Brownie scouting Autumn 2023 style

Some years I have put out a post around scouting at this time of year simply because the sights and smells of Autumn and the activities tie in so much to my experiences to the point it brings it all back in all the complications being me involves.

At one level the basic complication is just which section of the movement my little side belongs and today while girls can join scouts which has now totally ceased to be a boys thing, girl guiding is still for girls although they do accept those who medically might be boys but seeing themselves as girls are living as girls.

Given I don't identify as a girl any more than a boy that leaves me and those like me out in the cold.

Fortunately in the new-old world as a age dysphoric sissy, I can side step much of that and follow the basic rules and principals of guiding which are not so dissimilar to cub so for what would be more den or ceremonial purposes go with a wither wearing a brown skirt or adopt a suitably sized traditional brownie tunic but wear grey short trousers when hiking.

What Brownies is about is set out well in this illustration from a 1980's Brownie guide book you'd have when you joined

You may not see much emphasis on it today but Brownies did deal with the issue of looking after you nails, so they are short, attractive but not done in way that has as many ridges from bites than mountains!

As a sissy nail care does matter and doesn't it make sense to talk about it anyway?

As in Cubs, you EARN badges but where you put them differs and you need to sow them on so this handy little guide from the era of the classic brown tunic helps.

Exploring with your very own little canopy above you, looking out for all the mammals, birds and insects around you wasn't that what you loved to and you can today, having adventures.

That's why I've readopted this bit of past as being part of full and now open me.

Scouting now and then

Look for an influence in my life with its ups and downs, variances and challenges and you'll find it within Scouting.

It's always evolving not just for me personally but across the whole movement sometimes in good ways and sometimes as within how your uniform is worn like here regardless each persons achievements in the wearing of jeans, trackpants and trainers not so for what was an "official" photograph.

They do not look smart whatever use they may have elsewhere.

Being smart in your uniform, being inspected and ordered to correct your dress was something my generation grew up in scouts as the girls did in girl guides apart from school and it shows.

This was nineteen seventy-three/four, not everything was right in that era but we always looked smart but had fun, knowing our limits because we were not mini adults but were acknowledged however embarrassing it might of seemed as children and if we were running away with the notion that we were grown up, promptly reminded we were not!

Scouts then was not co-ed because scouting while originally conceived in Edwardian times for Boys had produced a whole wing for Girls and which you joined depended on your sex which pretty much every boy and girl understood.

Personally and certainly with no criticism of the girls in it I feel that was not just a breach of faith with the guiding principals established by Baden-Powell himself but a shot against the bows of the authorized section for girls.

There is evidence from a number of fields that show boys and girls do better in single sex groups with their tasks and learning tailored to each's own interests and program style and the program content can and should reflect present day needs for each.

There is a place for adventure for girls as much as crafts and so-called soft people skills for boys.

The remembrance parade

 It's a time of year I associate with both Bonfires which we used to have with elaborate displays and communal catering and also Remembrance Day parades which I attended going up and down tree lined country roads.

Around this time of the year I think about Remembrance Day and those days in my past parading with cubs, brownies, scouts, guides and the British Legion, paying our respects.

I also had to change the clocks around too as we went off Daylight saving yesterday.

Next weeks blog may be delayed as I'll be away at the weekend and probably too shattered to post anything.

Bye for now.

Being a Brownie at heart

It's been an odd year, lots of different things happening, being with new people for a day, sometimes more while I also do explore a bit more around where I am in the way I used to enjoy so much.

Scouting has always had an inner conflicted thing with me in that while as a feminine gurl but raised as a boy I am unlike some quite at one with being biologically male however the execution of that especially in the era I was brought was problematic.

Some parts of the whole back story to Guiding and from that Brownies sit easier with me, in general I like wearing dresses which just isn't an option in Cubs but I have no desire to be a girl.

It's like I'm a Cub-Brownie.

I can get by in the grey shorts they wore back then and they have their plus points for hiking but being restricted to that doesn't really fit as I want that tunic.

The whole ethos of Scouting is very much me though and I'm happy to socialize with boys, although I am a gurl and back then that was a problem.

Living more in accordance with that and the Law and Brownie promise is something I just feel called to.

Girl Guides or Scouts?

 

I am sure it must happen as Scout or Girl Guiding groups close in an area that some sort of support is offered from "the other side" although whither not that may include membership would be debatable as GirlGuiding doesn't allow Boys in and as I understand it doesn't see being a feminine boy as compatible but non binary and pre and post op transsexuals are.

Personally I feel Girl Guides may be the better option for the sissy gurl cos you know at that age you're not a boy, god knows I did back then.

It is interesting looking at the uniforms the older girl guiding units don't have skorts (skirts with built in shorts) as an option although brownies do and Scouts which is co-ed today doesn't and beyond cubs pushes "Activity Trousers" for all and no skirts or skorts which I think is remiss for an organization supposedly inclusive.

Skorts would make a good option for busy and out of door activity for both girls, sissy gurls and feminine boys.