Make no mistake, there is always a deeper agenda whenever a seemingly innocent campaign pops up overnight.
On Sunday, Facebook's Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg launched a new campaign, known as 'Ban Bossy,' which would - as you can imagine - encourage people to ban the word “bossy.”
Is there some kind of epidemic of that word being used to keep girls from achieving? Many of the surveys cited by the Ban Bossy campaign are decades old, and a more recent survey by the Girl Scouts of America found that girls are more likely than boys to see themselves as a leader or have the desire to be a leader.
So, why start a national campaign?
For starters, Sandberg is an ally of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016.
Sandberg worked as former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers' chief of staff under President Bill Clinton during his second term and maxed out in personal campaign contributions to Hillary Clinton in 2007 and 2008. She also donates almost exclusively to female Democratic candidates.
In 2012, Sandberg posted a video on her personal Facebook page of Meryl Streep's tribute to Clinton, calling it “amazing.”
In 2013, Sandberg and Clinton hosted a gala for Women for Women International. Sandberg presented Clinton with the “Champion of Peace” award at the event.
Also in 2013, Sandberg said she hopes Clinton runs for president again in 2016, believing that Clinton's 2008 “likeability” was tied too closely to her appearance.
But why focus the campaign on the word “bossy”?
The answer to that may have something to do with Clinton being called “bossy” during the 2008 campaign by Australian feminist Germaine Greer. Bossy is also more tame than some of the other words Clinton has been called.
Two years ago, Democrats launched a campaign to brand Republicans as engaging in a "war on women," a campaign with a lasting impact that will no doubt stretch into the 2016 elections if Clinton runs.
Now the Ban Bossy campaign gives Democrats another weapon to use against those who disagree with Clinton’s policy ideas.
Media Whine About ‘Bossy’ While Entertainment Shows Use ‘B***h’ 50 Times
But while the speech police are busy handing out citations, perhaps they could inform the public how they stand on the other B-word. Once considered a dirty – or at least an inappropriately coarse – word, “b***h” is now in common use in entertainment media. Given that it’s gender-specific, obviously insulting and, as often currently used, is shorthand for subjugation, honest feminists should find “b***h” far more troubling than “bossy.”
How common is “b***h” on TV? In just one week, from Friday March 7 through Friday, March 15, there were at least 50 uses of some form of the word on entertainment TV. It’s now a staple on late night talk shows, but it also turns up in primetime entertainment. On “Chicago Fire” a gang member demand of a female EMT, “Open the door, b***h!” The crime drama “Blue Bloods” used “son of a b***h” three times in one episode. Some more examples: [follow, as if you really need them]
Paging Beyoncé, paging Condoleezza Rice, Jennifer Garner, Jane Lynch, and paging especially Sharyl Sandberg.