CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) - Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Facebook, has started a campaign Monday to ban the word "bos...
Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Facebook, has started a campaign Monday to ban the word "bossy." She argues that the word is a negative insult that stops girls from striving for leadership
roles."We know that by middle school, more boys than girls want to lead," Sandberg said, "and if you ask girls why they don't want to lead, whether it's the school project all the way on to running for office, they don't want to be called bossy, and they don't want to be disliked."
Sandberg claims these point-of-views begin early in childhood and continue as an individual grows older.
"We call girls bossy on the playground," Sandberg said. "We call them too aggressive or other B-words in the workplace. They're bossy as little girls, and then they're aggressive, political, shrill, and too ambitious as women."
Former Secretary of state Condoleezza Rice and Girl Scouts USA CEO Anna Maria Chavez have joined forces with ‘Lean In,' Sandberg's organization, to launch the campaign called "Ban Bossy." The website offers parents, kids and teachers advice on how to encourage young women.
Chavez said that she became involved immediately upon being asked, and believes the Girl Scouts would be perfect partners for the campaign.
"Imagine a classroom in America where 50 kids are present: 25 girls, 25 boys," Chavez said. "And the teacher walks into this classroom and says: 'Boys and girls, I have this really hard, difficult program that I need to solve that's gonna impact this country.' She writes the problem on the board and then turns around and escorts 24 of the 25 girls out of the room. ... She leaves one girl and 25 boys to solve that equation. That's what's happening every day in this country. Why wouldn't we want more girls to be opting in to building the right solutions for this country?"
The purpose of the campaign "Ban Bossy" is to help females feel more confident and comfortable as leaders.
"If you look at the world, women do 66 percent of the work in the world. Women produce 50 percent of the food. Women make 10 percent of the income and women own 1 percent of the property. We are 50 percent of the population. We are 5 percent of the Fortune 500 CEOs," Sandberg said. "We are 17 percent of the board seats. We are 19 percent in Congress. That's not enough for 50 percent of the population. We live in a world that is overwhelmingly run and owned by men."
Sandberg and Chavez made clear they're not encouraging mean or rude behavior, or bullying.
"Leadership is not bullying and leadership is not aggression," Sandberg said. "Leadership is the expectation that you can use your voice for good. That you can make the world a better place."
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