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From: Bob Lazell (rlazell@QED.NET)
Date: Sun Jun 11 2000 - 10:09:22 CDT
> role model should be male but the people that work with the boys should be
> selected based on skills and desire to help, not on GENDER. I probably
know
> more of the out of doors than the other men that assist with the troop. I
have
> been "nature" at webelos and day camps that I help staff.
Rainee, First let me be clear, which is not an easy task on this and any
"emotional" subject since people often react before they read fully and
understand the post. I do not condone the obviously insensitive, and not
incidentally, un-scout like, treatment such a dedicated volunteer such as
you received at the hands of your Troop's leadership.
Be that as it may, I agree, selection should be based on skills and desire
to help, but you, as a women cannot by definition have the "skill" to be a
man. That is what a SM or ASM needs to do his job of a positive MALE
role-model. Boys need men in that position if you wish to be true to what
Scouting is all about. So, I believe that there should be plenty of
opportunity for women such as yourself to show that women can be as skilled,
or as you point out, more skilled at the outdoor tasks that *superficially*
make up what we do in Scouting. But, what Scouting provides is so much
more. And, it is not a political statement, or commentary of equal right
for me to say that a goodly portion of what Scouting can provide requires a
man.
It's about the development of boys into men.
Bob Lazell
SM Troop 127
Valley Cottage, NY
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