Girl Scout cookies
Wherein I rant about a topic I find near and dear, the Girl Scouts.
Background first: I joined the Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) when I was 9. I stayed in GS through my senior year of high school. I earned the Gold Award - Girl Scout's highest award (along with the next 3 highest awards then available: Silver Award and the Silver and Gold Leadership Awards; they have since added the Bronze Award). I remained connected to GS through college as an adult member of a local troop. I periodically check back in with the GS organization - sometimes offering volunteer skills, sometimes just reading the website. I like the Girl Scouts. Unlike the Boy Scouts (they are completely and totally independent organizations), the GSUSA has, as long as I've been involved, been an inclusive community. As a Junior I remember talking about how boys could become Girl Scouts, but the reverse wasn't true. We spoke of this with pride. In the early 1990's GSUSA officially and publicly announced that no member had to declare any religious affiliation to join or maintain their status as a member. Although they did not remove the word "god" from the GS Promise (both the Promise and the Law have changed since my days as a girl, though not by much), they asserted that any member could choose to stay silent over the word "god" and still be a full member, with no issues or repercussions. This was in direct reaction to an incident that happened with the Boy Scouts at that time involving a member (I no longer recall if it was a child or adult) who declared he was an atheist. That person was ejected from the Boy Scouts because the Boy Scouts declared that all members must have SOME religious faith.
There is a video that was going around the internet on Jan 10, 2012 (it has since been made "private") of a Girl Scout (the only name given is "Taylor)
asking people to boycott Girl Scout cookies. Why? Because apparently she disagrees with GSUSA's admittance of Transgender children into various troops. I am going to go on the assumption that this video was primarily instigated and developed by Taylor, and quite possibly other girls in her troop (as opposed to adults pressing her to do this). Taylor is articulate, has reasonable screen presence, and is about as professional as someone her age I'd expect to be. She uses direct quotations maybe more than strictly necessary to get her point across, but she's obviously done research on her subject. She is a rather exemplary model for what GSUSA strives to achieve for all its members. Taylor feels quite strongly that by depriving the GSUSA of a main fund-raising opportunity, her views will change the GSUSA's official stance.
I admire Taylor. She has decided she doesn't like the official policy of an organization in whose culture she is deeply enmeshed. Rather than whine about it, or staying silent, she developed a detailed and professional opinions piece about it. That is reason for kudos to her, her parents, and her troop/leaders for instilling in her the confidence to do this.
That being said, I am deeply and horribly hurt that MY organization could be so twisted. Not by Taylor - she is still a child. By the adults around her. MY organization - the organization of which I was proud to be a member of as a child and teen, and which I am proud of as an adult - supports ALL girls (and all children actually) in their journeys of discovery and maturation. I hope that Taylor will come to realize how her assertions that her efforts to be allowed to be who she is will not be diminished by other children also being who THEY are.
Yet I fear that Taylor will never reach that point. I've read many of the comments posted on various sites about this video. Many(not all, but a LOT) are very derogatory to Taylor. Calling her stupid. Hoping she "gets what she deserves" for being a bigot. Saying her video is poorly produced and insulting her on-screen presence. Demanding that her full name be given out so she can be found and harassed in return.
This is awful, this is horrendous. Yes, Taylor is espousing some hurtful ideas. Yes, she should be informed of how bigoted these ideas are. But Taylor is a CHILD. She has as much right to protection as any other child- gay, straight, trans, bi, or other. She did not form these opinions in a vacuum. Her parents and community - including her Girl Scout troop - have supported these ideas and helped her form these opinions.
Attacking Taylor will only serve to make her and her family and community batten down the hatches, shore up their defenses, stick their fingers in their ears, and refuse to hear the true messages of what it means to be supportive of "girls being true to who they are." And I won't blame them if they do just that. If someone attacks you, you DO NOT lower your defenses, you strengthen them. I hate cliches, but "you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar" would seem to apply here. The GSUSA should start an open dialog with Taylor's troop about inclusivity, respect, etc.
Simply demanding adherence to the policy won't change anyone's mind or bring about an inclusive and supportive community. There is a time and place for direct and blunt, and even harsh confrontation. I do not think this is the appropriate situation for that type of confrontation. It will only serve to deafen Taylor and her community to the message of inclusivity and support, rather than bring them into an educational discussion with the GSUSA.
