Sandberg's Next Target: Ban 'Bossy'

Having introduced "lean in" into the lexicon, Sheryl Sandberg is looking to take another term out: The Facebook COO, bestselling author, stirrer of controversy, and unabashed feminist launched a campaign this morning to "Ban Bossy." It's a move to strip the stigma often associated with assertive girls, reports ABC. "We know that by middle school, more boys than girls want to lead," Sandberg says, "and if you ask girls why they don't want to lead, whether it's the school project all the way on to running for office, they don't want to be called bossy, and they don't want to be disliked."

Sandberg isn't sitting around quietly hoping someone will notice. In her PSA, she brings out big guns including Condoleezza Rice, Diane von Furstenberg, Jane Lynch, Jennifer Garner, and Beyonce; "I'm not bossy. I'm the boss," intones the latter. Also attached to the campaign are Girl Scouts of America CEO Ana Maria Chavez and Sandberg's Lean In organization. Not everyone's holding their breath: Writing at Time, Katy Steinmetz contends that "banning words has proved to be a fairly futile pursuit." In looking at past attempts, she says Sandberg is really hoping for "people to become slightly more aware of themselves when they continue to use a word that dates back to the 1800s." (More Sheryl Sandberg stories.)