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There has been quite a bit of controversy this week revolving around the Girl Scouts social media posts–posted and then retracted with a new message–about the appointment of Amy Coney Barrett. If you’re not up-to-date, here’s what happened:
Girl Scouts posted the following message on social media:
“Congratulations Amy Coney Barrett on becoming the 5th woman appointed to the Supreme Court since its inception in 1789.” (Photos of all five justices accompanied the statement.)
There was an immediate backlash from Liberals, as most interpreted the post to be politically backing Amy Coney Barrett. Girl Scouts, which is a non-partisan organization, removed that statement and issued a second:
“Earlier today, we shared a post highlighting the five women who have been appointed to the Supreme Court. It was quickly viewed as a political and partisan statement which was not our intent and we have removed the post…. Girl Scouts of the USA is a nonpolitical, nonpartisan organization. We are neither red nor blue, but Girl Scout GREEN. We are here to lift up girls and women.”
The second statement received immediate backlash from Conservatives.
In other words, Girl Scouts had pissed off literally everyone.
Amidst all of the pissed-off people trashing the Girl Scouts, I offer my personal defense of the organization. (This post represents only my personal views; my daughter approved all photos used.)
I’ll start by saying, the following is the kind of statement that I would have written, were I in charge of such things:
Girl Scouts recognizes the historical milestone of what is only the fifth woman ever appointed to the Supreme Court since its founding in 1789. We hope that Amy Coney Barrett will ensure that all girls grow up to be women who have the same rights as men; and that she will be a sister to all Girl Scouts.
Or something like that, as I am personally of the opinion that you can acknowledge an historical milestone even if you dislike the woman who is a part of it, worry about the ramifications, and criticize her with all your heart. If we are to normalize women on the Supreme Court (and everywhere), that’s going to mean the appointment of women we don’t like. Those women should definitely be judged by their character–we don’t need to accept any particular woman due solely to her womanhood–but we, as Girl Scouts, can (and should) recognize when women are part of a milestone.
“When I’m sometimes asked when will there be enough [women on the Supreme Court] and I say, ‘When there are nine,’ people are shocked. But there’d been nine men, and nobody’s ever raised a question about that.”
― Ruth Bader Ginsburg
While some people are focusing on how Girl Scouts was segregated like everything else in America 100 years ago, we could choose to celebrate the inclusion that the organization has embraced and promoted over the years. We can celebrate the first African-American troop, formed in 1917; or the first Native American troop in 1921; or the first troop for Mexican Americans in 1922; or the first African American troop in the South, formed in 1932. Then we can celebrate the organization’s national efforts, by the 1950s, to fully desegregate, nationally. And we can celebrate the Girl Scouts’ involvement in the first Southern Negro Youth Conference in 1937; or the organization’s first Black GSUSA president in 1975; or Martin Luther King describing the Girl Scouts as a “force for desegregation”.
When the BLM movement became mainstream this year, I watched closely to see how Girl Scouts would respond as an organization. I wondered just how far the organization had come. I was nervous that I was going to have to add Girl Scouts to the organizations I was leaving or speaking out against.
But they put out a statement, Girl Scouts Stands Against Racism and Pledges to Work for a Just Society for All; and reiterated Girl Scouts and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Access, also providing resources for troop leaders; and supported the message of Black Lives Matter.
They also began to lift more Black voices, and consistently showed that they were dedicated to living up to the values they said they stood for. They highlighted stories such as the Girl Scout in Texas who earned her Gold Award by initiating a “Coaching Curls Workshop,” educating non-Black foster parents on the “unique way to care for and maintain a black child’s natural curls.” (I thought this was such an amazing project!)
And, while some might criticize the religious roots of the Girl Scout Law while the other side of the spectrum criticizes the secularism, we could instead choose to celebrate the organization giving girls choices when reciting the Girl Scout Law: to say God, to replace it with their word for God, or to omit the word entirely. (While Girl Scouts is a secular organization, the Girl Scout Law includes the promise to serve God and country.) Some of our own troop members are religious, others are not. One intends to work on the My Promise, My Faith pin, which explores the relationship between one’s faith and the Girl Scout Law.
