Round and round the Somethings go...
Nov. 22nd, 2022 03:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blogcutterMy granddaughters used to enjoy wearing their mother's old Brownie uniform. I'm not sure if the family still has it around but even if they do, I rather suspect the kids may all have outgrown it by now. Of course, the uniforms of the Guiding movement are updated every few years to reflect current styles and Guide activities.
Soon, however, not only will the Brownie uniforms be obsolete - the name "Brownies" will be too! The rationale for this move is discussed on the Girl Guides of Canada page:
https://www.girlguides.ca/WEB/GGC/branch_name_change.aspx
Is the term racist? Personally I wouldn't have thought so although I'd be curious to hear from folks currently involved in Guiding, especially those who are racialized and work with racially and otherwise diverse groups, troupes and Brownie packs.
What of Brown Owl? Will she be rendered obsolete too? And what of the Pixies, Leprechauns, Little People and other folk that used to make up the sixes? As long as we're breaking down stereotypes, I'm sure the Fairy Queen - a different girl each week, on a rotational basis, who led the others around the circle while sporting an aluminum foil crown - will have to go!
I don't recall offhand all the badges they had back in the 1980s but I do remember there was a bannock badge, long before the days of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission or even the shuttering of the last residential schools. New badges get added on a regular basis and so they should, but most of the ones I do recall - Baker's, Cook's, World Friendship, Astronomy - are just as relevant now as they were back then.
A "short list" of two names will be announced around the end of this month and by the end of 2023, the phase-in should be pretty much done. Any guesses as to what the new name will be?
I suppose it could be something boring like Junior Guides. Maybe they'll use a bottom-up approach instead, moving from Sparks to Flames? Maybe they'll be named after toys - Dolls and Teddy Bears, anyone? Or will they be named for real live animals; Beavers and Cubs have already been taken by the Scouts but there's still Chipmunks, Bunnies, Owlets...
As long as they still sell those wonderful cookies, I don't really care what they call themselves!
Soon, however, not only will the Brownie uniforms be obsolete - the name "Brownies" will be too! The rationale for this move is discussed on the Girl Guides of Canada page:
https://www.girlguides.ca/WEB/GGC/branch_name_change.aspx
Is the term racist? Personally I wouldn't have thought so although I'd be curious to hear from folks currently involved in Guiding, especially those who are racialized and work with racially and otherwise diverse groups, troupes and Brownie packs.
What of Brown Owl? Will she be rendered obsolete too? And what of the Pixies, Leprechauns, Little People and other folk that used to make up the sixes? As long as we're breaking down stereotypes, I'm sure the Fairy Queen - a different girl each week, on a rotational basis, who led the others around the circle while sporting an aluminum foil crown - will have to go!
I don't recall offhand all the badges they had back in the 1980s but I do remember there was a bannock badge, long before the days of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission or even the shuttering of the last residential schools. New badges get added on a regular basis and so they should, but most of the ones I do recall - Baker's, Cook's, World Friendship, Astronomy - are just as relevant now as they were back then.
A "short list" of two names will be announced around the end of this month and by the end of 2023, the phase-in should be pretty much done. Any guesses as to what the new name will be?
I suppose it could be something boring like Junior Guides. Maybe they'll use a bottom-up approach instead, moving from Sparks to Flames? Maybe they'll be named after toys - Dolls and Teddy Bears, anyone? Or will they be named for real live animals; Beavers and Cubs have already been taken by the Scouts but there's still Chipmunks, Bunnies, Owlets...
As long as they still sell those wonderful cookies, I don't really care what they call themselves!
