“Generally the one who first occupies the battlefield awaiting the enemy is at ease; the one who comes later and rushes into battle is fatigued.” — Sun Tzu, The Art of War
This week, we found out that we’re not supposed to use the word “bossy” anymore because Beyonce says so. Because some Facebook executive was called “bossy” as a kid, and it really hurt her feelings. (Which didn’t prevent her from succeeding wildly in life, but whatevs.)
But is there more to this than just the usual dopey liberal feel-good meddling in every aspect of our daily lives? Ashe Schow at the Washington Examiner has her suspicions:
So, why start a national campaign?
For starters, [Facebook Chief Operating Officer and Ban Bossy founder Sheryl] 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…
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.
It might seem far-fetched, but ask yourself which is more likely: Convincing the entire English-speaking world to stop using the word “bossy” because some Facebook exec can’t get over a childhood annoyance? Or dazzling the easily manipulated mainstream media with star power and using “save the children” concern-trolling to prevent them from running with stories depicting Hillary Clinton as a big ol’ bossy-boss?
Control language and control thought. That’s the hope, anyway.
If you’ve been laughing at Ban Bossy, that’s because you’re not the target audience. You’re not one of the fine folks who give us the “news.”
(Hat tip: Glenn Reynolds)
Update: ‘Bossy’ is more than a word to women. Yeah, it’s a way of life! [falls under fusillade of rolling pins]