Background first: I joined the Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA) when I was 9. I stayed in GS through my senior year of high school. I earned the Gold Award - Girl Scout's highest award (along with the next 3 highest awards then available: Silver Award and the Silver and Gold Leadership Awards; they have since added the Bronze Award). I remained connected to GS through college as an adult member of a local troop. I periodically check back in with the GS organization - sometimes offering volunteer skills, sometimes just reading the website. I like the Girl Scouts. Unlike the Boy Scouts (they are completely and totally independent organizations), the GSUSA has, as long as I've been involved, been an inclusive community. As a Junior I remember talking about how boys could become Girl Scouts, but the reverse wasn't true. We spoke of this with pride. In the early 1990's GSUSA officially and publicly announced that no member had to declare any religious affiliation to join or maintain their status as a member. Although they did not remove the word "god" from the GS Promise (both the Promise and the Law have changed since my days as a girl, though not by much), they asserted that any member could choose to stay silent over the word "god" and still be a full member, with no issues or repercussions. This was in direct reaction to an incident that happened with the Boy Scouts at that time involving a member (I no longer recall if it was a child or adult) who declared he was an atheist. That person was ejected from the Boy Scouts because the Boy Scouts declared that all members must have SOME religious faith.
There is a video that was going around the internet on Jan 10, 2012 (it has since been made "private") of a Girl Scout (the only name given is "Taylor)
asking people to boycott Girl Scout cookies. Why? Because apparently she disagrees with GSUSA's admittance of Transgender children into various troops. I am going to go on the assumption that this video was primarily instigated and developed by Taylor, and quite possibly other girls in her troop (as opposed to adults pressing her to do this). Taylor is articulate, has reasonable screen presence, and is about as professional as someone her age I'd expect to be. She uses direct quotations maybe more than strictly necessary to get her point across, but she's obviously done research on her subject. She is a rather exemplary model for what GSUSA strives to achieve for all its members. Taylor feels quite strongly that by depriving the GSUSA of a main fund-raising opportunity, her views will change the GSUSA's official stance.
I admire Taylor. She has decided she doesn't like the official policy of an organization in whose culture she is deeply enmeshed. Rather than whine about it, or staying silent, she developed a detailed and professional opinions piece about it. That is reason for kudos to her, her parents, and her troop/leaders for instilling in her the confidence to do this.
That being said, I am deeply and horribly hurt that MY organization could be so twisted. Not by Taylor - she is still a child. By the adults around her. MY organization - the organization of which I was proud to be a member of as a child and teen, and which I am proud of as an adult - supports ALL girls (and all children actually) in their journeys of discovery and maturation. I hope that Taylor will come to realize how her assertions that her efforts to be allowed to be who she is will not be diminished by other children also being who THEY are.
Yet I fear that Taylor will never reach that point. I've read many of the comments posted on various sites about this video. Many(not all, but a LOT) are very derogatory to Taylor. Calling her stupid. Hoping she "gets what she deserves" for being a bigot. Saying her video is poorly produced and insulting her on-screen presence. Demanding that her full name be given out so she can be found and harassed in return.
This is awful, this is horrendous. Yes, Taylor is espousing some hurtful ideas. Yes, she should be informed of how bigoted these ideas are. But Taylor is a CHILD. She has as much right to protection as any other child- gay, straight, trans, bi, or other. She did not form these opinions in a vacuum. Her parents and community - including her Girl Scout troop - have supported these ideas and helped her form these opinions.
Attacking Taylor will only serve to make her and her family and community batten down the hatches, shore up their defenses, stick their fingers in their ears, and refuse to hear the true messages of what it means to be supportive of "girls being true to who they are." And I won't blame them if they do just that. If someone attacks you, you DO NOT lower your defenses, you strengthen them. I hate cliches, but "you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar" would seem to apply here. The GSUSA should start an open dialog with Taylor's troop about inclusivity, respect, etc.
Simply demanding adherence to the policy won't change anyone's mind or bring about an inclusive and supportive community. There is a time and place for direct and blunt, and even harsh confrontation. I do not think this is the appropriate situation for that type of confrontation. It will only serve to deafen Taylor and her community to the message of inclusivity and support, rather than bring them into an educational discussion with the GSUSA.