Why Beyoncé And Victoria Beckham Want To Ban 'Bossy'

Beyonce Ban Bossy campaign

(Image credit: BanBossy.com)

published 11 March 2014

Influential women are teaming up to encourage young girls to be leaders - and to stop them from being branded 'bossy'

Beyoncé, Victoria Beckham, Jennifer Garner, Diane von Furstenberg and Michelle Obama all know what it's like to be called 'bossy.'

And they think it's time we ban that word for good.

Those influential women are just a few of the celebrities who've joined the new Ban Bossy campaign, which was established by LeanIn.org.

Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg started the initiative to encourage young girls to be ambitious. The Ban Bossy website explains: 'When a little boy asserts himself, he's called a “leader.” Yet when a little girl does the same, she risks being branded “bossy.”

'Words like bossy send a message: don't raise your hand or speak up. By middle school, girls are less interested in leading than boys - a trend that continues into adulthood. Together we can encourage girls to lead.'

Victoria Beckham tweeted her support for the campaign yesterday, sharing a graphic of her Ban Bossy quote. 'Encourage girls to lead,' she wrote. 'Join me today: http://banbossy.com x vb.'

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Ali Gray is an award-winning content director and digital strategist. Most recently she was the Director of Branded Content at Hearst, and helped to bridge the gap between the editorial and commercial worlds working across all Hearst brands, including ELLE, Cosmopolitan, Esquire and Harper's Bazaar. Prior to that she worked as an editor contributing to several brands such as The Telegraph, iVillage UK.

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