When I heard Beyonce was part of a campaign to ban the word “bossy” for female empowerment, I was confused.  She is worried about “bossy” when her husband Jay-Z spews filthy and degrading lyrics on most of his songs?

If you have the stomach for it, look up the lyrics to several of Jay-Z’s songs. “Bossy” should be the least of her concerns. How about talking to your man and his hop hop buddies and ask them to ban filth from their lyrics? Call me “bossy” over any of those names!

The exposure so many kids have to these lyrics is frightening. Over and over on radio, in movies and on television, expletives fly freely. Don’t tell me it doesn’t matter. We are seeing a serious decline in civility and media play a part.

1) The co-founder, P.M. Forni, of the civility project at Johns Hopkins Unversity says that cursing is “still the language of aggression…the precursor to violence.” He sees rudeness and cursing as part of an escalation to violence. He goes on to say that words are like our hands. They can be used to stroke and hurt.

2) A study is Pediatrics revealed that children exposed to profanity in media are more accepting of profanity and its use. And being more accepting of its use also leads indirectly to physical and relational aggression.

So if hearing, accepting and using profanity can lead to more aggression and violence, why are we not curbing profanity versus letting it fly? Maybe less profanity would bring more respect to the treatment of others. What is the end goal of calling people names and degrading them with words? Why do we want to support anything that potentially leads to aggression?

If you are offended and fed up with profanity in the media, speak out. Write a letter to your local general manager of the TV or radio station. They deal with local complaints and want to keep their consumers happy. Talk about how profanity objectifies and degrades women. Ask, why this is necessary and what is the end goal of exposing our kids to cursing.

Frankly, I’d take being called “bossy” any day over being assaulted by profanity!