Cookie Time

On something of a whim, I decided I needed Girl Scout Cookies this year. It’s been a while since I got my hands on Thin Mints, so I checked the Girl Scout’s website to see if I could get some online. Of course it’s not that simple; you have to buy them directly from Girl Scouts as to support your local troupes. If you’re like me, you may wonder “well why doesn’t my local troupe just set up their own website to sell cookies?” I’ll get to that in a bit.

I went to a local grocery store where the Girl Scouts had a table set up to get a few boxes. There were three girls … and none approached me. A woman who I assume was a leader or mother of one of the girls then greeted me, and asked the Scouts if any of them wanted to help me out. They smiled shyly, giggled quietly, but none stepped forward. So the Troupe Leader ended up being the only person I dealt with when getting my cookies. At the end of the purchase, the three girls said a barely audible “thank you.”

As I walked out, I felt … bad. Just bad about the whole thing.

I remember being a Girl Scout myself. I honestly can’t remember why I ever joined, or why I stayed. Each week we’d sing a few songs, have fruit punch and a snack, maybe play some games. Nothing was ever accomplished. Nothing was learned. We didn’t gain any confidence or skills, as the program often touts. We just became free labor once a year- cute little sales agents to guilt people into buying cookies. Now I see these girls in a similar position- pawns in an evil yet tasty scheme.

My fiancee was with me on this venture, and as I complained about the situation, he mentioned how that “never would have flown in the Boy Scouts.” In Boy Scouts, he says, their leader would have made each member pull their weight when it came to popcorn selling season. You needed the confidence to be a good salesman, and sitting idly by would not have been tolerated. Why don’t we do the same for our young girls? Why don’t Girl Scouts try to encourage confidence and speaking up?

He often tells me about how, as a Boy Scout, he learned how to work wood and leather, some basic survival skills and first aid. He’s mentioned the various camping and fishing trips he’s attended. I remember being nine and insanely jealous of my male friends, who got to have a Swiss Army Knife and go on a week-long camping trip full of adventures. Meanwhile, Girl Scouts had camp for one day. We didn’t even get to spend the night; I can’t tell if it’s because they thought girls were too fragile for the wilderness, or if they were too cheap to buy the campgrounds for the night. Our one craft was making a wallet using pieces of leather that already had holes punched, so we didn’t have to use any tools. We weren’t allowed to go off a very narrow trail because their might be poison ivy, so almost no hiking was done.

And as for not having cookie sales online … why not? If each Troupe was tasked with making their own page to order cookies from, would this not teach valuable technology skills?

The more I think about it, the madder I get. Why are our sons getting adventure and our daughters, a ticket to a passive life? And people unknowingly fund this all the time, whether because a cute face asks them if they want cookies, or (more likely) because their parent has the cookie order form on the bulletin board at the office. We have to try harder for our girls. The lessons they learn (or in this case, are never taught) are going to stick with them for the rest of their lives.

Now when I take out the box of Lemonades, my fiancee asks me how my misogyny cookies are. I can’t help but sigh and think of all this again with each bite … as well as wonder if there’s any copycat recipes I can use instead of buying more in the future.

Disclaimer: This post was written by a Feministing Community user and does not necessarily reflect the views of any Feministing columnist, editor, or executive director.

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