"The number one reason that why girls are not turning into leaders is because they are occupied with posting selfies on your fucking Facebook, Sandberg!"
-Adam Curry
Don't Ban “Bossy”
61–70 of 102 posts
Re: Don't Ban “Bossy”
#62Re: Don't Ban “Bossy”
#63"Ban Bossy" Spokesperson: Beyoncé Beyoncé Lyrics: Bow down bitches, bow bow down bitches Bow down bitches, bow bow down bitches H-town vicious, h-h-town vicious I’m so crown, bow bow down bitches Beyoncé's husband Jay-Z Lyrics Excerpt: My nigga, please - you ain't signing no checks like these My nigga, please - you pushing no wheels like these My nigga, please - you ain't holding no tecks like these My nigga, please…
Firstly, I fail to see how the lyrics from a Jay-Z song from 2002 are anything other than completely irrelevant to the Ban Bossy campaign. But if you're going to bring it up, we might as well do it right.
1) Pharrell says those lines not Jay-Z. This is the same person who wrote/sings/produced the Academy-Award nominated "Happy" song from Despicable Me.
2) The context of lyrics within a song, the intended meaning of the song itself, and intended audience of a song should obviously be taken into consideration. On a site like HN, that so often seems to point out the ridiculous nature of arguments against video games causing violence, citing lyrics of someone's husband as somehow a statement about.... well I have to be honest, I can't follow the logic of the point you're trying to make... is disappointing.
And finally 3) Here are some lyrics from Jay-Z that seem pretty relevant to your comment:
"...Rap critics that say he's Money, Cash, Hoes I'm from the hood stupid, what type of facts are those If you grew up with holes in your zapatos You'd celebrate the minute you was having dough I'm like f-ck critics, you can kiss my whole a--hole If you don't like my lyrics, you can press fast forward...
...I don't know what you take me as Or understand the intelligence that Jay-Z has I'm from rags to riches, ni--as I ain't dumb I got 99 problems, but a b-tch ain't one, hit me"
Re: Don't Ban “Bossy”
#64Wow, the “discussion” here validates every negative stereotype about the tech community, you troglodytes who I’m embarrassed to call my peers. I wonder if it’s it too late, at 31, for me to change careers?
Are there no online communities that you can't complain about?
Re: Don't Ban “Bossy”
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
When culture changes shouldn't language that reflects outdated culture also change? Racial slurs aren't acceptable anymore. No one thinks that change is what brought about the civil rights movement, but it's obviously a consequence of it that also contributed to the whole movement in a positive feedback loop.
> Racial slurs aren't acceptable anymore. They are, but their usage is limited to linguistic segregation. Nothing better to keep people in check than enforcing a correlation between the words they are allowed to use and the color of their skin.
HN, more than most, is a global forum, and with that in mind people should really stop and think before offering their opinion on a subject where critical cultural context is almost surely missing from one's perspective.
Re: Don't Ban “Bossy”
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
When culture changes shouldn't language that reflects outdated culture also change? Racial slurs aren't acceptable anymore. No one thinks that change is what brought about the civil rights movement, but it's obviously a consequence of it that also contributed to the whole movement in a positive feedback loop.
> Racial slurs aren't acceptable anymore. That isn't what brought about the civil rights movement, but it's an important consequence of it. I don't really want to pick sides on 'ban bossy', but I do think this particular analogy is flawed. Unlike a racial slur (or any other identity-based slur), 'bossy' describes intrinsically negative behavior. People who are 'overly authoritative' or 'domineering' will always be lo…
You are starting from the assumption that this movement is in error rather than arguing it to be. The whole point of their argument is that the word "bossy" is used to police women's behavior in situations where the same behavior is considered positive for men -- so simply asserting that it always describes negative behavior doesn't exactly make a useful point.
Their claim may in fact be false. But starting from the assumption that it is false doesn't really add anything to the discussion.
Re: Don't Ban “Bossy”
#67That's funny, I actually heard the word used when I was a military cadet in high school. It was used to teach the difference between being a a leader, or just, well bossy. Don't be a boss, don't act bossy, and so on. Bossy people, we were taught, boss people around by using their rank. No one wants to follow them, they just have to. That's the worst kind of leader, we were taught. don't be bossy was good feedback. A…
My general impression about being a boss is that "one should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself" does not apply for such situation. Like business should focus on customers, leadership style should focus on employees. Some boss set example according to their value and standard, employees might just not appreciate that. For example, a military style boss might value be at work on time, get your time…
> My general impression about being a boss is that "one should treat others as one would like others to treat oneself" does not apply for such situation.
LOL. How does this not apply: "As a boss I should treat my employees the way I would like my boss to treat me." Any reasonable person understands that the professional context means that the relationship between boss/employee is not the same as friend/friend, stranger-on-subway/stranger-on-subway.
> military style boss might value...that's just an example.
That is a terrible, contrived example based on some strange concept/stereotype/cliche of military leadership. What branch of the service were you in? Did your well respected NCOs run around acting like the guy from Office Space and pester people about their TPS reports?
Re: Don't Ban “Bossy”
#68That's funny, I actually heard the word used when I was a military cadet in high school. It was used to teach the difference between being a a leader, or just, well bossy. Don't be a boss, don't act bossy, and so on. Bossy people, we were taught, boss people around by using their rank. No one wants to follow them, they just have to. That's the worst kind of leader, we were taught. don't be bossy was good feedback. A…
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Re: Don't Ban “Bossy”
#69That's funny, I actually heard the word used when I was a military cadet in high school. It was used to teach the difference between being a a leader, or just, well bossy. Don't be a boss, don't act bossy, and so on. Bossy people, we were taught, boss people around by using their rank. No one wants to follow them, they just have to. That's the worst kind of leader, we were taught. don't be bossy was good feedback. A…
>What term would they prefer be used for someone that's acting bossy? Something entirely devoid of meaning so that it could never possibly hurt anyone's feelings for being someone who tells people what to do without leading by example so as to inspire people to do.
How about "American Aplha?" ;-)
Re: Don't Ban “Bossy”
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is consistent with the OED's first use of the term, referring to a (female) being (inappropriately) "bossy". “a lady manager who was dreadfully bossy” (1882) The purpose of language is to provide for subtle distinctions.
Nice point. The etymology of the word bossy, boss with the -y suffix, suggests that the lady manager is acting like a boss but she is not a boss. The writer here makes it clear that this is intended to have a negative connotation and is therefore questioning her authority. Recent meme has reinforced that. If we want to express this idea positively, we don't say "bossy", we say "like a boss". "Bossy" means you are act…
> Recent meme has reinforced that. If we want to express this idea positively, we don't say "bossy", we say "like a boss".
Similes require nouns and bossy is an adjective/adverb. How are we supposed to draw any conclusions from the use of boss?
I have never heard someone use bossy to praise the actions of a male.