Good luck to Beyonce and Victoria Beckham with their campaign to ban the word "bossy" because it is so inherently offensive to women - but perhaps they're not going nearly far enough. There are a ton of other words out there that are highly demeaning to women. Ban 'em!
Beyonce and Beckham have been joined by the likes of former US Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice and Jennifer Garner and fashion designer Diane Von Furstenberg, as well as Facebook's chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg to try and outlaw the word "bossy". "I'm not bossy," says Beyonce. "I'm the boss!"
Meanwhile Beckham says, "It is thought provoking that a man in charge may be described as commanding, however a woman in the same position may be called bossy." Indeed.
Since these women are hoping to promote self-esteem in young girls, they might like to consider banning a few other words that are only ever applied to women.
Take, for instance, the word "Princess". It has a lot of very unpleasant connotations - "She's a real Princess!" Frankly, I think it's right up there with bossy. Since when have you heard the term "Princess" used to describe a bloke? Doesn't happen, does it? And since this demeaning word is solely used to describe women, usually girls, then it's got to go on the hit list.
Other unpleasant terms that are only ever applied to women - and therefore disempower women?
There are loads of them!
What about "Drama Queen"? That's a vicious one. "She's a real drama-queen!" Sometimes it's used about men, but more often than not, it's another way of belittling women. Puts them down. Disempowers them. And "Prima Donna". And "Diva". How often do you hear people saying, "He's a real Diva!"
Following Beyonce and Victoria Beckham's logic, these words have also got to be banned. They're going to make women feel bad about themselves, so we shouldn't use them any more.
Then there is "Bitchy" (not to mention "Bitch") and "Shrew" and perhaps even "Slattern" and "Termagant". These words are only ever used to insult women: out they've got to go.
And don't forget all the words to describe promiscuous women - "Slut" and "Slag" and "Slapper". If any girl or woman were to hear herself described with any of these words, then obviously she's not going to feel too good about herself. Ban them!
I'd never realised that there were quite so many foul words out there that could only be applied to women. Comparatively speaking, men get off quite lightly. And as for men who sleep around, there is nothing even to touch the word "slut".
There are a few choice words and phrases which are generally only used about men - words like "Tosser" and "W***er" and "Bastard" and "Jerk" and "Mother-f***er".
But these terms are just general insults. They don't have quite the specific savour of something like "bossy" or "drama queen".
When you think about it, "Bossy" is the very least of the insults that are daily being directed at women. But if this is the best way of boosting young girls' self-esteem, then ban the lot of the them.