PRESPECTIVE: SHERYL SANDBERG IS RIGHT TO BAN BOSSY

Sheryl Sandberg is a hero in my eyes. The personification of girl power, Sandburg is a doyenne of Silicon Valley, currently on the board for Facebook (and the first woman ever to serve) after being a vice president at Google. Named as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2012 and reported to be worth over US $1 billion, Sandberg is an aspirational figure for any woman who aims to make it in big business, regardless of ceilings glass or otherwise.

It will be exactly one year ago tomorrow that Sandberg’s book on feminism and equality for women in business, Lean In: Women Work and the Will to Lead, was published but the COO of Facebook has not been resting on her laurels in the pursuit of sexual equality. Her new pro-woman campaign, Ban Bossy, starring Beyonce, Diane Von Furstenberg and US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to name a few, is gathering attention.

Studies have shown that, during early development at home or in school, young girls who display signs of strong leadership, who have a strong voice, and who are assertive are chastised by parents or teachers for being bossy and aggressive whereas this behaviour in male children is met with encouragement. She's a "little madam", but he's a leader. 

Overtime this causes damage to girls’ self-esteem and results in an unwillingness to take leadership roles and to speak up for fear of being accused of being bossy, stubborn or aggressive. I cannot speak for everyone, but I know that this has been my experience more than enough times to make me sometimes doubt myself.

Ban Bossy aims to quash this often unconscious behaviour by encouraging us to think about the words we use, and how we encourage young girls to take positions of power and make their opinions heard.

Also, wait for Beyonce’s one-liner at the end of the video.   

PRESPECTIVE: SHERYL SANDBERG IS RIGHT TO BAN BOSSY

Sheryl Sandberg is a hero in my eyes. The personification of girl power, Sandburg is a doyenne of Silicon Valley, currently on the board for Facebook (and the first woman ever to serve) after being a vice president at Google. Named as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2012 and reported to be worth over US $1 billion, Sandberg is an aspirational figure for any woman who aims to make it in big business, regardless of ceilings glass or otherwise.

It will be exactly one year ago tomorrow that Sandberg’s book on feminism and equality for women in business, Lean In: Women Work and the Will to Lead, was published but the COO of Facebook has not been resting on her laurels in the pursuit of sexual equality. Her new pro-woman campaign, Ban Bossy, starring Beyonce, Diane Von Furstenberg and US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan to name a few, is gathering attention.

Studies have shown that, during early development at home or in school, young girls who display signs of strong leadership, who have a strong voice, and who are assertive are chastised by parents or teachers for being bossy and aggressive whereas this behaviour in male children is met with encouragement. She's a "little madam", but he's a leader. 

Overtime this causes damage to girls’ self-esteem and results in an unwillingness to take leadership roles and to speak up for fear of being accused of being bossy, stubborn or aggressive. I cannot speak for everyone, but I know that this has been my experience more than enough times to make me sometimes doubt myself.

Ban Bossy aims to quash this often unconscious behaviour by encouraging us to think about the words we use, and how we encourage young girls to take positions of power and make their opinions heard.

Also, wait for Beyonce’s one-liner at the end of the video.