Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be Peeved off at Brownies

67 replies

christywhisty · 05/06/2007 20:20

Long story but daughter has ended up being a brownie and a cub. Cubs are fine with the idea but brownies are really not happy. They have made several comments to her about it but have not said anything to me,although I have been in touch with GG head office and they say there are no rules against being both

They are both church packs but DD went with brownies to church parade on sunday. She wore full brownie uniform but also had her friendship scarf (special scarf to celebrate 100 years of scouting).
Tonight she has come home upset because she was told off for wearing scarf at church parade as it "is not uniform"
Just think they are being so petty over it all
I am really peeved off because she nearly always goes to church parade when lots of others never turn up.
She can go as a cub in the future.

OP posts:
RosaLuxembourg · 06/06/2007 13:31

Why is she going to both anyway? Sounds bonkers to me.

FluffyMummy123 · 06/06/2007 13:32

Message withdrawn

FluffyMummy123 · 06/06/2007 13:32

Message withdrawn

Cheekylittlemadam · 06/06/2007 13:32

I also agree about having groups for girls and groups for boys and it being fine. I don't care if they do exactly the same activities.

Girls thrive in a single sex environment, and boys are calmed down by the presence of girls. Well, maybe boys don't always need to be calmed down - maybe sometimes they need to be able to let off steam with other boys.

RosaLuxembourg · 06/06/2007 13:37

What sweeping statements CLM! Brownies and Cubs do different stuff - my DD2 is a Brownie and loves it, but her friend, who is a real tomboy would hate it - she is a Cub and loves the stuff they do there. What has their sex got to do with it, their interests are surely more relevant?

Indith · 06/06/2007 13:37

Sorry but Brownies is part of a uniformed organisation, you wear Brownie uniform to it and that is that. 100 years of Guiding will come soon enough

As for girls getting in on the action in Scouting and keeping things separate. The numbers in Scouts were falling before they allowed girls to join.

CheekyLittleMadam · 06/06/2007 13:47

Why is a girls-only environment ok, but a boys-only environment sexist, then?

Over-hyped feminist shit.

FluffyMummy123 · 06/06/2007 13:47

Message withdrawn

bookwormmum · 06/06/2007 14:00

If I had a ds I wouldn't send him to Brownies anymore than I'd send dd to cubs. I wonder how many people supporting girls going into cubs would send their sons to Brownies?

Zog · 06/06/2007 14:01

I think they should both be mixed, personally

ds is a cub and dd1 is at Beavers. Still feel quite and that there are people out there who think she shouldn't be there, purely based on her gender.

Zog · 06/06/2007 14:02

If ds wanted to go to Brownies, ballet or sugarcraft, I'd support him

fennel · 06/06/2007 14:04

I like Woodcraft too because it's always been mixed boys and girls, as a central feature since it started. Which is much more appealing than girls being grudgingly permitted to join in at a later date.

And I love the way at woodcraft that if they do choose to wear uniform they are encouraged to personalise it with any old badges or marks that they like. it's a very anarchic take on uniform.

Zog · 06/06/2007 14:06

Plus there are quite a few events that our whole section are involved in, so we can participate as a family. Don't really see what's so wrong with that.

MaureenMLove · 06/06/2007 14:06

You couldn't send your ds's to Brownies even if you tried - its not allowed!

katelyle · 06/06/2007 14:06

My dd was Brownies and loved it. It was pretty girly. Girls in out area can be Guides or Scouts - the Guides tend towards traditional "female" things, which suits some girls. Don't know whether any boys have ever tried to join, though. The Scouts are much more outdoors-y, and are mostly boys, although mre girls are joining. Dd is a Sea Scout and they sail and canoe and tie knots and rush about in a ridiculously Swallows and Amazon-y sort of way.Horses for Courses, I say!

Zog · 06/06/2007 14:07

Not allowed? Blimey, Cubs/Beavers definitely the right place for us then

bookwormmum · 06/06/2007 14:12

My siblings and I were in Girls/Boys Brigade attached to the same church. Bizarrely, they had different company numbers within the same district.... something to do with the way the administration was set up.

The Church parades were always joint as were a lot of weekend activities, day camps and so on. The only things that were separate - for obvious reasons - were weekend camps for the teenagers and club nights (which were divided up by age). There simply wasn't the space available in the church hall to accomodate both groups on the same time or enough tents for both sets of kids to use at the same time (to leave alone the issue of chaperoning us!!). Besides which most of us didn't want to mix with our brothers on a night off from them.

MaureenMLove · 06/06/2007 14:16

I really depends on unit to unit what Brownies and Guides do tbh. If you get a girlie kind of leader, then thats what they'll do. My dd is a Guide and they do climbing and canoeing and all the things that the neighbouring Scout unit do. They also have a massive annual camp, where they camp with the Scouts.

Cheekylittlemadam · 06/06/2007 14:16

If a group is mixed, it's mixed, that's fine. Just don't see the bloody point of trying to enforce mixed gender on single sex groups, and don't see why boys are the ones who have to compromise in their same-gender groups, and girls don't because they 'do well' in a single sex environment.

Everyone has to conform to fitting in with what's best for girls, and boys are only acceptable if they are a bit more like girls. maybe boys are supposed to be boisterous and enjoy the company of other boys.

bookwormmum · 06/06/2007 14:21

I agree CLM.

RosaLuxembourg · 06/06/2007 14:30

CLM I don't know why Brownies don't admit boys, though I shouldn' object if they did. Have you got proof that it is because girls 'do well' in a single sex environment or is that just your assumption? FWIW I should imagine that any boy who did join Brownies would be one who did want to be in a more girlish atmosphere - the girls who join Cubs do so because they want to be more like boys, not because they want to make boys more like them. So I don't see where your argument is leading.

Cheekylittlemadam · 06/06/2007 14:43

I'll quote you this Rosa, from a post further down this very thread;

"A bit like the research that suggests mixed-gender schools are good for boys (as the presence of girls tend to calm down the whole environment) but single-gender schools are best for girls as they don't get pushed out by the boys."

And the girl guide website has a whole lot of eulogizing about how beneficial a single-sex environment is for girls.

katelyle · 06/06/2007 14:46

My dd is going to an all girls school in September, which is why I encouraged her towards Scouts so that she can mix with boys in a "getting on with rigging the dinghy" sort of way rather than a "hanging around the bus stop" sort of way. A forlorn hope perhaps!

MaureenMLove · 06/06/2007 14:50

Basically, we don't want boys in our gang! Every year, the question is asked at the AGM, shall we invite boys to join and every year the answer is NO! In any case, they are only Brownies until they are 10 or maybe 11 if there's enough space, then they can go on to join the boys in Scouting if they wish.

MrsWeasley · 06/06/2007 14:51

I help at a Brownie pack and several of our girls are in scouting too. It never been a problem for us. The children have to choose who to stand with at church parades but as guiders we respect their choice (although they usually choose us )

Sounds very odd to me that any guider wouldnt encourage children in whatever they do. perhaps i'm too nice.......nah can't be that