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Austin Andre

English 102

Dr. Wynne

Feb 12 2017

Genre Analysis: Womans Rights and the Ban Bossy Campaign

Since the 19th century women have strived to gain social and bodily autonomy.

Generations of feminists have battled to liberate women and girls from the chains of social

oppression and in the last century they have for the most part succeeded. The idea of equality

between the genders is now engrained in our culture. Anyone with a sound mind, and sense of

justice recognize the importance of female autonomy. In the past few years however, there has

been a backlash against the efforts of many modern-day feminists, leaving many to wonder how

far we have really come? One product of modern feminism is the Ban Bossy campaign led by

Sheryl Sandberg, the COO of Facebook, and founder of Leanin.org. The initial YouTube video

for the self-censorship campaign attempted to promote the movement, and was met with

criticism from many. One such critic came from and an online article, Sheryl Sandbergs

wrongheaded campaign to ban the word bossy. by Los Angeles Times columnist Robin

Abcarian. With conflicting messages, and differing genres it can be difficult to compare their

effectiveness, but by looking closely one can find how drastically tone and, effective use of genre

can impact a message.

YouTube videos can be the perfect genre for introducing the public to a new movement or

idea. It is an audio-visual blend that is quickly consumed and spread even faster, however the

audience is normally hard pressed to sit through a 30-minute-long lecture. This being the case the
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content creator must use their time wisely in order to keep the viewer interested. Clocking in at

only one minute and seven seconds, the Ban Bossy video is the perfect length, being short

enough to hold even the shortest attention span. Within the first 6 seconds, the video uses upbeat

inspirational music to set the mood before even a single word is spoken. The soundtrack of the

video prepares the viewer to be uplifted and motivated, which juxtaposes with the first words

spoken. For five seconds the video cuts to multiple celebrities and industry leaders, such as

Condoleezza Rice and Jane Lynch, saying bossy and stubborn. On the last cut at eleven

seconds the music stops and world famous pop idol Beyonc gives a final bossy which is

spoken with an echo effect. The first eleven seconds of the Video act to do two things. The first is

to establish a powerful since of ethos with the viewer which is accomplished by showing many

influential people participating in the video. The second is to key the viewer into the seriousness

of the problem posed by the video but, also keeping the viewer motivated, which is

accomplished by the juxtaposition of the harsh words and the upbeat music which continues after

the Beyonc cut.

The video continues to jump from celebrity to celebrity as they recount times in their

lives when they were called bossy and how girls are often called bossy a lot growing up. The

celebrities never go into detail about these times which is a double-edged pathos sword. If the

viewer was a girl that was called bossy in school, someone that called girls bossy in school, or

has a young daughter, this retelling by the celebrities will connect to the viewers experience

which can make them feel more invested in the message. On the other hand, if the viewer is a

girl that wasnt called bossy growing up, felt justified in their use of the word, or was, most

damaging of all, a boy who was often called bossy, the retelling of the stories would be

ineffectual at best and harmful to the overall message at worst. It is also important to point out
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that while ethos and pathos are present, there is only one instance of logos in the entire video.

The logos is the statistic that By middle school girls are less interested in leadership than boys,

(Lean in) which is not only unsourced but, followed by the unsubstantiated claim that this is

because girls growing up are called bossy. At this point if the video had not hooked the viewer,

this failed attempt at logos ruins the credibility of the celebrities which in turn ruins the ethos

that was established.

For those that have not noticed the leaps in logic, the video finishes strong by reinforcing

the pathos and ethos it had previously established. The music swells as an even larger assortment

of big names, which now include both men and women, calls the viewer to action, speaking

words of engagement, urging the audience to stop using the word bossy, and start promoting

female leadership. The cuts are used to full effect, switching from person to person after every

sentence in tempo with the music. As the video ends Beyonc is shown one final time to inform

the audience, Im not bossy. Im the Boss. (Lean in). This statement acts as a final push to

motivate the viewer and brings the whole video to a satisfying conclusion, if you were still on

board for the ride by the end.

Web articles are a mixed bag. While writing allows the author to create more focused

content that can convey a great deal of ideas, many people only skim articles for general details,

and will move on if the article is uninteresting or, doesnt contain the information they want. The

author must struggle to keep their content entertaining, while still getting their ideas across.

Robin Abcarian however, does a great job setting the tone from the very start with the line

Sheryl Sandberg was born bossy (Abcarian). This humorous jab at Sheryl Sandberg, acts as a

great hook to keep the audience interested, while also setting a casual but critical tone with the

reader. It is important to note that the author never directly insults Sandberg or the Ban Bossy
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movement, and always backs up her claims with facts. For example, Abcarian states that

Sandberg is a bit insufferable only after giving an excerpt taken from a speech, given by her

own family (Abcarian). This enables the audience, no matter who they may be to laugh at the

jokes without feeling as if the article is just a slander piece.

The main point of the article is less to persuade the audience, but more to inform the

reader of the authors point of view and explain why she feels the way she does. This can be seen

inferred due to the heavy uses of first person statements. This makes the article very opinion

orientated but, a large majority of the article are statements taken from a verity of doctored

professors, government workers, and other feminists that oppose the Ban Bossy movement. This

is important because web articles arent seen by the mainstream as the most credible sources of

information. Every fact or statistic she states is cited and, she even goes as far as cite the Ban

Bossy video By middle school girls are less interested in leadership than boys (Lean in)

statistic, which turned out to be based on out dated studies. All these things add to the overall

credibility of the work, and strengthening her point of view.

While the two genre have very different messages, they do share a few things in common.

The both rely heavily on their tone and use of ethos to hook the reader in to their respective

narratives. They are both made by feminist minded individuals, which is made clear by the

rhetoric used in both works. Ban Bossy with phrases like You can change the world and Dare

to be you, and Abcarian with words like Im down with the overall goal of helping girls

Both convey a desire to better the lifes of girls in our culture. In contrast the tones and use of

ethos, logos, and pathos themselves are completely different. When the video used sincere pathos

to backups its ethos, the article relied on biting wit and cold logos, which in the end made it the

more credible work.

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To conclude, the Sheryl Sandbergs wrongheaded campaign to ban the word bossy.

article is the more effective use of genre. The Ban Bossy may have come from a good place but

the lack of sustainable evidence to back up its claims caused it to fall short.
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Works Cited

Abcarian, Robin. Sheryl Sandbergs wrongheaded campaign to ban the word bossy

Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 17 Apr.2014. Web. 17 Feb. 2017.

Ban Bossy Im Not Bossy. Im the Boss. YouTube, uploaded by Lean In, 9 March 2014,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dynbzMlCcw&feature=youtu.be