These days, I’m not sure how many people associate Guiding with feminism, but I think there is a link. The book “How the Girl Guides Won the War” backs this up.
It’s a history of Guiding from its inception shortly before WWI through to the end of WWII, mostly in the UK, but with chapters on Guides in Poland, China and elsewhere who were affected by WWII.
For context, Guiding started at a time when education was compulsory only to the age of 12, and Guides were 12 and up, unlike today’s Canadian Guides (9-12).
Guides were trained to do things like gardening and be thrifty, but also to do Morse Code, offer First Aid, repair vehicles, dig bomb shelters and navigate using the stars. Their fundraising efforts bought everything from ambulances to airplane parts and boats that brought wounded soldiers from the battle of Dunkirk to England.
While cooking, gardening and childcare may have been class-based skills for girls and young women expected to go into domestic service, they evolved to be ways they could contribute to the war efforts: growing Victory gardens, using rationed foods to feed a group, or entertaining children while in a bomb shelter.
Other skills, such as map-reading and mechanic, were designed to help girls find employment as chauffeurs and taxi drivers after WWI, when gender imbalances meant many were unlikely to find a husband. These also proved very useful in WWII, as Guides and Rangers replaced men who had gone overseas, or joined the military themselves.
There was also was a conscious effort to eliminate religious, race and class distinctions, and special accommodations were made to ensure girls with disabilities or living in isolated communities could participate. Simple uniforms put everyone from the princesses Elizabeth and Margaret to children whose best outfit was the one they wore to guides on the same footing when they got together for their meetings and camps. German Jewish refugee children joined English units despite language barriers, and in India the separate organizations based on race and religion gradually amalgamated. It wasn’t always successful: Barbados and South Africa had separate organizations based on race, for example, and those divisions lasted for decades.
A recurring theme is how the Guides developed their imaginations, became independent, took on leadership roles, improvised, enjoyed the outdoors and moving their bodies while on hikes or playing games, and learned to cooperate and take on challenges.
I was surprised to discover how many of the photos in my family album were of Guiding activities.
The things I learned clearly had an impact on me, as I have tried to live up to the objectives of the movement ever since. Unsurprisingly, many of my best friends were also Brownies or Guides growing up. We all share a fierce independence and delight in learning to do difficult things. It goes without saying that we are all proud feminists.
We’re not alone. A survey by Girlguiding UK in 2007 found that two-thirds of Britain’s most prominent women have been Guides, and three-quarters of them say they benefited from the experience
How about you, readers? Were you Guides or Brownies? Did you join some other service organization? How did that experience influence you as an adult?
