For those who are ill-informed, Girl Guides was formed in Britain on the heels of Lord Baden-Powell’s reluctance to allow girls join his Scouting movement. His sister, Agnes Baden-Powell, worked with him to form the separate organization. This was a pivotal point in history because up until then women scarcely were found hiking, camping, etc. Girl Guides defied gender norms in some ways, but the inherent separation of the two rose questions of gender equality in itself.

(Let’s not forget that separate but equal is inherently unequal… this applies to gender as much as it does to race.)

As a result of this British project, Juliette Gordon Lowe founded Girl Scouts of America, which 2.6 million Girl Scouts today are proud to represent. I am ecstatic to display that I am one of those girls that have been positively affected by this organization.

In 2005, Boy Scouts in the United Kingdom abandoned the idea of divided scouting and decided to transform into The Scouting Association, which is split into a multitude of subdivisions with different focuses but also includes both boys and girls who wish to pursue the leadership skills taught by scouting. In addition, Girl Guides is still alive and well in Britain and maintains itself as a girl exclusive group.

Similarly, Boy Scouts of America has recently chosen to allow girls to join their organization… and the world has absolutely lost it. Imagine girls and boys existing in the same space to strive for equality in leadership. Americans are having such a difficult time understanding that the idea of gender-segregated scouting was done away with in the very place it was originally formed. Actually, girls involved in Boy Scouts of America isn’t even a new idea… Venturing and Sea Scouting have been BSA co-ed programs for a while now. As a Girl Scout, the most frustrating part is watching those outsiders of the scouting community spit fire at the way we choose to organize ourselves even though they don’t even understand our history, to begin with.

So, why is girls being allowed in Boy Scouts such a good thing?

Firstly, it rights the historical wrong of excluding girls from the original scouting community. Yes, Girl Scouts exists now, but, originally, we were not even allowed to call ourselves “Scouts”; we were “Guides,” a separate entity entirely. It wasn’t until the program made its way to America that we coined the term Girl Scouts. The inclusion of girls in the international scouting community allows the male leaders to recognize that Baden-Powell’s decision for a separation was wrong and steeped in sexism, regardless of whether or not it was the norm of the times. Historical sexism is still sexism.

For those ready to scream back “but boys need a place to just be boys!” I hate to break it to you, but the entire world is a place for “boys to just be boys.” In fact, that saying is plastered everywhere in our daily speech and used as an excuse for boys to act more immature than their female counterparts. This is, unfortunately, a man’s world.

At the time of Boy Scouts of America’s establishment, women did not even have the right to vote. Boys literally monopolized our political world. So, at the time, the place for “boys to be boys” was in every facet of our lives… politics, the workplace, entertainment, and so on. The establishment of Boy Scouts was not to give the boys a place to be themselves, that “need” was already satisfied (and is largely still satisfied) by society itself. Boy Scouts was established as just another place to separate men and women.

Secondly, gender isn’t perceived the same way anymore. A generic “scout” label allows for agender or gender neutral scouts to merely exist. Without having to declare a label, those who fall outside of the gender binary can now exist within this scouting community, which opens doors for so many. Until recently, homosexual scouts weren’t even allowed in Boy Scouts of America, let alone trans-identifying scouts. Now, however, by opening the doors for girls to join the associating, it implies that Boy Scouts of America is throwing out the notion of gender altogether, a step in the right direction for the LGBTQIA+ community.

Well, should boys be allowed in Girl Scouts and Girl Guides, then?

Theoretically, yes, but it makes sense why Girl Scouts isn’t ready to make that move, yet. Women are still globally oppressed despite being in the numerical majority.

Girl Scouting and Girl Guides join together to create an association called the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS). Both the organizations in this association currently do not allow boys to join. However, it is extremely important to note that these organizations have long allowed homosexual and transgender girls to join.

WAGGGS’s decision to not allow male-identified youth to join the organizations is a direct result of the global inequality between men and women. Female-only groups serve to help bridge the gender inequality gap. Most of the world is for men to groom their leadership skills. In fact, the world encourages them to do so. However, the world does the opposite for women-- shaming them for taking charge by calling them words like “bossy” or worse.

The role of female organizations is critical. They carve out and create a section of the world that are dedicated to promoting women in power — something the world does not inherently do. Girl exclusive groups provide the varying thing lacking in the world and encourage girls to reach beyond its barriers and impact their surrounding community with service and positivity, therefore opening real-world positions to girls.

Should this be offered to girls? It is… by the entire world. While other factors may act as barriers and prevent men from succeeding, they do not typically lack leadership training because they are a boy. Should Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts just team up to become scouting as a whole? Totally, one day. (Side note: WAGGGS does allow for (and even encourages) male volunteers and chaperones to participate because we want men to be a part of the feminist narrative of equality.)

I hope to see the day where the need for female-only spaces is long in the past. I hope to see the day where women don’t feel uncomfortable leading, especially in front of men. I hope to see this day. However, for now, WAGGGS keeps their organizations separate to give an opportunity to girls that does not necessarily exist. Achieving gender equality will be what allows WAGGGS to open its borders.

Please, if you are outside of the scouting community, educate yourself on our history before ignorantly waving your opinion around. Understand the role of each organization before turning your nose up to the “oh-so-radical” notion that girls and boys deserve to be able to exist in the same space.

Now, the pretense that Boy Scouts did this under, is where the problem lies. Girl Scouts exists as an amazing leadership program, and Boy Scouts must not undermine that. There is a program available to girls and it is extremely effective. Boy Scouts must make this change for the right reason, not because it thinks it is suddenly being the "knight in shining armor" to save all the girls, when, in fact, we are able to and have save(d) ourselves.

As a Girl Scout, I hope to embody our Girl Scout promise and law.

“Be a sister to every Girl Scout.” I’d like to amend this by saying “Be a sibling to every Scout and Guide.” I’ve made some of my best friends (boys, girls, and gender neutral individuals) through Scouting and I can’t wait for even more people to have this opportunity as well.