Comrade F&F Posted October 11, 2017 Share Posted October 11, 2017 This came into my newsfeed today: http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/11/us/boy-scouts-will-allow-girls-to-join/index.html This makes me pretty happy. I recall back when I was in grade school, Boy and Girl scouts were trying to recruit students. The Girl Scouts enticed us with "Oh yeah! We're going to do archery next week!!" Me, with my misty starry eyes head over to the center. But upon entering, everything was pink flowers and sparkles, and the archery equipment? Frilly pink bows with toy arrows and suction cups at the end. I went 'nope', turned around and left. Now we just need to wait for Girl Scouts to let boys join. Link to post Share on other sites
TheSmokingSkellie Posted October 11, 2017 Share Posted October 11, 2017 Fuck it, just call it Scouts and let everyone join in. Link to post Share on other sites
A shard of glass Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 I concur with TheSmokingSkellie.... I think that it should just be called "The Scouts" or "Scouts", and then everyone can be included :/ Link to post Share on other sites
Comrade F&F Posted October 12, 2017 Author Share Posted October 12, 2017 8 minutes ago, TheSmokingSkellie said: Fuck it, just call it Scouts and let everyone join in. Lol, YES!! So much yes!! Link to post Share on other sites
Salted Karamel Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 Yeah, gendering and segregating is dumb. Why do we spend so much of children's childhood teaching them that boys and girls need to be different and how to be their respective assigned genders? Just let them fucking be. Link to post Share on other sites
LeChat Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 The Scouts groups sound a little antiquated or behind the times, for them to finally decide to stop segregating according to gender only recently. I grew up playing sports with my male friends, decades ago. Link to post Share on other sites
erf Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 I'm not going to give my opinion on this because I'd get attacked no matter what I say but if you want girls to join then just call it "scouts" and the girl scouts should either merge with the boy scouts or let boys in. Link to post Share on other sites
RoseGoesToYale Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 Wow, I'm pretty surprised! But I've never been a fan of the separate Boy and Girl Scouts. The Girl Scout chapter I was in briefly as a kid was very centered on female gender roles (cleaning, cooking, dancing, etc), without too many "scouty" things. I would've loved the chance to join Boy Scouts. I have only one condition for a merger, though... I want to see more frequent Girl Scout cookie sales. Link to post Share on other sites
Groobly Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 That's really cool of them! I honestly wish the scout things for kids just weren't separated at all and there was one massive gender neutral scout group, but this is still awesome!Do the girl scouts allow boys in yet? EDIT: Oh, sorry. I missed the end of your post. I guess not. Link to post Share on other sites
Lirpaderp Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 I really wanted to do boy scouts. I did girl scouts (at that point brownies) but we never did any of the same things. My brother got to go hiking and learn stuff that I wanted to know, while I did arts and crafts that he'd rather do. Link to post Share on other sites
butterflydreams Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 I did more crafts and stuff in Boy Scouts than my sister ever did in Girl Scouts. It all depends on the chapter. I don’t feel there’s anything wrong with Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. Sometimes for some (maybe many) people, gender segregating is useful. Maybe the boys just want to be among their friends for a while without any girls around. You can’t tell me girls/women don’t do the same exact thing, *cough* michfest *cough* Link to post Share on other sites
Salted Karamel Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 11 hours ago, Hadley167 said: Maybe the boys just want to be among their friends for a while without any girls around. They probably do, but that's because young children are taught that they can't be friends with the opposite gender because of bullshit concepts like the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts indoctrinating them with heavily gendered stereotypes. Boys learn that they can't be friends with girls and girls learn that they can't be friends with boys. It's not something that comes naturally, but happens as a consequence of getting teased and taunted by peers and parents alike for having other-gender friends. Link to post Share on other sites
SkyWorld Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 I'll admit that I have not been part of the scouts when I was younger, so I'm not too familiar with it first hand, personally. According to the news, there's now quite the drama between Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts since they've both been lacking in members (Boy Scouts are allowing girls now to gain more members). Thus... causing some beef between the two since even some parents are switching their girls from Girl Scouts (for several reasons). Anyway, based on this information, my opinion, I feel like Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts could join together and just be called The Scouts or Scouts of America. I personally think gender segregation is more harmful than helpful. Reasons being is that both boys and girls can benefit from learning things rather than exclusively things associated with the gender roles. Otherwise it would be pretty limiting on their experiences. It'll also be a great way for them to interact with each other and spend more time with family members. I also feel like it would be up to the times. I mean, sure, I can see the benefits from gender segregation, I guess... I still feel like it's more harmful than helpful though. Though, perhaps there could be a compromise? Maybe have Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and Scouts that are co-ed. Link to post Share on other sites
