Heard any good word banning stories lately?
Ahem.
In case you somehow missed it, earlier this week the new LeanIn.org and Sheryl Sandberg initiative, #BanBossy, was announced. It has caught the attention, and drawn the ire, of many. Should we be in the business of banning words? Any words at all? Is there a freedom of speech issue here? And is that what this campaign is really about anyway or is it merely designed to light a fire under the discussion about a larger, way bigger than a single word, topic of the treatment of assertive women who probably hear ‘bitchy’ more than ‘bossy’ but who, as young women, might gradually shy away from becoming the leaders they could bloom into because of such harsh vernacular?
Oh, don’t expect answers. Hah! Not here. I’m not going to answer any of those weighty questions, are you kidding?, but as long as we’re banning words these days, can we strike ‘moist‘ from the record? Sure, maybe we’ll be forever with a decent cake, as The Hipwaders Tito Uquillas so wittily remarked on Facebook, but we shall feel less, oh I dunno, sexually disturbed too. A fair trade off, me thinks.
Some other dudes have generously shared with me their ideas on words that, should they someday be banned, might improve climate conditions, raise the minimum wage, and finally produce a grilled pork chop that isn’t stiff and dry. Ummm, or not.
Along those same slightly wet lines, John Taylor aka TheDaddyYoDude could live without ‘damp‘ and ‘dingleberry.’
Darren Critz of Symphony Space’s Just Kidding Series envisions a world without ‘trousers‘ (read into that however you’d like) and no more ‘platters‘ of food.
Chris Nichols of the Rated 4 and Up blog thinks it’s the perfect time (of the month) to put an end to the word ‘menstruation.’ I’m not going to even touch that one, literally or figuratively.
Dude of the House’s Jay Sokol would like to rid the world of ‘Kardashian‘ and, I’m guessing, Kardashians.
One Good Dad’s Jason Greene thinks we should ban the word ‘word,’ adding, “I don’t think we should talk at all, only use grunts and gestures.”
John Willey didn’t earn the blog name Daddy’s In Charge for nothing. He says “we could ban war outside of actual war or cancer outside of actual cancer.” Agreed, John!
I’d happily throw out the word (and the activity) ‘dogfight‘ which I thought we all agreed to quit after the Michael Vick business a few years back. Sportscasters, it’s long past time to get more creative.
Oren Miller, the BloggerFather, dismisses ‘millennials‘ and facetiously goes on the say: “you know how gym teachers and terrible dads say to boys, “You throw like a girl”? I think we should ban the word ‘Girl.'”
How To Be A Dad’s Charlie Capen, Daddy Doctrine’s Chris Routly, and just about every other at-home dad would cheer for the abolishment of ‘Mr. Mom.’
The phrase “hella totes ma gotes cray” and all the non-words contained within need to go away, says Daniel De Guia.
Adam Dolgin of Fodder 4 Fathers doesn’t need to see or read about another ‘selfie.’
8Bit Dad’s Zach Rosenberg has some thoughts not dissimilar to Sheryl Sandberg’s #banbossy campaign: “Ban ‘alpha male.’ Because all it means is your son is a natural leader, but I’ve never heard anyone call a girl an ‘alpha female’ unless it was an insult. We should just say that a kid, regardless of gender, is a natural leader.'”
I think we can all agree with BetaDad’s Andy Hinds that ‘mucus plug‘ can be deleted, like, yesterday. Hella yuck.
Shaka Armstrong has a list of new hashtags that are naturally at odds with itself. I bet that’s a metaphor for something. Right? #bansmegma #banYolo #BanBelieber #BanMolonLabe #BanBecauseAndWhateverWordYouDecideToPutBehindIt oh yeah, and #BanHashtags
Dadmission‘s Pete Wilgoren follows Andy’s track to cut out ‘mucus‘ and ‘phlegm‘ from our verbal diet.
Finally, Designer Daddy’s Brent Almond offers his brilliant idea to #BanBusey.
If you made it this far down, congrats. Your reward is a tablespoon of sincerity, from John Kinnear of Ask Your Dad, who offered up a simple solution to the #BanBossy word banning conundrum. How about we move #BeyondBossy? That’ll cut out the banning-words freak out and focus the attention on what is the real shit here, simply that it is time to move beyond the Assertive Men = Leaders, Assertive Women = Bossy / Bitchy trope. That Kinnear is a smart fella, and a nice young lad too. Hopefully he’ll expand on his #BeyondBossy idea. Regardless, you really should be reading his work.
What word would you like banned? Let me know and I’ll see what I can do, ’cause I got a few connections — six degrees, at all.
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