Don’t assume their gender anymore.
In an effort to be more inclusive, the Boy Scouts of America are dropping the “Boy” in their name altogether. Last October, the Boy Scouts unanimously voted to begin allowing girls to join, starting in 2018. And today, the program announced they’re rebranding as the Scouts BSA.
“We wanted to land on something that evokes the past but also conveys the inclusive nature of the program going forward,” Boy Scouts Chief Scout Executive Mike Surbaugh said. “We’re trying to find the right way to say we’re here for both young men and young women.”
The change will take effect in February 2018, around the same time girls will be allowed to start joining the Scouts.
And although the program will accept girls, most activities will still be divided along gender lines. Camping trips, for example, will be segregated.
The move to integrate both genders was partly a sign of the times and partly a business move. The Boy Scouts were experiencing an attrition in participants, losing hundreds of thousands of members in less than a decade.
I’m going to be a little candid here. I don’t understand this move. I don’t understand why the Boy Scouts are rebranding to the Scouts but are still keeping BSA (Boy Scouts of America) in their name. The name “boy” is still in the title. And if I’m the Girl Scouts here, I’m very, very angry. Everybody knows that the Girl Scouts took the biggest hit after this decision. Yeah, maybe learning sewing isn’t the most applicable modern day skill but if this gender integration sinks the Girl Scouts then things are going to get serious. I wait all year long for it to be Thin Mint season, and if the Scouts BSA take that away from me then we’re going to have some serious problems.
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