Five girls from Northern California have challenged the Victorian ideals of the Boy Scouts of America and asked for acceptance into the organization. The Unicorns, a name the group of girls have given themselves, are currently waiting for a response from the national office regarding their admission. The Unicorns are not the first females to try and join the Boy Scouts. Since 1970, girls have repeatedly heard the same answer – no. In an email to reporters, the Boy Scouts explained their decision by saying, “We understand that the values and the lessons of scouting are attractive to the entire family. However, Cub Scouts and Boy Scouts are year-round programs for boys and young men.”
Fear contributes to the resistance toward accepting females into the organization. In the spring, the Unicorns attended camporee, a major scouting competition. The girls placed second overall in the competition even though they were heavily outnumbered by Boy Scout groups. They won first in team-building, second in backpacking and third in slingshot. This group of girls was able to beat many of their male counterparts, and this is what worries the Boy Scouts and their parents.
According to Julie Turkewitz of The New York Times, parents are concerned about “the possibility that girls – who already outperform boys in many areas – might start to snap up all the leadership positions.” This idea only perpetuates the lack of female leadership in our society; the idea of girls being more qualified for leadership positions and taking them from their male peers is just so unbearable that girls are barred altogether. But if parents are concerned that women will take leadership positions from men, they must also consider how many leadership positions men have already taken from women as well as how many they are currently taking and how many they will take in the future. Females stealing leadership positions from males is a problem our society does not have. Just look at the gender composition of top leadership positions in America – women are extremely underrepresented in chief executives, judges, university presidents and senators.
Those who do not think the Girl Scouts should be able to join the Boy Scouts claim both organizations participate in similar activities. Emily Shire of The Daily Beast said this battle is a waste of time. She defended both the Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts, saying, “The Girl Scouts offers many of the same activities the Boy Scouts do, and to their credit, the Boy Scouts has programs that are open to both sexes.” This is only partially true. In a study published in Gender & Society, Kathleen E. Denny compares the Boy Scouts to the Girl Scouts and how each group affects the perceived gender roles of its members. Her results disprove the ideas of Shire – the Boy and Girl Scouts differ extremely in their activities and badges. Art comprises 11 percent of Girl Scouts’ activities but accounts for only 6 percent in Boy Scouts. Additionally, scientifically oriented activities are a mere 2 percent of Girl Scout activities and 6 percent – three times as much – in Boy Scouts. According to Denny, this discrepancy shows that girls are “being systematically derailed from scientific and mathematical pursuits and professions due to cultural beliefs and stereotypes about their relative ineptitude in these areas.”
Denny also studied the content of the badges for both Boy and Girl Scouts. Girl Scout badges are dripping with “embellished femininity,” like catchy alliterations and playful puns, while the Boy Scout badges use more career-oriented language. Denny compares the Girl Scouts’ “Rocks Rock” badge to the Boy Scouts’ “Geologist” badge, noting that the lack of playfulness in Boy Scout badges will be taken more seriously as an accomplishment than the cutesy badges of the Girl Scouts.
This is not a matter of which group is better – this is a matter of gender roles in our society. If girls wish to engage in more rigorous outdoor activity, undertake leadership positions, participate in science projects instead of art and complete tasks alone as opposed to a group setting, they should be able to do so. Gender roles within modern culture have become increasingly blurred, and if our perception of gender continues to change, organizations like the Boy Scouts and the Girl Scouts will have to change as well. The young girls who would rather study the Engineer’s Code of Ethics than sell Thin Mints should be able to, and if that means joining the Boy Scouts, then let them join. Let these young girls develop and learn in the manner that is most appealing to them – this will craft the strongest, most empowered female generation yet.