By Frances Rice
Liberals have waged a decades-long war on boys and men in
this country, with the latest assault being accusing men of “toxic masculinity”
as described in the article, “Houston Rescuers Prove the Lie of ‘Toxic Masculinity.’
“
The announcement that the Boy Scouts of America has caved
to the demands of radical feminists and will now admit girls is the latest liberal
termite that’s now eating away at our nation’s cultural foundation.
It won’t be long before the Boy Scouts of America will become
female-centric, like our colleges and universities. Young boys will be infused with self-hatred and indoctrinated
to believe the nonsense being spewed out by liberals as pointed out in the above article: “If we are ever to create a nonviolent, truly
gender-equal world, we must rip away the false, culturally constructed façade
of masculinity”.
This is not going to end well.
_________________
Boy Scouts to accept girls? Thanks but no thanks, respond
many involved in Girl Scouts
By Eseosa Olumhense and Kate Thayer
The members of Maureen Riordan’s Girl Scout troop have experienced everything from rafting Colorado waters and zip-lining to computer coding, career planning and pottery.
So the Lincoln Park mother says she was confused and
disappointed when the Boy Scouts of America announced days ago that
it will begin to admit girls next year in an effort to provide its benefits to
both genders.
“What I’m hearing is girls don’t get the same
opportunities,” said Riordan, who leads both her 12- and 9-year-old daughters’
troops and was herself a Girl Scout. “I couldn’t disagree more.”
With news of the Boy Scouts’ policy shift, national and
regional Girl Scouts officials, as well as some of the local families they
serve, have criticized the move, saying the Girl Scouts already offer a full
range of activities to girls and do so in an empowering, confidence-boosting
setting.
“We have research that shows girls really do thrive in an
all-girl environment,” said L’Oreal Payton, spokeswoman for the Girl Scouts of
Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana. “It’s a safe space for a girl to be a
girl.”
Other critics of the change say they simply want the Boy
Scouts to remain only for boys.
The latest shift has created strife between the two
scouting organizations, with Girl Scouts officials claiming the Boy Scouts are
making the change as a revenue grab, possibly because of dwindling enrollment
and financial woes from payouts over sex abuse claims.
Boy Scouts officials say the shift is not financially
motivated but rather a response to requests from parents. The move is the
latest in a number of changes for the group in the past several years,
including allowing in gay members and volunteers.
“This is not about a decline in membership,” said Kate
Jacobs, spokeswoman for the Pathway to Adventure Council, which oversees Boy
Scouts activities in the Chicago area and northwest Indiana. The council is the
largest in the state and growing, she said, with nearly 24,000 youth members.
Girls have already been part of the Boy Scouts through
coed activities offered since 1971, the organization said. Given this history,
opening membership to girls formally was a “natural next step,” Jacobs said.
Some local families connected to scouting are wary.
“I understand what the Boy Scouts are trying to do,” said
Wendy Lundgren, a Girl Scout troop leader from Chicago’s Old Irving Park
neighborhood. “But if there is something lacking in the Girl Scout program,
they need to work on enhancing that. It’s very condescending for the Boy Scouts
to say ‘Hey, we’re better, join us.’ ”
Lundgren has a daughter in Girl Scouts and two sons who
are Boy Scouts. At a scout meeting in a Jefferson Park church Thursday evening,
she and others raised concerns that the move would change both programs, to the
detriment of participants.
Among those displeased with the announcement was
99-year-old Boy Scout volunteer Russ Gremel.
“Believe me when I tell you, it would be horrible,”
Gremel said. “Men and women are equal, but not the same.”
Gremel is something of a legendary figure in local
scouting circles, having served more than 60 years as scoutmaster for Troop 979
, for which he still volunteers.
Gremel said it’s “hard enough” to plan events just for
boys, and adding girls to activities and outings would complicate things for
scoutmasters and other volunteers.
“If they allow girls in this group, I will drop out of
Scouts completely,” Gremel said.
In fact, Boy Scouts officials said troops will remain
single-gender. According to the announced plans, starting next year Cub Scout
packs for ages 7 to 10 can be all-boys or all-girls, with the option of a coed
pack with girls and boys dens.
A new program for girls aged 11 to 17, which will use the
same curriculum as Boy Scouts and allow girls to earn the top rank of Eagle
Scout, is expected to be in place around 2019.
But some confusion has arisen because the announcement is
so fresh, some Cub Scout and Boy Scout leaders at Thursday’s meeting said. One
assistant scoutmaster said he only learned of the plan through the news.
Without knowing exactly how it would be implemented, or how their roles might
change, many felt the development could overwhelm program volunteers.
The Girl Scouts of Greater Chicago and Northwest Indiana
boasts nearly 53,000 youth members this year, though the chapter has seen a
decline from more than 69,000 girls enrolled in 2013, a trend Payton said has
been seen across most youth service organizations in recent years. Nationally,
both the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts have reported declines over the past year.
Riordan, the troop leader from Lincoln Park, said she
hasn’t heard of any Girl Scouts wanting to switch over to the Boy Scouts
program, but wondered if some families might do so for convenience if they have
both a son and a daughter interested in scouting.
Rosa Garcia, another Chicago Girl Scout parent, said
she’s not convinced the new Boy Scouts girl track would have provided her
daughter with the same experience.
“If she did (scouts) with boys, would she have had the
same voice in that setting? It’s nice it’s focused on girls — allowing girls to
be girls without having to compete with boys,” she said.
Garcia’s daughter, Allyson Rodriguez, 15, said she’s
participated in robotics events, done community service work and learned about
engineering careers during her 10 years as a Girl Scout.
“It’s a nice gesture,” Rodriguez said of the Boy Scouts
welcoming girls, “but I feel like there’s already opportunities for girls.”
At the Jefferson Park scout meeting, some of the younger
people present seemed to embrace the change.
“When do the girls get here?” one Boy Scout was heard
saying at the start of the meeting.
Annali Martinez, 8, of Albany Park, said the announcement
meant her “dream has come true.” Annali has been informally joining her brother
Jayden, 9, at his Cub Scout meetings for about a year after leaving a Girl
Scout troop, their mother said. The Boy Scouts’ activities were more appealing,
more adventurous, Annali said. Among her favorite things: arts, crafts and
playing dodgeball.
“And being included,” her brother added.
Maureen Riordan, center, 12-year-old Megan, left, and Kelsey, 9, on Oct. 11, 2017, in their Lincoln Park home. Riordan leads both of her daughter's Girl Scout troops at Oscar Mayer school in Lincoln Park. (Phil Velasquez / Chicago Tribune)
The Associated Press contributed.
