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Sadly, I do think, there is a lot if putting words in the Girls heads here. I've helped with Guides, they and the leaders, hate having to have meetings that feel like school PHSE lessons, they just want to have fun!

As I said above my 16y is a Ranger (just finished her Queens Guide) and yes her group do have deep philosophical conversations about Feminism, abortion, euthanasia and religion, but there are 4 of them and they are quite likely to have these discussions while hiking up a mountain or trashing my DF's kitchen. They aren't having them because they are following some glossy leaflet from Guide HQ they are having them because they are bright young women interested in the world around them.

I don't think that's why girls like to join Permanent. I think they join because we have fun.

I don't see how it can be about promoting equality when it's targeting one gender only.

Equality movements usually do focus on the group that lacks equality.

My daughter has recently started talking about joining Guides, because of this campaign. She feels she will enjoy it more than her current Scout group, where the boys outnumber and out-shout the girls.

I suspect it comes down to how the 'teaching' is done.

Middleaged - the two are not mutually exclusive. Perhaps they are having fun because they feel they are in a safe all-girl environment. Otherwise, why have they asked to join Brownies and not Beavers or Cubs. Why do they want to go to an all girl group rather than mix with the boys? They probably can't articulate that at 7 but it doesn't mean that the sentiment isn't there.

I expect if you asked 50,000 boys and young men, they'd respond that they didn't feel listened to by society as well.

Maybe they've asked to join brownies because they are aware that brownies is for girls and cubs is mostly for boys. I expect their reasons for choosing the girls group is pretty similar to the boys choosing the boys group.

Less about sexual harassment, and more about wanting to be with the other children you relate the most to and enjoy playing with the most.

See I have teen girls and have had teen boys and they always went around in huge mixed friendship groups.

Instinctively I dislike all male golf clubs or all female activities.

It sounds so old fashioned to me.

My girls would be frankly bored with just a girl perspective and my lads visa versa.

I don't like the pink campaign and the breast cancer runs just being about women. Just as many boys and men die of prostate cancer.

Enough division by sex.

Integrate and educate both sexes together.

Do you think that the girls chose to go to Brownies at 7? Or do you think that their parents put their daughters' names down?

I "sent" my girls to Brownies.

I'm a Brownie Leader. Most parents "send" their girls to Brownies because they were Brownies themselves.

The girls do like not having boys round, yes. But its because that means we can do the "girl stuff" that MN frowns on ( though that's not all we do).

I'm guessing the people who are saying that Guides don't care about these sort of things don't spend much time with preteen/teen girls (other than their own who presumably mirror their parent's opinions).

As a Guide leader, I've heard my Guides discuss similar issues and others, many times over the years, unprompted. What do you think they discuss whilst doing all the crafts and cooking?

My teen girls talk to me about everything.

If they needed to talk to a guide leader about any serious subject I would feel like I had failed as a parent.

Not to be rude but I thought guides was all about the fun.

Must add i really admire people like guide leaders who give up their time for kids. Not criticising individuals here I think you are fantastic.

Thebody
Your girls are lucky that they have a parent who they can talk to about these issues. Other girls aren't as fortunate. For them, the only time someone will talk to them about consent in a sexual relationship is out of the house - whether at school or at the Guides.

My daughter knows how advertisers manipulate images to make the model look flawless. She knows that the women and girls in glossy magazines aren't 'real' and that their beauty standard is unobtainable.

We talk about these issues a lot but I hear her friends, and can tell that their parents don't. And the beliefs and opinions of her friends influence my daughter so it's in all our interests if all kids know these things.

Just as its in MY interest that all kids, boys and girls, are taught about consent. Because when my daughter goes out to a club in 6 years, she might meet a young man who doesn't know/care about respecting her boundaries.

Middleaged I'm afraid I find that really quite depressing. As I've already said, I'm also a Brownie leader. But I didn't "send" my daughter to Brownies (although she does have to come along with me since I have no-one else to look after her). I gave my daughter the choice of joining whichever she wanted (beavers, rainbows, cubs, brownies) - one, both, or none at all. Because it is her life and her choice, not mine. She chose Rainbows and Brownies, not me.

That's the one bif

Though I did have an argument with DH last night over the use of the word 'justice'

I won

MrsFionaCharming I'm guessing that any serious discussions you hear at guides are very much the older girls who choose to stay on and do their Baden Powell certificate etc.

Most younger Guides run a mile at anything serious or anything that feels like school.

Ours just want to race about like Brownies, especially the Y7 (11-12yo) who still really miss the primary playground and just want to be little children. When ever I was helping they just figured and talked through anything serious. These were bright girls from good State and private schools, but at 6pm they just wanted to be kids!

Fidgeted

Im sorry Permanently, in my life I'm the parent and children of 7 do what they are told.

You are being disingenuous to the point of ridiculousness, Middleaged.

Why?

I'm slightly aghast at those who think this campaign isn't necessary or "anti" boys.

It clearly isn't. I'm very worried about a number if the issues expressed, as a parent, particularly the sexualising of girls by the media.

Thanks for posting OP. and to any leaders - thanks too - you do an amazing job