Feminism | Posted by Amy CT on 03/15/2010
Why I’m Still a Girl Guide at 18
Girl Guides
While researching for an essay on feminism among young people a while back I came across an article by Kira Cochrane, Women’s Editor of The Guardian (I want her job. Please.), talking about the attitudes of young members of the Guide Association towards feminism. Apparently, only 1/3 of Guides aged 14 to 26 (Senior Girl Scouts, I think, are the equivalent) would be willing to label themselves as “feminists”. This, though, didn’t seem to worry Cochrane. What seemed to concern her most was that girls might still want to be Guides at this age.
I was shocked to read that. I’ll be 18 next week, and therefore a legal adult, but I would not even consider leaving Guiding. When researching universities for September, one of the things I looked for was whether they had a Scout and Guide Society. I’ve been in Guiding since I was seven and I love it. Why should I leave?
Guiding might not be an overtly feminist organisation, but we are the world’s largest all-women movement, and that is something I think we should all value. In Guiding’s 100th year, it’s amazing that we still manage to unite so many women of all ages under a single banner, bringing them activities which are relevant and, in many cases, empowering.
While many people are talking about how young girls are “growing up too soon”, or becoming overly sexualised at young ages, surely an all-girl space for them to be freed from the constraints placed on them by society must be a good thing? As well as being a Ranger, in a group consisting of eight fifteen to twenty-three year-olds, I’m a Young Leader with a Brownie Unit (Junior Girl Scouts). Last night, we took them to the Lord Mayor’s Mansion in the historic town where I live, and introduced them to a lot of their local history – the kinds of things they’d never learn at school. Two weeks ago, we made cards for Mother’s day. Next week, we’re looking at the human anatomy and how to be healthy, by playing a whole load of amazing games.
Admittedly, most of the things we do with them are fairly stereotypically girly – crafts, for example – but we need to engage them. When they’re all obsessed with Hannah Montana and High School Musical, and when they tend to dress in pink from head to toe when not in uniform, they wouldn’t enjoy other activities – the kind which their male counterparts (Cubs) would. They like what they do, and we give them a space to be innocent, and to be themselves. Surely the opportunities and advantages afforded them by Brownies should not be overlooked.
This, too, I think, goes for Rangers – who are my age. It’s nice, when I’m stressing about my A-levels, and about university applications, and about everything else, to be able to take two hours out per week to be able to sit round with a bunch of friends and have a good time. We, too, tend to do stereotypically feminine things – Ready, Steady, Cook!, jewellery making, pizza-and-movie night – but we also do other things – talking about politics, and feminism, or water fights and camping. The main thing, though, is that we enjoy it. It’s a once-a-week escape from reality. Why, then, would I not want to be a part of it?
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Read other posts about: Girl Guides and feminism, Girl Guides UK, Girl Scouts, Guiding, Kira Cochrane, The Guardian
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ACW @ at 8:53 pm, March 15th, 2010
My daughters – aged 10 and almost 9 – are in their fourth year of Scouts. I was a Scout off and on as a kid, because my military father transferred often and there wasn’t always a council where we moved. My daughters belong to a group that hosts troops from Daisies (aged five years) all the way up to Senior Scouts (18). I love that the group just keeps growing, and never turns any girl away. I think they’re approaching the 100-member mark! …and during the past four years, I’ve seen some of the other girls progress from Juniors to Cadettes to Seniors… half of our troop leaders are young women who have graduated high school and come back to mentor the younger girls. It’s wonderful, and (despite my recent frustration from being Cookie Mom this year), I’ll encourage my girls to continue up to and beyond high school.
You’ve hit the nail on the head: it’s a place for my girls to go and be surrounded by only other girls, who teach respect, healthy habits, and *sisterhood*.
UK snippet of Guide Law:
“A Guide is a good friend and a sister to all Guides.”
USA snippet of Scout Law:
“I will… …Be a sister to every Girl Scout.”
SarahC @ at 9:18 pm, March 15th, 2010
I haven’t had personal experience with the Girl Scout organization, but one of my cousins is, and has her Gold Award. While much of what they do isn’t overtly feminist, there are opportunities in the organization for feminism, and any situation with a gathering of women is an opportunity for feminism to spontaneously occur. I’m pretty sure one of the famous feminists came up with something like that.
Personally, I’ve been involved in 4-H since I was seven. While 4-H is officially a co-ed organization, I’m a member of a horse club, and over the course of my ten years in the program, we’ve had a total of three boys, none of whom completed the 4-H program. Other clubs in the horse program have similar numbers. In fact, even out of the Horse project, I haven’t been to any event where boys represented more than 10% of attendees.
But my point is that I’ve met a lot of different girls through 4-H. Sure, I’ve met the kind who are everything stereotypical teenage girls are supposed to be, but I’ve also met girls who work on family farms and give their horses injected medications without flinching.
We’ve done everything in our club from etiquette to various equine diseases and their treatments. One of the things that our club has done is public speaking. Our emphasis on public speaking is important to note because this is something that is not overtly feminist, but builds self-confidence and prepares girls in many ways to become feminists. I can absolutely state that my experiences in 4-H are part of how I became who I am, including being a feminist.
drewsiedrewsie @ at 9:41 pm, March 17th, 2010
i loved girl scouts. there i could be my girly girl self, i could paint pink cards with glitter. but i also got to indulge in tomboy activities such as camping and running around outside. i never thought of the girl scouts as feminist until i read this article, but it makes complete sense. it dose’nt matter if an activity is considered female or male, it matters what activity one feels the best doing. in my girl scouting, i never saw anything as “ok today were going to be girly and tomorrow were going to get dirty and be boyish”, i just saw everything as fun. thats really all that matters.
Megan @ at 6:50 pm, March 18th, 2010
Hi! I’ve been reading your blog for only a few weeks now, but this article is so great. I just finished up the Guiding Program last year, and I was award the Chief Commissioner’s Gold Award and Pin. It was great!
I remember being in middle school and having all of my friends drop out of guiding- a lot of them thought that it was really lame. I had never dreamed of leaving Guides, because it really is a rewarding and beneficial group. I really enjoyed Guiding and I’m glad someone else finds it such a fun thing as well!