Our Cadette troop currently has ten members. Even with just ten girls, our troop is representative of America: a mix. Some come from liberal families, others conservative. Troop members have parents who work in the government and military; as teachers and educators; in management and Law and industry and the Arts. Others have stayed at home raising their children. They live in farmhouses and McMansions and the in-between; in large developments and in the woods.
Although I myself spent one year as a Brownie and one as a Junior, most of the meaning of Girl Scouts has come to me through being a leader. When I was a kid, it meant cookies, friends, and an overnight at a primitive summer camp that made my dad wince upon sight of it. As a mother and a leader, Girl Scouts has meant so much more.
When we moved back to the States after living abroad, my daughter was about to enter fourth grade. During Open House at her new elementary school, I saw a table for Girl Scouts and signed her up, knowing that it would be an instant group to which she could belong as she navigated a new world. She’d have (I hoped) at least one place where she would belong.
And she did experience instant belonging with her troop. The girls were all bridging from Brownies to Juniors, so she entered the world of Juniors alongside the others.
Throughout that first year, she went to meetings at a playground, performed community service, and earned some badges and patches. At the end of the year, her troop leader mentioned needing help with the mound of responsibilities that come along with leading a troop (believe me–it’s a JOB). I volunteered and became a co-leader. This is my fourth year as a leader and, for all the hours the two of us put in, I wouldn’t trade it for anything.
In that time, my daughter’s troop has been pretty damn busy.
Two years ago, my daughter, along with the majority of the troop, earned the Presidential Volunteer Service Award for putting in over 50 hours of community service in one calendar year.
Those 50 hours didn’t count the 20 hours each girl had put into their Bronze Award just months prior. The troop project was titled “Supporting the Animals of Frederick County”. That involved multiple sub-projects: for the local Audubon Society, they built two birdhouses for the American Kestrel; they hand-made cat toys and held a car wash to raise money for pet food to donate to a local animal shelter, at the same time creating a cat care pamphlet to be handed out to families who adopted cats; and they supported Nature Abounds turtle awareness efforts by advocating for turtles in the Turtle Ambassador program.
The girls currently working on their Silver Award projects will need to put in another 50 hours on one project alone. And then, when they bridge to Senior/Ambassador levels and work on their Gold Award (the equivalent to the Boy Scouts’ Eagle Scout award–spread the word, because more people should know that), they will put 80 hours into just one project. In order to earn our council’s Silver Trefoil, they will need to put in 100 hours of community service spread across multiple categories, including local government service, environmental service, global service, service to their troop/service unit/council, etc.
Are you keeping track?
By the time a Girl Scouts Ambassador graduates high school, she could have completed hundreds of hours of community service. HUNDREDS.
The Gold Award is earned by scouts who identify a community need and take action, which our local girls are doing. One girl scout from our service unit is currently working on constructing fishing line recycling containers in order to protect marine life. One girl is creating a local composting program. One girl is building a life-size sensory horse structure for a local stable where children with special needs take horseback riding therapy (they’re often scared of live horses at first, so her horse will familiarize them). Last year, a girl organized a band/music open house with middle school teachers from the district, for fifth grade band students, after she learned of the attrition of students as they moved from elementary to middle school.
Before they’re able to work on the Bronze, Silver, or Gold Award, at each level, the girls work on a “journey,” which involves choosing one of the approved program topics and learning about it before taking action on that particular topic. Our troop worked on the “MEdia” journey. As we discussed media, we examined Girl Scout advertisements and PSAs from the past 100 years. We talked about what it meant, for example, when an advertisement said “Be a Girl Chemist!” (not just “a Chemist”) and we examined the types of products advertised in the old Girl Scouts magazine, American Girl.
When we were examining Girl Scout media, we chuckled at the magazine pages showing Girl Scouts sewing flags during WWII. It seemed such a foreign concept. Who knew that just a few months later, our troop would be sewing masks as the country battles a pandemic?
