Choose-Your-Pronoun Scouts

[KingsGambit]

I haven't followed the Scouts at all since I aged out of it, but I thought this was already the case? An old college acquaintance of mine has occasionally posted on Facebook for awhile about her daughter's participation in Cub Scouts.

I got Eagle but I really disliked the whole experience. Maybe the biggest thing I wish I could have done over with my childhood is not join and see what else I could have done with all that time.

[KingsGambit]

As a side note - this isn't entirely new. An offshoot of the Boy Scouts called Venture Scouts that includes boys and girls has existed for decades, and nobody ever thought it was a big deal.

[Sparko]

The girl scouts will either change their name to something similar to the former boy scouts, or maybe they will even combine to form one organization. If they don't they will probably face increasing public (liberal public) pressure and be labeled as "extremists"

They already allow transgender. I am not sure if they allow only biological females who claim to be boys, or bioboys who claim to be girls, or both. Their Trans faq is a little vague:

GSEMA welcomes non-binary youth and transgender boys in addition to all girls.
https://www.gsema.org/content/dam/gi...r-resource.pdf

[seer]

As a side note - this isn't entirely new. An offshoot of the Boy Scouts called Venture Scouts that includes boys and girls has existed for decades, and nobody ever thought it was a big deal.

I think it is important for boys and men to have clubs of their own.

[Sam]

A brand name change after revelations of a horrendous history of child sexual abuse can't exactly be blamed on "woke", can it?

Nor can a callback to another time of "purer" Scout experience avoid dealing with the fact that such a time historically incorporated rampant child sexual abuse.

-Sam

[KingsGambit]

As recently as 20-25 years ago, not only was being gay a strict no-no, but you could get kicked out for being an atheist.

Anecdotally, I know my first troop did care about that sort of thing, but when I switched troops midway through, there were a few atheist kids in there and they weren't getting kicked out. I never liked the rule. I thought it was an environment generally respectful of faith, and having non-religious kids around could only be good for them.

[Ronson]

A brand name change after revelations of a horrendous history of child sexual abuse can't exactly be blamed on "woke", can it?

Nor can a callback to another time of "purer" Scout experience avoid dealing with the fact that such a time historically incorporated rampant child sexual abuse.

The de-genderization of the title can be blamed on woke.

[Sam]

The de-genderization of the title can be blamed on woke.

I think it would be hard to retain the gendered brand name without retaining the association with pederasty. "The Male Minor Scouts", if anything, seems to call more attention to the organization's past misdeeds.

-Sam

[KingsGambit]

How common is this association? And is it still permanently lasting? I know that there were jokes about the Catholic church for 10-15 years but at this point in time, it seems one can mention the RCC without guaranteeing such a reference in response.

I really don't know because I've been out of the game for so long.

[Sam]

How common is this association? And is it still permanently lasting? I know that there were jokes about the Catholic church for 10-15 years but at this point in time, it seems one can mention the RCC without guaranteeing such a reference in response.

I really don't know because I've been out of the game for so long.

Completely anecdotal but I'd say the association has held fairly strong — though not ubiquitously — in random discussions I've had with the younger (Millennial/Z) cohort and relatively weakly with older cohorts (X/Boomer). Having the association at all is highly problematic for an organization that says "Trust us with your kid for extended periods of time" and, unlike the Roman Catholic Church, a brand name change is a viable option.

Whatever internal polling happened before this change, I'm guessing it must have been pretty clearly skewed.

-Sam

[Hypatia_Alexandria]

You have no idea about a lot of things.

You did refer to:

desecrating the name of the Boy Scouts of America

That suggests a form of blasphemy.

[Mountain Man]

You did refer to:

desecrating the name of the Boy Scouts of America

That suggests a form of blasphemy.

No it doesn't.

[Hypatia_Alexandria]

No it doesn't.

If the name of the Boy Scouts of America is being "desecrated" that suggest that phrase is deemed sacred and hence its desecration is a form of blasphemy,

[Mountain Man]

If the name of the Boy Scouts of America is being "desecrated" that suggest that phrase is deemed sacred and hence its desecration is a form of blasphemy,

No it doesn't.

desecrate, verb: to treat disrespectfully, irreverently, or outrageously
"… the kind of shore development … that has desecrated so many waterfronts …"
—John Fischer

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/desecrate

[One Bad Pig]

As recently as 20-25 years ago, not only was being gay a strict no-no, but you could get kicked out for being an atheist.

Anecdotally, I know my first troop did care about that sort of thing, but when I switched troops midway through, there were a few atheist kids in there and they weren't getting kicked out. I never liked the rule. I thought it was an environment generally respectful of faith, and having non-religious kids around could only be good for them.

My first college pastor grew up in NYC. His scoutmaster was a warlock with a preserved 18th century head he called "Otto." Otto would punish scouts who were being bad (one boy nearly sliced his thumb off).