butterflydreams Posted October 12, 2017 Share Posted October 12, 2017 33 minutes ago, katydidd said: They probably do, but that's because young children are taught that they can't be friends with the opposite gender because of bullshit concepts like the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts indoctrinating them with heavily gendered stereotypes. Boys learn that they can't be friends with girls and girls learn that they can't be friends with boys. It's not something that comes naturally, but happens as a consequence of getting teased and taunted by peers and parents alike for having other-gender friends. I totally disagree with this. I think it's a largely innate thing. And if boys want to just be boys among themselves, what's wrong with that? Girls can do the same thing. Nothing wrong with that either. They can do that AND know that they can still be friends with each other. These aren't mutually exclusive things. Boy scouts didn't teach me I couldn't be friends with girls. Other girls taught me that. Link to post Share on other sites
Groobly Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 13 minutes ago, SpoopyWorld said: I'll admit that I have not been part of the scouts when I was younger, so I'm not too familiar with it first hand, personally. According to the news, there's now quite the drama between Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts since they've both been lacking in members (Boy Scouts are allowing girls now to gain more members). Thus... causing some beef between the two since even some parents are switching their girls from Girl Scouts (for several reasons). Anyway, based on this information, my opinion, I feel like Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts could join together and just be called The Scouts or Scouts of America. I personally think gender segregation is more harmful than helpful. Reasons being is that both boys and girls can benefit from learning things rather than exclusively things associated with the gender roles. Otherwise it would be pretty limiting on their experiences. It'll also be a great way for them to interact with each other and spend more time with family members. I also feel like it would be up to the times. I mean, sure, I can see the benefits from gender segregation, I guess... I still feel like it's more harmful than helpful though. Though, perhaps there could be a compromise? Maybe have Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and Scouts that are co-ed. Agree with most of this. The thing is that the girl scouts just doesn't offer the same things the boy scouts does. They're very gendered in what the teach the scouts (girls bake and sell cookies, boys go out and learn how to survive in the wilderness), so I don't blame people for putting their daughters in the new and improved Boy Scouts, it's way more helpful. However, if America just stopped being so obsessed with traditionalism and accepted the sexes don't need to be so rigidly separated, especially with children, then these two organizations could join together and just become The Scouts. That's the best possible ending for all of this. As for the compromise, I don't think it'd work. The Scouts would just be superior in every way, and these two organizations would absolutely bleed numbers. The real solution, like you said, is just make The Scouts. Link to post Share on other sites
butterflydreams Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 11 minutes ago, Groobly said: boys go out and learn how to survive in the wilderness What boy scouts was this? We did a bunch of crafts in my group. I didn't learn shit about surviving in the wilderness. Anything that I know about that stuff I picked up from my dad, who also taught my brother and sister. I'm sorry for being such a stickler on this but why do we always have to remove gender from everything? Gender isn't bad. Separating by gender isn't necessarily bad either. Dammit I like being a girl, and I like spending time with just my girlfriends. Sometimes I like to spend time with my guy friends too. It's all about balance, not nullification. Our differences strengthen us and give life the spice that makes it worth living. Link to post Share on other sites
SkyWorld Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 17 minutes ago, Groobly said: As for the compromise, I don't think it'd work. The Scouts would just be superior in every way, and these two organizations would absolutely bleed numbers. The real solution, like you said, is just make The Scouts. Good point. I feel like if that was the thing, they'd just meet the same inevitable fate. That's why Girl Scouts are upset that they've already lost lots of members and would lose even more members to Boy Scouts now accepting girls. "The Scouts" would indeed be more likely to succeed with the number of their members. Link to post Share on other sites
SkyWorld Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 2 minutes ago, Hadley167 said: I'm sorry for being such a stickler on this but why do we always have to remove gender from everything? Gender isn't bad. Separating by gender isn't necessarily bad either. Dammit I like being a girl, and I like spending time with just my girlfriends. Sometimes I like to spend time with my guy friends too. It's all about balance, not nullification. Our differences strengthen us and give life the spice that makes it worth living. Eh, I don't think you have to be sorry for your opinion. I see both sides, I just so happen to have the opinion that it would be better if they were just together compared to be separate. There's "pros" and "cons" to each, and the way I see it, I just so happen to think there's more "pros" if they were together than separate. Link to post Share on other sites
