A Girl Scout stands proudly wearing a khaki vest complete with her hard-earned badges, pins and memories, but when she receives her Gold Award, her peers stereotype her as a desperate cookie-seller. As a Boy Scout clad in a similar uniform displaying similar achievements steps forward to accept his Eagle Award, he is cheered on by adults and children alike and is described as fearless and brave. Why this disparity between the two sibling scout organizations? Because most people don’t know what Girl Scouts really do.
You’ve probably classified Boy Scouts as strong, daring young men who camp in the wilderness with nothing but a flashlight and a pocket knife to survive. You’ve probably assumed that Girl Scouts are just cute little girls who go around asking people to buy some delicious, yet overpriced cookies.
In reality, the Gold Award is the highest accomplishment in Girl Scouts, and it demands the same, if not more, amount of work that it takes for a Boy Scout to become an Eagle Scout. It requires spending 80 hours and about five months on a project devoted to something other than yourself. The focus of a Girl Scout’s Gold Award is choosing a community issue she is passionate about, developing a plan to address it and making it last for a lifetime.
Girl Scouts teaches courage, money management, compassion and leadership that girls remember throughout their entire lives. In fact, Hillary Clinton, a leading politician, Barbara Walters, a news anchorwoman and even Mariah Carey, a successful singer, were all Girl Scouts that used their knowledge to change the world.
In many ways, gender inequality is a thing of the past. Today, women work steady jobs, sometimes with incomes even higher than that of their husband’s. Why should gender inequality exist between Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts? Girl Scouts and Boy Scouts should work together; they are some of the future leaders of society. Respect is a key value for ALL scouts, so Girl Scouts should receive respect from Boy Scouts and those around them.