This editorial was first published in the April print edition of The Main Four.

By Staff Writer: Jada Boprie

Do you care what other people think? Maybe not, but most people care about other people’s opinions, especially if those people are judging them.

This is the basic concept behind the new campaign created by businesswoman Sheryl Sandberg. Partnering with Girl Scouts, Sandberg’s idea to encourage future leading women is to ban the word “bossy.”

Yes, you read that right. The idea is to “ban” one simple adjective that discourages leadership in women to increase the number of girls that aspire to be leaders.

There are so many things wrong with the campaign to Ban Bossy. For one, it sounds like a joke. Try telling a friend about this, I guarantee their response will be something like, “*snort* Are you serious?”

 A wide range of influential women and female celebrities are backing this campaign, including Jennifer Garner, Jane Lynch, Condoleezza Rice, Diane von Furstenburg, and even Beyonce. They all appear in a promotional video for Ban Bossy that was released a few days ago. At the end of the video, Beyonce states proudly, “I’m not bossy. I’m the boss.”

Beyonce, by the way, has a net worth of $350 million. Sandberg, the creator of Ban Bossy, has a net worth of $1.7 billion. With a B.

Why do their salaries matter to me?

Beyonce and Sandberg are both popular and influential people, along with everyone Sandberg has recruited to advocate Ban Bossy. Beyonce is a pop diva who has become a household name. Sandberg is legendary in the business world and known for being a powerful businesswoman and the COO (Chief Operating Officer) of Facebook.

With fame and fortune, and power, these two women alone could make a real difference in the world. Yet, the campaign they choose to stand for is . . . Ban Bossy?

Some people still don’t understand the point of Ban Bossy. In a recent interview, Sandberg says that the campaign is about addressing the bullying that girls face when they try to be assertive. She’s not trying to white-out “bossy” in every dictionary and condemn the people who say the word out loud.

Either way, although Sandberg is an exceptional leader in her own right, she doesn’t seem to understand the basic characteristics of one. The best leaders are people that others can respect and look up to. Leaders should be decisive, confident, and strong. If someone can’t be resilient after being called “bossy”, maybe leadership just isn’t their forte.

I understand that we are talking about young women here, and kids can be impressionable. If a little boy calls a girl “bossy”, maybe she would raise her hand less in class.

However, even if Sandberg manages to ban “bossy,” there is a far more insulting “b”-word these girls will face as adults. Maybe instead of putting a negative spin on things, she could have empowered girls to use their assertive voice as future leaders.

To mend the words of Beyonce: “I am bossy, because I’m the boss.”