To start a simple questions
Do we focus too much on the Empowerment of Women/Girls?
Yeah Yeah, I know, start slagging me off now as some sort of male chauvinist who knows nothing, however before you do let me just have my say.
The guide association has recently completed another excellent piece of work as part of their Girls Attitudes Explored programme and this time they have looked at role models for females in society.
I don’t want to belittle the work done by the study because the research on peer pressure and stresses in life for young women is very important, and I would highly recommend that any adult in scouting with girls within their pack/troop/unit take a little bit of time and read the report.
It is a detailed study covering a number of topics but one key item that comes from it is that the Media does not give good role models to young women, focusing on mindless (so called) celebrities and the amount of weight they have lost or money they spend on a new nose. They never seem to be focusing on women who have actually achieved something be it in sport, business or politics.
I am sure that if you opened any red top paper or glossy magazine you could have determined that point for yourself without the need for a study.
However going back to my questions, is it not about time we look at the empowerment of young people. It seems there is such a huge focus on the empowerment and support of girls that boys get left behind.
Let us stick with the role models for a moment. If there is a push to understand role models, I ask what role models are there for boys? Yes we live in a Male centric world but the role models offered by the tabloid press are still the same. You still have the same band of TOWIE,XFACTOR,BIGBROTHER nobodies you then have to add on the footballers spitting, swearing, screaming at cameras, cheating on their partners, drinking and crashing their cars etc. You end up with a lot of bad role models.
People say well boys have Richard Branson or Alan Sugar as business models. I personally think Alan Sugar is not a great role model for young people wanting to go into business. Young people will know him not because he founded Amstrad or because he started a business with £100 selling car aerials but because he is on the Apprentice. I have only seen it a couple of times but it seems to be about jumped up sales executives trying to get one over on the rest of their team to impress Sir Alan, now there is a good role model – “I will promote you if you backstab and weasel and undermine your fellow work colleagues”.
While I feel the work the guide association do is great maybe it is time the scout association and guide association came together and did a piece on role models for young people?
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Feel free to tell me I am wrong in the comments below.
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