Girl guiding

[nevernotstruggling]

I've just had an email about the new inclusivity and diversify and blah plan. Is it different?

[EyesOpening]

@KatieAlcock

The plot thickens.
GG have again changed their policies and assuming this person is actually female and non binary she CAN now be a leader (I need to do a trawl of the Wayback machine to find the specifics.
So she missed a "you're wrong" and doesn't know her own organisation's policies either...

If you’re female NB you can but male NB you can’t? That’s really going to screw with their heads!

[carolinesbaby]

Performing femininity?

How does one do that?

I suspect I am not feminine enough to be a Girl Guide. I don't look very feminine. Maybe they'll ask me to leave.

Sometimes I am tempted to declare myself as Reacher (they/them) femme-presenting AFAB non-binary gender-fluid at work and see how my colleagues react. Though today I have been invited to a "Menopause Cafe" discussing medically induced menopause, open to "all genders and none". Yep.

[Theeyeballsinthesky]

Julie Bentley is now chief executive of the Samaritans


Looking at the board of trustees, a good % of them seem to work for or have worked for organisations that are also stonewall champions.

[Artichokeleaves]

I hear you Reacher I was idly wondering how the 'femme' bit will be policed and who will make the decisions on who is and isn't sufficiently - whatever the fuck 'femme' is supposed to mean. The whole point of guides was supposed to be to help girls escape limiting stereotypes and have the idea that girls can look, do and be anything they want to. Empowerment. Is it back to frilly aprons and plaits and making tea for the boys? Cos fuck that.

Though today I have been invited to a "Menopause Cafe" discussing medically induced menopause, open to "all genders and none". Yep.

Thought 1: That's going to be a wokarama I'd run a mile from

Thought 2: I have no idea who that is for, but it's definitely not for me

Thought 3: how long I wonder will it be before people running these excitingly woke events realise that 99% of their target group have no idea what they're on about and don't relate to this advertising, and aren't turning up.

[averylongtimeago]

"Is it back to frilly aprons and plaits and making tea for the boys? Cos fuck that."

No it isn't! Our guides and Rangers do a huge variety of stuff- back meeting f2f outside this term: back woods cooking, treasure hunt, den building, canoeing- some of what they are doing.

And it would be a brave Scouter who suggested that our leadership team "made the tea" at a joint event....

[KatieAlcock]

Hmm.
Apparently those two tweets are "hateful".

[Artichokeleaves]

Our guides and Rangers do a huge variety of stuff- back meeting f2f outside this term: back woods cooking, treasure hunt, den building, canoeing- some of what they are doing.

Which was what Guides was when I was a kid. But how do you tie this into the appalling, sexist, stereotyped word 'femme'?

[EyesOpening]

@KatieAlcock

Hmm.
Apparently those two tweets are "hateful".

So GG are hateful then?

[averylongtimeago]

@Artichokeleaves

Our guides and Rangers do a huge variety of stuff- back meeting f2f outside this term: back woods cooking, treasure hunt, den building, canoeing- some of what they are doing.

Which was what Guides was when I was a kid. But how do you tie this into the appalling, sexist, stereotyped word 'femme'?

How do we tie it into "femme"?
We don't.
Simple.
We use the program- and like I and the vast majority of guiders have always done, adapt where needed.

There are some "woke" leaders, who are pretty vocal on line. It was interesting to see a post (on a leaders group) from one of them asking with help planning an "inclusive" activity had I think 12 replies from about 4 other leaders.

For comparison, posts asking for help with say, a Harry Potter wide game will have pages of replies.

HQ might be pushing this stuff, but don't run away with the idea that we are all just going along with it.