Girl Scouts Sues Boy Scouts & This Better Not Effect My Thin Mints
*I’ve been made aware that it’s ‘affect’ not ‘effect’ but I’m not changing it because I’m a big stubborn dummy face. Anyways,
Via Reuters:
The Girl Scouts of the United States of America filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against the Boy Scouts of America on Tuesday, after the Boy Scouts decided to drop “Boy” from its namesake program and start welcoming older girls.
Starting next year they’ll just be called ‘Scouts BSA’ & girls will be allowed to reach Eagle Scout status, too. It’s about time people of any gender can rock bad khaki blazers & acne while doing good in the community.
(Side note – there’s always been a little tension. The Boy Scouts once sued the Girl Scouts in the 1920’s for using ‘Scout’ in their name so it’s really coming full circle here.)
Started in 1912, the Girl Scouts was meant to empower girls by promoting confidence, leadership characteristics & active citizenship through activities like camping, community service, learning first aid, etc… and it’s certainly done a lot of good for a lot of young women, but experiences have differed widely. I’m pretty ignorant on the topic now, but I was in it decades ago so I’m moving forward with my opinions…
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My time in the Girl Scouts is fuzzy because I was so young & I’ve killed a lot of brain cells since then but I do remember being bummed by the whole thing. I wanted to be out in the woods exploring & getting dirty, but we spent most of our time in the elementary school gym doing crafts like gluing dried garbanzo beans to construction paper in neat shapes? (Glue was delish tho.)
When our camping trip got cancelled due to the infamous Blizzard Of ’96 I was devastated because I thought it was finally our time to build tents, start fires, make s’mores & perhaps even get to stab things with knives?! Basically, all the fun stuff I daydreamed the boys got to do. I recall leaning against our back sliding glass door & staring dramatically as the first flakes began to fall, doomed to badges on crafting & domestic skills.
But then we had a make-up camping trip in Spring!
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Annnnnnd we stayed in cute cabins with bunks & made some tie-dyed socks. That’s literally all I remember besides feeling incredibly disappointed. Again, I realize every ‘troop’ is different & that’s just my own experience but it wasn’t great. I quit pretty soon after. That’s why I was excited to see the Boy Scouts letting girls join up last year.
If we’re being honest it was probably less of an equality thing & more because they’re just losing numbers & need the boost, but still. Maybe it would give girls more of a choice to veer away from the kind of ‘scouting’ I experienced if that’s not their thing.
The Girl Scouts haven’t taken kindly to this happening & this move to sue over the name change is the latest in protests against their counterpart. I say save the trouble & combine them both into one big thing, especially because I’m lazy & if I ever have kids I might be able to knock out 2 weird scout meetings with one stone.
Plus most other countries already have co-ed scout movements instead of boy/girl & it’s not a big deal. One of my younger gal relatives in Ireland is in their co-ed version of the scouts & they go camping & such all the time & nobody is triggered by the dynamic & it’s fine. You know what? I’m just gonna start my own troop. Bar Scouts? Stool Troop? I’ll figure it out. In the meantime I’m having a popcorn & cookie sale soon. The goods aren’t in yet but my Venmo is open if you want to get in on it early before things sell out.
In closing here’s my top 5 for no reason:
5) Shortbread
4) Do-Si-Dos
3) Samoas
2) Tagalongs
1) Thin Mints