Should we "Ban Bossy"?

Should we "Ban Bossy"?- Chelsi Hudson

The Title of this Huffington Post article, "When A Boy Asserts Himself, He's a Leader, When A Girl Does, She's Bossy," is much like the controversial Suave campaign that we watched in class. The difference being instead of featuring beautiful, impeccably dressed models posing as professional business women (the majority of whom are white), it is focused on young girls from varied ethnic and racial backgrounds. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/11/ban-bossy-video_n_4937367.html
This topic is always one of interest for me. Undoubtedly because I grew up being stereotyped in this way, and in some ways, continue to be so in my adult life. These amazing girls posit the very real effects, as well as possible future ones that will result from societies continued acceptance of the gender hierarchy that assigns specific personality traits as acceptable or unacceptable according to gender. One girl says, "Here is where I will not lead the defense of a groundbreaking case." Another says," Here is where I wont ask the questions that change the conversation," and another, "Here is where I will doubt myself," "Here is where I will stop raising my hand," "Here is where I will start being interrupted."  In First Impressions of Sarah Palin  (D. Harp, et al) reference the Gender schema theory as to why this is.
Gender schema theory emphasizes the dominant role of gender in not only grasping but also processing knowledge and beliefs and guiding behavior in a given culture (Steinke, 1998). Bem’s gender schema theory explains how girls and boys exposed to cultural definitions of maleness and femaleness—embedded in discourse and social practices—will identify with them. 
Because it is embedded in our knowledge that men have historically been the decision makers, the leaders, we have accepted that certain behaviors are associated and justified by this fact. And because women are not associated with this image in our minds, they experience an inverse reaction. While men are assertive, driven, hardworking, and motivated, women are pushy, aggressive, know-it-all, and bossy. So who cares about what people think of you, ladies? Who cares that they call you these names behind your back and attribute your drive or success to negative assumptions of who you are? After all, gossip and judgement are specifically female traits anyway, right? Wrong.
As these girls point out, this male/female, masculine/feminine associations guide their behavior, and determine social practices. Because girls listen to and are aware of the value of masculinity over femininity, but only when appropriated by men, it affects their behavior, their identity, their beliefs about the world.
This video calls for the banning of the word bossy, which is a bit impractical, but warranted all the same. You never hear a guy being referred to as bossy. It is a very gender specific word. Maybe if it was (banned), young girls would not stop raising their hands, asking the questions, and refuse interruptions. Maybe not using that word, and others like it, could have a drastic impact on female self esteem. Maybe, just maybe, it would begin to question the hierarchy that exists, and work to start leveling the playing field

Intercultural PR-Cultural Sensitivity in the Health Industry

Cultural Sensitivity in the Health Industry- Yessenia Cano

In class today we discussed the importance of cultural sensitivity and awareness in the health industry of a country, specifically the United States. M.D. Chen’s article talked about a Chinese family that suffered generations of liver cancer and how it was the children of the parents who started digging for information and trying to learn about different treatments for their liver cancer. The article went on to talk about the complications cultural insensitivity can cause with someone’s health because the doctor is unaware of how to interact with this person with a different background and they don’t realize something is wrong (Chen, 2009).

This reminded me of my personal experiences with doctors in the U.S. and how some were completely insensitive to my culture and made assumptions without trying to get to know me. For example, I was raised in a conservative religious Mexican family, and so I was extremely shy when getting a physical or talking about personal issues with the doctor. Because of this the doctor assumed there was something mentally wrong with me and I was required to go to counseling. Many of my family members don’t speak honestly with their health care providers because they either can’t speak English well or they don’t trust this person. It was an interesting debate in class, whether doctors and hospitals should learn to adapt to these different cultures or does the individual have to adapt and accept the western health practices? It should be a balance of both, but this is just another example of the importance of intercultural communication and learning how to be open and sensitive to those that are different from what we are used to.

Resources

M.D. Chen, W. Pauline. (16 July 2009). Bridging the Culture Gap. The New York Times. Retrieved on 24 February 2014 from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/16/health/16chen.html?_r=0&pagewanted=all

Intercultural PR- Every Voice Makes a Difference

Every Voice Makes a Difference- Yessenia Cano

           

Requena’s article analyzed Transparencia, an independent organization seeking to report the truth in politics in the late 1990s and early 2000s in Peru. I felt that the article showed the importance of letting your voice be heard and not assuming that just because you are part of the minority you cannot make a difference. Politics were very corrupt in Peru, and the president at the time, Fujimori, was rejoicing in the moment and planning to run again for presidency. Through bribery, Fujimori influenced all major media sources in the country to always report him in a favorable light, and so Peru’s citizens were robbed of knowing the real situation. In 1996 Transparencia was created by ever day Peruvians with the mission to spread the truth of the situation to all regions of Peru and make sure that journalists received the hard facts and people could begin to see the corruption of Fujimori. They published a paper called Datos Electorales where they publicized accurate information regarding the elections and such, and with time Transparencia was able to establish itself as a neutral trusting organization that people relied on, and was a key player in Fujimori’s downfall (Requena, 2008). This was a good article in showing that anybody can make a difference in communications, you don’t have to be in a position of power to be heard or to change life for good. Granted it takes a great effort and work, but if a neutral organization was able to help in overthrowing a corrupt president, than anything can be possible!

Resources

Requena, Carlos Jose. (2008). Transparencia: The Importance of Neutrality Providing Objective Information in a Difficult Political Situation. The Institute for Public Relations. 163 – 180.