Activity scout merit badges?
Jul. 25th, 2017 09:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kengrI've got an idea for a meta-fiction set in T-America.
I don't think I'm up to writing the actual booklets for the badges, but a history and overview sounds about right.
Not sure what the *actual* names would be, but I expect that many would refer to them as "Girl 101" and "Boy 101".
Girl 101 started out as a couple of seperate ideas. First, a lot of T-girls needed/wanted to pick up "normal" girl mannerisms, behaviors and experiences.
Second, some dedicated tomboys realized as they got older that some of the girly stuff they'd rejected might come in handy on occasion.
The folks puttering around with both ideas eventually got connected and realized that it'd make sense to combine them into a single badge.
The Boy 101 badge probably had a somewhat different history, or it may have gotten sparked by the Girl 101 project.
Both badges have had complaints that they reinforce gender stereotypes. The usual answers are that some people want to follow the stereotypes and that isn't wrong, or that knowing the stereotype and *consciously* learning about it makes you better able to pick and chose which bits you want and which bits to reject.
Some folks have deliberately exaggerated various behaviors. Sometime to make a point, sometimes as parody. But for most, it's a matter of knowing what the expected behaviors *are* lets you chose whether or not to follow expectations or deliberately (as opposed to accidentally) break them.
Some aspects of Girl 101 have been likened to old-style finishing schools. Deportment, grace, etiquette, fashion, etc.
Some aspects of Boy 101 have been likened to boot camp, though that's a much bigger stretch.
But both deal with "proper" behavior *and* improper/informal behavior. After all, the goal is to be able to "fit in" (if they choose to) in all sorts of activities.
It was discovered early on that having the Scouts interact with younger children of their chosen gender was a useful tool. The younger kids tend to be more accepting and while they'd point out differences from the "expected" behavior, they weren't malicious about it.
It also gave experience with games and other activities the the Scouts had missed out on when they were growing up.
(I'm gonna stop here for now and await comments)
I don't think I'm up to writing the actual booklets for the badges, but a history and overview sounds about right.
Not sure what the *actual* names would be, but I expect that many would refer to them as "Girl 101" and "Boy 101".
Girl 101 started out as a couple of seperate ideas. First, a lot of T-girls needed/wanted to pick up "normal" girl mannerisms, behaviors and experiences.
Second, some dedicated tomboys realized as they got older that some of the girly stuff they'd rejected might come in handy on occasion.
The folks puttering around with both ideas eventually got connected and realized that it'd make sense to combine them into a single badge.
The Boy 101 badge probably had a somewhat different history, or it may have gotten sparked by the Girl 101 project.
Both badges have had complaints that they reinforce gender stereotypes. The usual answers are that some people want to follow the stereotypes and that isn't wrong, or that knowing the stereotype and *consciously* learning about it makes you better able to pick and chose which bits you want and which bits to reject.
Some folks have deliberately exaggerated various behaviors. Sometime to make a point, sometimes as parody. But for most, it's a matter of knowing what the expected behaviors *are* lets you chose whether or not to follow expectations or deliberately (as opposed to accidentally) break them.
Some aspects of Girl 101 have been likened to old-style finishing schools. Deportment, grace, etiquette, fashion, etc.
Some aspects of Boy 101 have been likened to boot camp, though that's a much bigger stretch.
But both deal with "proper" behavior *and* improper/informal behavior. After all, the goal is to be able to "fit in" (if they choose to) in all sorts of activities.
It was discovered early on that having the Scouts interact with younger children of their chosen gender was a useful tool. The younger kids tend to be more accepting and while they'd point out differences from the "expected" behavior, they weren't malicious about it.
It also gave experience with games and other activities the the Scouts had missed out on when they were growing up.
(I'm gonna stop here for now and await comments)
