Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Stick to Thin Mints

Wow. The Girl Scouts are trying desperately to convince girls to be joiners by...letting them be themselves...-ish?

Faced with a 'nonjoiner' society, the Girl Scouts are making major changes, teaching how to keep a busy schedule and letting girls wear their own white shirt under the typical vest or sash with badges.

Oh, this is so sad. A conformist, antiquated organization is being left out in the cold as girls become individuals. Maybe some people had good experiences in Girl Scouts, but I was miserable. It forces girls with nothing in common together to compete for who has the most badges and who can sell the most cookies.

And don't think the Mama Scouts don't see that. They're working to encourage girls to sell the organization along with the cookies. Hey, they're already at your door, it's a perfect opportunity. Or maybe they'll just start spiking the Samoas. We'll all be Girl Scouts soon...

2 comments:

Kat said...

Well not everyone had a bad experience in Girl Scouts. I had a lot of fun and I credit my scout leader with being part of my early feminist upbringing. Most of what we did was volunteer in the community. No real competition was involved. It just helped me, at a young age, to get move involved in the community. At an age when I was so into myself, it got me to see that there was more to the world, along with things I could do to make it a little bit better. I wish they would push that in their new image campaign. And as for Girl Scout Cookies, they kinda of sell themselves.

Unknown said...

Thanks so much for sharing your experience. I'm glad Girl Scouts brought you so much.

And I think you've got a good plan. Community and new experience would be a great campaign for these guys. I just have a problem when they're trying to be something they're not.

And I'm sorry, but the sash/vest thing has got to go. Give them backpacks or something!