ridiculous?! Say it isn't so!), who said her piece in a way so brilliant that even I couldn't have thought of phrasing it like that.
And another thing, since when was promoting confidence in fellow human beings only limited to women? I know for a fact that there are some guys who need an upgrade in the confidence department. My point is this: encouraging others to follow their dreams is a universal thing, between both genders of man and woman. Everyone needs encouragement, everyone needs to be helped along the way. That just gets on my nerves when things are so selective like this whole campaign.
Now don't misconstrue me, I'm all for encouraging kids of all ages and all genders to follow what they believe in and become whatever they wish to be. That is the cornerstone of the human experience, to have the freedom to make something of yourself. But does it have to be done so condescendingly? Do I hear hypocrisy blowing in the wind?
And thus ends my musings for the day. Comment if you have anything to contribute.
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