As you are likely already aware, Girl Scouts of the Nation's Capital, the Girl Scout Council based in Washington D.C. will be represented in Donald Trump's inaugural parade into the White House. While it's unclear exactly how many Girl Scouts will be marching, what is evident is that this particular Girl Scout Council has decided against breaking a century of tradition. They are both providing girls an opportunity to march, and girls are taking that opportunity. GSUSA, responding to queries about the local council's decision, noted "as a non-profit organization GSUSA is nonpolitical, nonpartisan, & will continue to encourage our girls to be civically engaged."
The internet appears to feel both betrayed and incensed.
I'm heartbroken. But I remember:
Girl Scout Councils and Troops organizing, running and promoting the first desegregated troops and camps in any youth organization in the US.
Girl Scout Councils and Troops publicizing to the nation that they couldn't care less about sexual orientation in girls or leaders. What they wanted was dedicated volunteers.
Girl Scout Councils and Troops marching against the Iraq war.
Girl Scout Councils and Troops raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for AIDS research.
Girl Scout Councils and Troops partnering with Planned Parenthood to raise community awareness of services provided.
Girl Scout Councils and Troops welcoming trans Girl Scouts with open arms.
Girl Scout Councils and Troops advocating for the voiceless in their communities across the USA.
What GSUSA does as an organization and a movement is to empower girls and young women to believe that their voices can be heard, their actions make a difference, and that their views are important. That they matter.
Which bears repeating. GSUSA teaches that they, girls--someday to be women--actually matter, and that they matter as FAR MORE than tools; far more than pawns; far more than voices of agreement. They matter as people. They can be actors not only in their own lives, but in their communities and across the world. Girl Scouts, above all else, empowers girls to believe in and to follow their own internal compasses. And the wonderful, amazing, heartbreaking thing about teaching girls that they matter, and empowering them to act, is that in acting, some girls and young women will invariably disagree with me, and they will take action to change the world in ways I don't want the world to change.
But as a woman--a person whose gender has always been counted on to line up behind the right cause, support our men, do our level best to keep things from being out of control--the joy and pain I feel in supporting an organization that gives young women the strength, courage, dedication and chutzpah to stand their own ground in the face of controversy, even when I disagree fundamentally with those young women, is overwhelming.
Yes, I could, if given the opportunity, strangle parents who raise girls to believe Trump is a legitimate president. Yes, these girls are breaking my heart.
But yes, I am damn proud that Girl Scouts has given them the strength, the space and the ability to break my heart. And I still believe that teaching young women that they matter is a radical and radicalizing act. And I believe that 30 years from now, some Girl Scouts will look back at things they did with pride, and some with shame. Learning and growing into your own power involves mistakes. However, I want a generation of women who were each given their own voices, even if I disagreed with what they said, rather than a generation of women told to shut up and stand in line if their thoughts didn't fit my worldview. I believe that empowering girls produces, in the end, radical women. And, as my mother was fond of saying during my childhood: "I'm not raising a 'good' 9 year old. I'm raising a responsible adult, and what makes a responsible adult is not always a good 9 year old."
As a Lifetime Member of GSUSA, a Bronze, Silver and Gold Award Recipient, a GSUSA and Girl Guide Volunteer and a former staff member of a Girl Scout Council, I have never worked to raise "good" or "cooperative" Girl Scouts. I have worked to instill in young women the radical idea that they, and their voices, are equal to ALL voices. And you know what, I'm willing to get some mud on my face along the way if it means raising a generation of women empowered to feel comfortable, present and valued.
GSUSA is perhaps the only organization of its caliber in the world where girls aren't expected to sit down and shut up if what they are saying falls outside the party line. Women and girls in our society in general are expected to be the quiet assent; the support; the steady undercurrent of approval. Their voices are valued when they fit the overarching narrative, and are all too frequently shunned if they choose to display the slightest sign of dissent.
And as much as I disagree, as heartbroken as I am, Girl Scouts of the Nation's Capital is telling girls, 'You have power; you have a voice. Use it.' I disagree with some of those girls, but I am proud as hell that they have the courage to disagree back. I hope that as they grow from 9 year olds marching in a parade I view as a travesty into engaged young women, that the radical message that they matter guides them into a better and deeper understanding of their power and to better ways to use that power. And I sure as hell know that if *any* organization can challenge the messages they are getting in this world about objectification and secondary status, and lack of value, it's the Girl Scouts. So Fucking March in that Damn Ugly Awful Fucking Parade. And I will bawl when I see you go by, because I am heartbroken that young women buy into this, or have families to buy into this, but I am SO DAMN PROUD that you have been taught to step forward and take action, and that you know your actions matter. Because almost no one in this world teaches women that. And Girl Scouts DOES. No matter who those girls are. Republican, Democrat, Trans, Straight, Christian, Jewish, Islamic, Atheist, or Purple People Eaters. Girl Scouts teaches the radical concept that as a girl, YOU MATTER.
And on Saturday, I encourage all of you Girl Scouts, Girl Scout alumnae, Girl Scout leaders, and Girl Scout staff, to wear your Girl Scout Uniform with your pink knitted hat as we rally in Washington DC to protest this illegitimate president, because that's what Girl Scouts do. We take action. Because we matter.
And that's what I learned as a Girl Scout.
