I’ve noticed lately that professionals have thrown the word “ambitious” at me. So I want to stop and breakdown this word that can evoke both positive and negative feelings for the recipient.
For example, I love Wale’s usage of the word “ambitious” in his poem, “Ambitious Girl,” off of his More About Nothing mixtape from 2010.
Wale envisions his “Ambitious Girl”
“Ambitious girl, your drive, drives me crazy…
…I’m in love with your business
And your productivity is the reason I interest,Ambitious girl
See, I like the person that you are
But I’m in love with the person that you have potential to be
And all your dreams sharing with me
And your secrets baring with me
And the flaws, you ain’t even got to mention to me
Ambitious girl, you just wanna win, and you’d rather chase your dreams
Than to try to chase these men
That try to chase these skirts
That try to chase these shots with flavors that ain’t even as sweet as her
My ambitious girl,I won’t forget you
I just reflect on how I ain’t met you, yet boo
You somewhere, getting your life in order
So for this time being, I hope this open scribe might support her
Support her, or work her, she worth it
Go girl [X3],Ambition…
Wale’s poetry evokes a positive connotation when he uses “ambition” to describe a hard working woman he passionately admires, yet has not actually met.
However, long before Wale’s wooing of wondrous working women (ha, say that 5 times fast), traditionally the word “ambitious” was not used as a term of approbation.
Perhaps my earliest recollection of the word “ambitious” comes from Shakespeare. In the play Julius Caesar, Brutus accused Caesar of being “ambitious” and used it as his reason for murdering him.
“Et tu, Brute?”
Act 2, Scene 3
Brutus: “…but, as he was ambitious, I slew him.
There is tears for his love; joy for his
fortune; honour for his valour; and death for his
ambition.”
….
Anthony : “The noble Brutus
Hath told you Caesar was ambitious:
If it were so, it was a grievous fault,
And grievously hath Caesar answer’d it.
Ambition, in this sense, is prideful, selfish, arrogant, and dangerous; basically, too much ambition can cause your downfall, and unfortunately in Caesar’s case it was said to have caused his untimely death.
Lets break this down…
A desire to succeed is usually encouraged. Young people are taught to “be all you can be,” and “reach for the stars” to achieve the American Dream.
Yet this is the same thing that tends to make people uncomfortable. There is something about an individual going above and beyond expectations and executing plans that actually have good chance of being successful that is, dare I say it, threatening for some people.
There is some type of hypocrisy deep within us that loves to see people to do well, but not so well above our preset expectations for them.
When an individual defies our expectations we have unconsciously set for them, we tend to respond with amazement or resentment. Sometimes it can be a combination of both. So when I received feedback saying that something I’m working on is
“incredibly ambitious.”
When I receive a backhanded compliment…
I process it in the same way as another back-handed compliment I’ve received many times in the past:
“you’re so articulate.”
This statement statement is analogous because on the surface it compliments one’s diction, grammar, and perhaps enunciation, while simultaneously announces one’s amazement for those abilities at a level that surpasses their preset beliefs about those abilities.
I submit that the prior statement is more harmful. (Not physically, because I mean, I am not familiar with anyone being murdered for their eloquence in a major literary work, like Caesar was for his ambition.) Rather, I’m saying, that by saying someone is “ambitious” could transmit as saying that the individual is “out of their league” and this can be extremely discouraging depending on the context. Furthermore, notably in certain contexts, that may be the original intent of using a phrase like this.
Needless to say that the negative usage of the word “ambitious” is more frequently applied to women than it is applied to men these days. In capitalistic America, ambition is useful for a man and even expected in most situations if he wants to succeed. Using the term to describe a woman is comparable to saying she’s too hard, too masculine, and not lady-like; basically, she has stepped way too far out of her expected role of being at the house in the kitchen. There are articles that discuss this gender – power difference, however I will not digress off in that direction. The same “out of your league” occurrence is also apparent for racial and ethnic minorities. Once again, I do not want to go there today. lol.
Without being too long winded about this topic of ambition, I will leave y’all with a few final thoughts.
I say all this to say that ultimately I do not think being called ambitious is insulting, unless it’s done by a friend named Brutus. If that’s the case, run! However, I do think it is important to pay close attention to the context of how the word is being used. If you are around a chocolate brotha with locs who says he wants to read you a poem, you’re in the clear and you should be flattered. But if you are in a school or work situation, you might want to take note of it and be mindful.
In any case, keep pushing forward!
Victoria Renee 