Even if 'bossy' could be banned, there are far better ways to boost girls' self-esteem | Hadley Freeman

Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg and Beyoncé want to ban the word 'bossy' as disparaging to women. It's a good start, but there's so much more to be done. Here are my top tipsThat growing numbers of girls suffer from issues of self-esteem during adolescence – ones that can be carried over into adulthood – is not up for debate. What is debatable is what should be done about this. Sheryl Sandberg, the chief operating officer of Facebook and author of the bestselling feminist-ish book Lean In, has come up with her own typically high-powered and certainly well-intentioned solution: to ban the word "bossy". "When a little boy asserts himself, he's called a 'leader'. Yet when a little girl does the same, she risks being branded 'bossy'," she writes.It will come as a massive surprise to no one to learn that I was called bossy quite a lot as a kid, and still am (although I wouldn't have to be bossy if people would just bloody well do as I say). Yet it's never bothered me, mainly because I grew up idolising Miss Piggy and Lucy van Pelt from Peanuts, and never saw bossiness as anything other than a wholly commendable quality. But for those unacquainted with the mighty pig, Sandberg has made a video featuring herself, Condoleezza Rice, Beyoncé and others, arguing that the word "bossy" should be "banned" (in the self-censoring sense, one suspects, as opposed to the, you know, legal one) because it's a way of telling confident girls to shut up.Insults are often gendered – in adulthood at... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2014-03-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In ‘The Book of Two Ways,’ Jodi Picoult delivers another powerful story about heart-wrenching moral choices

The book takes a “Sliding Doors” approach, as a woman, on the heels of a near-death experience, contemplates her next move. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-09-22 14:35:11 UTC ]
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‘A Girl Is a Body of Water’ is a poignant coming-of-age tale about women’s hard-won wisdom

Jennifer Nansubuga Makumbi’s Uganda-set novel follows a girl caught between tradition and her rebellious urges. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-09-22 08:24:52 UTC ]
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Cape wins music icon Neneh Cherry’s 'powerful' memoir in 14-way auction

Jonathan Cape has acquired Swedish musician Neneh Cherry’s memoir, A Thousand Threads, in a 14-way auction. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-16 11:56:22 UTC ]
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Searching for Little Free Libraries As a Way to Say Goodbye

A reader on saying goodbye not only to the books she can't bring on the next phase of her journey, but to her roomie, her sister. Continue reading at Book Riot

[ Book Riot | 2020-09-15 10:35:00 UTC ]
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Rob Biddulph signs trilogy with Macmillan Children's in six-way auction

Macmillan Children’s Books has won a middle-grade trilogy from Rob Biddulph in a "fierce" six-way auction.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-14 20:58:11 UTC ]
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Doubleday wins nine-way auction for Anglo-Nigerian writer's debut

Doubleday has acquired two novels by Anglo-Nigerian writer Nikki May in a "hotly contested" nine-way auction. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-09-07 17:57:58 UTC ]
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Wiley Posts Q1 Gains Led by Digital Sales Boost

Higher sales of a range of digital and online products offset continued declines in print revenue, leading to a 2% increase in sales in the first quarter of fiscal 2021 at John Wiley & Sons. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-09-04 04:00:00 UTC ]
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Yellow Kite wins five-way auction for psychotherapist's debut

Yellow Kite has won psychotherapist and mental health consultant Zoë Aston's first book in a five-way auction.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-26 11:34:22 UTC ]
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Kuwait relaxes book censorship laws after banning thousands of titles

A 12-person committee previously met twice a month to approve or blacklist all books published in the country, for offences including immorality or insulting IslamAfter banning almost 5,000 books in the last seven years, Kuwait’s government has relaxed its book censorship laws in a move that has... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-08-25 13:26:49 UTC ]
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Jamie Oliver rustles up his 67th number one with 7 Ways

Jamie Oliver's 7 Ways (Michael Joseph) has soared into the UK Official Top 50 number one spot, selling 34,241 copies through Nielsen BookScan's TCM. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-24 18:56:55 UTC ]
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Trade-Published Romance Sees a Coronavirus Boost in the States

Unit sales of romance ebooks 'increased 17 percentage points from January through May 2020' in the US market, NPD Books reports. The post Trade-Published Romance Sees a Coronavirus Boost in the States appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2020-08-20 14:14:36 UTC ]
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Corvus acquires New Zealand bestseller The Girl in the Mirror

Atlantic imprint Corvus has acquired Rose Carlyle's The Girl in the Mirror, which debuted at number one in the New Zealand adult fiction charts, says the publisher.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-20 08:34:52 UTC ]
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With book tours scrapped, authors are finding new ways to connect with their readers

Chris Bohjalian, Mary Kay Andrews and other novelists have turned to Zoom and Facebook Live to find their audience. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2020-08-19 12:00:00 UTC ]
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Updating the ‘You Go Girl’ Book Collection

New children’s books published to mark the 19th Amendment’s 100th anniversary provide a wider lens than Alice Paul and dig deeper than “Girls Rule!” Continue reading at The New York Times

[ The New York Times | 2020-08-17 14:15:46 UTC ]
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PRH Children's triumphs in 15-way auction for Fadugba debut

Penguin Random House Children’s has won a 15-way auction to publish a "genre-defying, time-travelling" YA thriller, The Upper World by Femi Fadugba. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-11 13:52:13 UTC ]
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Headline bags Barr's 'ambitious' Middle East history in six-way auction

Headline has acquired an "ambitious" work centred on conflict in the Middle East by historian and author James Barr in a "heated" six-way auction. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2020-08-07 09:36:16 UTC ]
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Some Big Publishers Find Ways to Cope

Cost cuts and higher sales of digital products have eased the impact of the Covid-19 on the bottom line for some publishers. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly

[ Publishers Weekly | 2020-08-07 04:00:00 UTC ]
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‘No brainer’: Marie Claire launches sampling business to boost revenue and data practice

With retail on lockdown "Working in skincare, samples are the number-one way to get people into a product." The post ‘No brainer’: Marie Claire launches sampling business to boost revenue and data practice appeared first on Digiday. Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2020-08-03 04:01:29 UTC ]
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James Murdoch's exit paves way for News Corp to move further right

Analysis: Murdoch was considered a dissenting voice at the rightwing company. Now his brother Lachlan could see his influence growJames Murdoch’s resignation from the board of News Corp confirms divisive splits in the publishing arm of his family’s media empire and removes a powerful dissenting... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2020-08-01 18:24:26 UTC ]
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