I was reading a blog post on the BUST website the other day and felt that I needed to comment on it.
http://www.bust.com/blog/2010/09/10/the-un-godly-girl-scouts.html
Hans Zeiger, a Republican candidate for Washington’s House of Representatives (yes, I know I'm British and have no idea what that means, but I do understand that he feels he has influence) had this comment to make about Girl Scouts:
"the Girl Scouts allow homosexuals and atheists to join their ranks, and they have become a pro-abortion, feminist training corps"
At home, we have Brownies and Girl Guides instead of Girl Scouts, but it's the same thing. I am a Girl Guide. I started as a Brownie and was a Seconder (the only reason I wasn't a Sixer was because I joined late), then went into Girl Guides and was Patrol Leader of the Kingfishers for a long time. We didn't have a Rangers company at that time so I went on to be a Young Leader and Pack Leader of the Brownies I had formerly attended. At the age of 17 I started work on my Leader program and as soon as I turned 18 I became a full fledged Leader. I now also have my Pack Holiday Licence, which means I can legally take a Brownie Pack on holiday.
Being part of Guiding has influenced my life. It has made me the strong, independent woman that I am today. It has taught me leadership skills, how to care for and support others and how to be organised and prepared. These are all things that are essential to my career and my life. In my eyes this is not 'feminist training', it is teaching young women how to be themselves and giving them the essential skills to be successful in their lives. If that scares you, Mr. Zeiger, then so be it.
More to the point, Guiding is fun! How dare you diminish that!
I had already decided to make a Girl Guiding square for my feminist quilt, now I am even more committed to it :-)
If you would like to know more about Girl Guiding UK or the Girl Scouts of America, visit these sites:
Girlguiding UK
Girl Scouts of America
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