Beyonce, Condoleezza Rice, Jennifer Garner and Jane Lynch have all teamed up to ban the word “bossy.” It’s an effort to get more women to be leaders and not to be afraid of taking the bull by the horns.

#BANBOSSY is led by the Girl Scouts of America. When using the word “bossy” to define a woman it is used in a negative way. According to the video that is up on YouTube, when girls hit middle school they are less likely to enter into leadership roles than their male classmates because of the stigma that is attached to woman and being “bossy.”

What happened to when we were young and our parents told us we could be anything in the world we wanted to be? Women can’t be leaders without it being assumed that she is a monster. When using “bossy” towards a woman it has a more negative connotation than if a man is referred to as being “bossy.”

When a woman is in charge she is usually characterized as being pushy, stubborn, and abrasive. Yet, when a man is being a leader he is doing his part and when a male is “bossy” he is usually doing his job, being the one to take charge and doing what he needs to do to succeed.

Some people are natural born leaders and others find their way to leadership through a certain circumstance or event. In high school I played athletics and sometimes our coach wouldn’t be there or would be helping the advanced athletes. So since no one else seemed to care and no one else stood up I took it upon myself to lead and get us on track to what we were supposed to be doing.

I never was rude, nor did I yell at the girls, but I felt that it was my responsibility to make sure that we were staying on task and practicing. I took the sport seriously and wanted to improve. I never felt that I was better than anybody or anything like that, but I wanted to win. We were on a team and I wanted us to succeed.

I never took advantage of being a leader either; I just felt that if no one was going to do it then I should. So I worked hard and would lead when it was needed. With the leadership came a lot of drama for me. Girls would always talk about me and say that I was “bossy.” I never liked that word. I feel like “bossy” is just another negative word to call a girl.