In the March 9 issue of Parade magazine, three influential women talk about how to change the conversation about girls and leadership. The article features Condoleeza Rice, Sheryl Sandberg and Anna Maria Chavez. Their message is powerful, as they launch their public service campaign to ban the word “bossy,” a negative label often assigned to women who are assertive and speak up. A recent study of girls ages 8-17 conducted by the Girl Scouts of the USA reports that one-third of the respondents are reluctant to be leaders because of their fear of being disliked by peers. There is more work to be done to encourage young women to be bold and strive for leadership positions.
As you know, March is Women’s History Month, so when I read this article, I could not help but think about the benefits associated with the sorority membership experience. We offer leadership training for collegians and alumnae in our own organizations. We empower sorority women to pursue opportunities on their campuses and in their communities. We support one another through our networks. We add value.
This is a great time as a sorority woman to make a difference in the lives of others. Let our voices be heard.
For more information, visit Parade.com. Join the public service campaign by posting "I will #banbossy" on Facebook and Twitter.
I'm so glad that this is being done. It's way past time for society to stop calling assertive and outspoken women "bossy". I e-mailed my son and daughter-in-law, who have two daughters, to make sure that they read the Parade article.
ReplyDeleteI had a grievance filed against me last week from a male coworker twice my age accusing me of being bossy. It is my job responsibility to ensure procedures are followed and I spoke up and discussed procedure with him when he was not following the outlined procedure. I reviewed the procedure with him 3 times and he continued to return incomplete work. When I discussed this with him again he filed a grievance calling me bossy. This made my superiors question my work and abilities and had negated everything I have done for my company in a short period of time. As a woman it is hard not to have your feelings hurt by people like this but I encourage all of you to keep up the great work and hopefully you will find a company who supports your strength, independence, voice and unwillingness to do anything but your best.
ReplyDeleteFeminazis Trying To Ban The Word "Bossy"
ReplyDeletehttp://mgtow1.blogspot.ca/2014/04/feminazis-trying-to-ban-word-bossy.html
I like the idea of encoraging girls to be leaders but being bossy is a diffrent thing . to ban bossy is to say its okay to tell others how to live their lives . I think someone should make a champain to teach kids how to be GOOD leaders . Whatever a campane tells me to do , i wont let anyone boss me around again male OR female
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