Scouting, Girls

Since the early 20th century, members of world’s largest voluntary organization for girls, known as Girl Scouts in the United States and Girl Guides in the rest of the world, have worn uniforms, earned badges, and practiced outdoor skills in age-graded groups. Together, Girl Scouting and Guiding are a global informal education scheme, administered formally by the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS), with a current membership of over 10 million young people in 150 countries. Since their establishment in the first decades of the 20th century, Guiding and Girl Scouting have accommodated regional differences while also changing over time in response to a range of social and cultural developments, including second- and third-wave feminisms and new communication technologies. Over the past ...