Why I'm Still a Girl Guide at 18
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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