Groobly Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 21 minutes ago, Hadley167 said: What boy scouts was this? We did a bunch of crafts in my group. I didn't learn shit about surviving in the wilderness. Anything that I know about that stuff I picked up from my dad, who also taught my brother and sister. Maybe I'm thinking of something else. I wasn't actually in The Scouts, so I'll take your word for it. 22 minutes ago, Hadley167 said: I'm sorry for being such a stickler on this but why do we always have to remove gender from everything? Gender isn't bad. Separating by gender isn't necessarily bad either. Dammit I like being a girl, and I like spending time with just my girlfriends. Sometimes I like to spend time with my guy friends too. It's all about balance, not nullification. Our differences strengthen us and give life the spice that makes it worth living. It's not bad in all contexts, but I think it CAN be bad, and in this case it is. It's dividing two organizations for no reason, and when the superior organization decides to start accepting in members that could have been in the other one, it causes an unnecessary feud that could be solved by being gender neutral and combining, which would pretty much fix all of their issues. It's not been done yet because of an American obsession with tradition, though, and I just personally find that foolish. I'm with you on everything else, though. What people choose to do in their personal lives is none of my business, and obviously we shouldn't ignore the differences the sexes have. I just think we shouldn't always and constantly be segregated on that basis, especially in this instance. Link to post Share on other sites
LeChat Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 27 minutes ago, Groobly said: Maybe I'm thinking of something else. I wasn't actually in The Scouts, so I'll take your word for it.... I remember my father mentioning that when he was in boy scouts, his group would go on camping trips, where they learned how to pitch tents, knot ropes, etc. and earned badges for doing those things. So, I, too, thought that all Scouts' groups went camping. But, since I didn't go to Scouts either, I glanced at the current Scouts' pages. They mentioned that not all regional groups take camping or wilderness trips. Link to post Share on other sites
Groobly Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 2 minutes ago, InquisitivePhilosopher said: I remember my father mentioning that when he was in boy scouts, his group would go on camping trips, where they learned how to pitch tents, knot ropes, etc. and earned badges for doing those things. I didn't go to Scouts either, so I glanced at the current Scouts' pages. They mentioned that not all regional groups take camping or wilderness trips. That's interesting. I wonder why? Surviving in the wilderness is pretty much useful no matter where you are. Link to post Share on other sites
LeChat Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 Yes! That's what I thought, too! I was kind of jealous that both of my parents grew up going to camps during the summers and learning all different types of things or sports, like archery and swimming. I've never tried archery, and I don't think I know how to swim correctly, because I become tired out very quickly, even though I haven't swam very far. They didn't send either my brother or me to any of them. Link to post Share on other sites
SkyWorld Posted October 13, 2017 Share Posted October 13, 2017 Hmph, I wish I had went to camps more, and maybe I could be more tolerant of the natural world and not be so afraid of bugs. Link to post Share on other sites
F1shCake Posted October 14, 2017 Share Posted October 14, 2017 They already do this in the UK so... Link to post Share on other sites
everywhere and nowhere Posted October 14, 2017 Share Posted October 14, 2017 On 12.10.2017 at 1:48 AM, Feys&Florets said: Me, with my misty starry eyes head over to the center. But upon entering, everything was pink flowers and sparkles, and the archery equipment? Frilly pink bows with toy arrows and suction cups at the end. I went 'nope', turned around and left. Horrible. Does everything made for girls have to include all that pink brainwashing? Link to post Share on other sites
Just Me! Posted October 14, 2017 Share Posted October 14, 2017 I left GirlGuiding (UK Girl Scouts) because gendering. They should absolutely combine. Link to post Share on other sites
Luftschlosseule Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 Oooooh. That explains why Donald Duck's nephews - always forget their english names - had no girls in their scout's group! I always wondered about that. Here in Germany, you just have scouts. And they don't sell cookies. Link to post Share on other sites
Calligraphette_Coe Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 On 10/12/2017 at 7:15 PM, katydidd said: Boys learn that they can't be friends with girls and girls learn that they can't be friends with boys. It's not something that comes naturally, but happens as a consequence of getting teased and taunted by peers and parents alike for having other-gender friends. Or beat up. I grew up sooo alone because of all this. I didn't feel as if I could confide in either gender about how I felt and there was always some stumbling block placed in one's path of evolutionary psycholoy origin. I was all like 'Let me out of the pool. I can't swim.' A tangent in a world of circles and squares. Link to post Share on other sites
LeChat Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 7 hours ago, Luftschlosseule said: Oooooh. That explains why Donald Duck's nephews - always forget their english names - had no girls in their scout's group! I always wondered about that. Here in Germany, you just have scouts. And they don't sell cookies. Here they are. Yes. I grew up identifying with, and envying, male characters in books, T.V. shows, etc., more than the female characters because the male characters had hobbies and life choices that were what I liked or how I felt. (i.e. a single life, not interested in or focused on dating, romance, having children, etc.) So, this means that Germany's scouts' groups have all gender identities participating in activities together, correct? Wow. I wonder how many years they've been doing that. Link to post Share on other sites
All the little Lights Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 I am in a youth group similar to scouts that isn't gendered, which I actually like. I see that it is good that sometimes girls and boys can be separate, but I think they should still be allowed to choose what they want to do, and not get pink-brainwashed:-D Also, the kids should get to decide if they want to be in a boys, girls or all-genders group. And I think what you do in such a youth group is dependent of the people that are in it, and can differ from group to group. I realize that often when I talk to people in other youth groups (even from the same organization). Link to post Share on other sites
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