I’d like to discuss this whole “thing” (I refuse to acknowledge it as a campaign, because honestly. Honestly. ??) about bossy being a negative, dirty word we should eliminate from the English language. Personally, I take it as a compliment when someone calls me that. Why do you ask? It means someone is intimidated by my ability to make a decision and step up to the plate and be a leader. Thus, I let it roll off like any other slight directed at me based on my confidence or appearance. I am secure enough in my values and personality to accept it and move on.
Girls (and guys!), never apologize for confidence.
This concept of “banning” that is running rampant these days really has me baffled. Being called bossy is hardly a slander, and honestly, are we going to ban every negative adjective because it hurts someone’s feelings? If anything, we are doing the future of America a disservice by showing this as an acceptable way of dealing with adversity and conflict. If you don’t like it, push to ban it instead of using the experience as a learning lesson to build self confidence. I hate to break it to you, but if you have to ban a word to succeed, you’ve already failed. Yeah. I said it. FAIL.
I spent the better half of my childhood days being teased for the way I looked with my braces and glasses, and I can tell you right now: tattling or making someone else tell my teasers to stop were not the recipe to fixing the problem. My own reactions and ability to cope were. The less I let it bother me, or the more witty comebacks I used in response, the harder it became for people to get a kick out of it. I gained respect as a result, because I refused to tolerate it.
Furthermore, what actual statistics were used in this? Excuse the economist/numbers nerd in me, but SERIOUSLY. Show me the stats. The campaign website fails to show any sort of real analysis on this matter. I would dare to argue that young girls in today’s world are more affected by the shameless societal acceptance of female objectification by both men AND women (yes, Miley and Beyonce, I’m talking to you.). I’d especially like the stats on this one below. Come ON.
The other hole in this argument is the Utopian mindset that without this word, girls can be confident leaders with nothing stopping them. This is not the case. Real world talk: confidence is not a cake walk, and by having it, doesn’t mean that you aren’t going to run into adversity at some point. Girl OR guy. There is always going to be a person that is intimidated by you, it’s just life. Deal with it. This is a lesson that I really try and stress every week to my little girls at Girls on the Run. You don’t need to hide behind a “campaign” or other security blanket. You are the master of your own destiny and your outlook on life; only you can decide to make yourself mentally strong.
I’ll leave ya’ll with a favorite quote of mine:
Someone is always going to criticize you. It is up to you if you want to let it rule you.
Be confident, and believe in yourself, because if you can’t, no one else will.
