Comments on: Why I’m Still a Girl Guide at 18

By: Megan

Megan — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 22:50:02 +0000

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!

By: drewsiedrewsie

drewsiedrewsie — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 01:41:11 +0000

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.

By: SarahC

SarahC — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 01:18:15 +0000

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.

By: ACW

ACW — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 00:53:12 +0000

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.”