Earlier this week Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg launched BanBossy.com. She believes that “bossy” is to aspiring female leaders as the n-word is to African-Americans. Sandberg argues that banning people from calling young women bossy will help give them the confidence to lead when they are older.
What a bunch of bunk. You know what will give young women the confidence to lead? Providing them opportunities to lead. How about we focus more on the percentage of female leaders at Fortune 500 companies (a paltry 16.9% of corporate board members, 14.6% of Executive Officer positions, and 4.6% of CEOs) instead of the words we choose to call those who might some day aspire to bridge that gap?
Words are just words. Banning them, no matter how offensive they might be, doesn’t change the underlying thoughts and the resulting behavior. Do you know what happens when you ban a word like “nigger?” People who are inclined to say it think it instead. Banning a word doesn’t end bigotry, it just takes it underground. Banning “bossy” won’t increase opportunities for women just like banning the N-word won’t end racism.
We should all agree that increasing opportunities for women in the workplace is a worthy goal. We are kidding ourselves, however, if we believe that banning a word will help achieve it.
For more critiques of Sandberg’s “Ban Bossy” campaign, see:
- Sheryl Sandberg Is Bossy. So What? — from CareerDiva
- Sheryl Sandberg wrong on “bossy” ban — from CNN
- Recline, don’t “Lean In” (Why I hate Sheryl Sandberg) — from The Washington Post’s She The People
Here’s the rest of what I read this week:
Discrimination
- The dilemma of writing your own EEOC position statement — from HR Hero Line
- The EEOC and the FTC Publish Documents Related to Background Checks — from All in a Day’s Work
- EEOC and FTC Tips on Background Checks — from Phil Miles’s Lawffice Space
- Sex Workers Can Sue Their Bosses For Sexual Harassment: An Exchange — from Employment Discrimination Report
- Protecting the Unemployed — from The L•E•Jer
- Beard discrimination? Not really. — from Michigan Employment Law Connection
- Amazing Race Contestants File Employment Discrimination Lawsuit — from Atlanta Employment Lawyer Blog
- Is Sexual Harassment Against Contract Employees Legal? — from Donna Ballman’s Screw You Guys, I’m Going Home
- On the 25th anniversary of the web, let’s keep it free and open — from The Official Google Blog
- Game On! Are You Ready To Have Fun At Work? — from Employment Essentials
- So, you want to adopt BYOD? — from TiPb
- Your Next Job Application Could Be Via Smartphone — from Mashable
- Should You Separate “Personal Life” on Your Enterprise Network? — from Blogging4Jobs
- EMPLOYEES: Keeping your settlement confidential is easy, so do it! — from Robin Shea’s Employment & Labor Insider
- Can I Be Funny at Work Without Ruining My Reputation? — from Lifehacker
- Can we ask applicants about their driving records? — from Business Management Daily
- 5 essential steps for vetting job candidates’ credentials — from MonsterThinking
- Additional Restrictions on Employer’s Use of Criminal History Checks — from The Labor and Employment Law Blog
- Creating a Loving Workplace — from Joe’s HR and Benefits Blog
- Why You Should Eliminate Your Paid Time Off Policies — from Fistful of Talent
- Workplace investigation alert: Don’t interrogate your employees — from Warren & Associates Blog
- New York Times Article on Employer Interrogations of Employees — from Wisconsin Employment & Labor Law Blog
- Obama Proposes Changes to White Collar Overtime Exemptions — from Dan Schwartz’s Connecticut Employment Law Blog
- Overtime Expansion Coming? — from Manpower Employment Blawg
- In-House Counsel: Review Your Company’s Security Check Process — from In House
- Telecommuting: Good for Morale, Bad for Legal Exposure — from Corporate Counsel
- Hi Ho Hi Ho, it’s Off to Work We Go. — from Michigan Employment Law
- The DOL, Law Students, and Internships — from Workplace Prof Blog
- FACT OR FICTION: An FMLA-eligible employee can decline FMLA leave — from Eric Meyer’s The Employer Handbook Blog
- 12-Month Period Under FMLA — from Workplace Insights
- Union Faces NLRB Charge for Alleged Rape Threat — from LaborPains.org
- NLRB General Counsel Makes it Clear: He Has an Aggressive Agenda — from TLNT
- UAW’s Election Objections At VW Take An Interesting Turn — from Vorys on Labor
- Volkswagen v. Auto Workers Round 2 — from Labor Relations Institute