As soon as COVID-19 began to shut down the world, Girl Scouts all across America were among the first to sew thousands of masks. Our girls were involved in making or sewing masks, cutting fabric, and creating PSAs for hand-washing and social distancing. (My favorite was one troop member’s animated video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nJl1UNY6n8.)
Our girls had been sewing the year before, too, making cough pillows for a local hospital.
Across the country, local Girl Scout leadership reflects its immediate region. There are Facebook groups for more traditional leaders and groups for more progressive leaders. Both have the same purpose: to discuss how to offer the girls the best Girl Scout experience we can. To help them grow into strong women. To promote community service. To expand their knowledge, skills, and experience.
Girl Scouts are prohibited from political activity in uniform, including campaigning for candidates, but Girl Scouts have marched in every presidential inauguration parade for just over 100 years, regardless of who was elected.
Official Girl Scout badges, which go on the front of the uniform, include environmental badges, STEM, entrepreneurial, art, first aid, camping, career paths, and more. Our local Council patches (worn on the back of the uniform with other non-official patches earned through requirements or received for an activity) include patches for learning about Women’s Suffrage, Discovering Hispanic Heritage, the Inauguration, Endangered Species, Inclusion, and more.
Our troop just earned their Women’s Suffrage Centennial patch.
Girls can also earn patches from other councils and troops, and even through company-sponsored programs. My daughter is working on a Black Lives Matter patch (which she was very excited to hear about); later in the queue, she has the Racism Has No Place Here patch, the Racial Justice patch, and the I Dissent patch. The troop recently earned a DEA Red Ribbon Week patch through the Drug Enforcement Administration. A few girls are going to work on the Mental Health Awareness patch through the International Bi-polar Foundation and the troop plans to do a company-sponsored Solar Energy patch.
Girl Scouts are part of a larger organization, the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS). Our troop has held a virtual meeting and exchanged letters with a German Girl Guides troop. My daughter is hoping to visit the Swiss Chalet in Switzerland (please, COVID, don’t be a thing that year). Every year, we participate in activities introducing girls to different countries on World Thinking Day. The girls are also working on United Nations Challenge Badges: the troop is doing the Forests badge and some may work on the Voices Against Violence badge.
The majority of the activity I’ve described has taken place over the past three years. Three years. That’s what these girls have been doing outside of school and sports and church and the rest of their now-teenage lives.
So. What do I choose to think about when I think about Girl Scouts?
Belonging – Community Service – Inclusion
Feminism – Tradition – Spirituality
Leadership – Education – Inspiring Change
I think of the tear in my eye as I watch the girls sing Christmas carols at a nursing home, the pride as we pin on their awards, and the laughter as girls walk around in a Thin Mint costume during cookie booth sales.
Girl Scouts has traditional roots and progressive roots. Sounds dichotomous, I know. But those values can coexist, and they do.
In Girl Scouts.
11/1/20 Edited to correct typos, repair link.
Great Blog! I stumbled onto this while purposely strolling through Facebook to escape from the rhetoric and negativity all around about everything. I was not a Girl Scout as a child, but I have been a Girl Scout Leader for 25 years. It is through this organization I found my voice, confidence, value, and purpose. I am a better person because of the Girl Scout Movement. It is my mission every week to provide an environment for the girls in my troop where they too can become girls of Courage, Confidence & Character. These girls are become leaders now who will do some amazing things to make this world a better place. Thank you for being a positive voice.
Annette Talbert
This is wonderful. I am a 77 year old GS leader for my granddaughter & a previous GS myself. This is an amazing article that should be spread to all. So hard defending GS during these times. An article that I cherish. Thanks so much for letting us all see the light.
Thank you–and how awesome that you’re still active in GS! I hope we’ll quickly move past this and get back to focusing on the girls.
Great blog. Nice to hear the positive things about Girl Scouts. Tired of hearing the clutter of voices that divides everything into “my way not yours”.
Congratulations to you and your troop. Keep up the good work!
Thank you. I can’t say enough good about them.