Scouting People - WIBU to complain about this?

[BikeRunSki]

I’m actually a sectional assistant of 18 months, working on my Wood Badge, but i’m relatively new to scouting (DS joined Beavers 4 years ago) so I am not that up to speed on all the traditions.

DD (7) was in a Beaver show yesterday, where several Beaver colonies got together to perform songs and sketches. Lots of fun. It was compered by our ADC Beavers, who is a truly lovely guy. They started and ended the show with “Black Crow Spirit”, “BP Spirit” and “Meet the Gang”.

It’s “Meet the Gang” and the line “the boys are here, the boys to entertain you” that bothers me. As DD pointed out - there are girls in Beavers! There have been girls in scouting for over 30 years. In our group, girls make up more than 50% of the Beavers and Scouts and 30% of the Cubs. All but 2 of the leaders across all sections are women.

Much as “Meet the Gang” might be a traditional Gang Show song, I feel it rather sidelines the existence and role of women and girls in scouting.

I want to stay involved in scouting, and don’t want to become “that person” if “Meet the Gang” has significance that I am not aware of.

I still have the ear worm.

Advice from my DS, himself an ADC, is it’s just an old song, he wouldn’t judge your for a complaint though and would try to reach a compromise of another one syllable word, ie the guys to entertain you or the folks to entertain you if you want to changed rather than dropped.

Guys?

Guys are also male!

I don’t think is an old song, actually. But if you wouldn’t have boys singing “Mee the gang-the girls are here” then you shouldn’t have girls singing “boys”

No idea, OP, but then my Beavers don't tend to do any of that type of thing.

Does sound a little dated, though.

No idea, OP, but then my Beavers don't tend to do any of that type of thing.

Does sound a little dated, though.

This was a scouts song that was used for the theme tune, is that right?

Still tickled at the PP who seemed to think the children were putting on a show where they sang theme tunes from 70s TV comedies!

It'd be a good nostalgic night out for some of us 😁

I think Jimmy Perry actually composed it for It Ain't Half Hot Mum, not an old scout song.

Thanks ikl for the info.

Intetesting to know, I think it could be changed though for the context

Yes. YWBVU to complain about it.

However, you could have a chat and politely suggest changing the words (as suggested on P1) if they use it again another year.

Two of my sons performed in the Gang Show in multiple years and they never performed ‘The Gangs All Here’ I didn’t know it had anything to do with Scouts, I thought it was just the theme tune to It Ain’t Half Hot Mum too! They always sang ‘Crest of A Wave’

*Guys?

Guys are also male!*

For me guys is unisex, as in the team I work with I refer to us the guys at work.

“For me guys is unisex, as in the team I work with I refer to us the guys at work.”

Out of interest,why don’t you call them “gals”?

As I said, to me guys is unisex.

Gals is not, so I don’t call my team gals.

I work on a team of males and females. We all use 'guys' when we refer to the team.

'Guys and Gals' would be most odd.

My point is that nobody would ever expect men to accept a female term as unisex. Guys had only been unisex for a very short time. Why guys, not gals, or ladies, .or girls?

Language evolves - guys is a unisex term, gals is not.

en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/guy

“Language evolves“ But why did language evolve so they women had to take on the men’s word not the other way round?

I am sorry Bertrand, I do not know the answer to that.