A Brownie Story
I'm going to tell you a story.
Once upon a time, there was a Brownie. She was a clever Brownie, and she looked at the world with a sharp set of eyes. One day, at a Brownie meeting much like many others, her leaders read aloud the Brownie story, as probably many leaders have done before. The girls loved the story! They listened entranced to the stories of Brooke, Cindy, grandma, the wise old owl, and the Brownies. All but the one Brownie. She listened. Hard. The Brownie was upset. When the story had ended, she said: "Why do the girls always have to cook and clean? Why do girls have to stay quiet? Why are girls expected to help around the house? Why can't girls have adventures like boys?"
This Brownie's leaders were surprised and pleased and perhaps a little bit embarrassed that they had not asked these questions themselves. This Brownie had made a good point. So what could they do?
A Reflection
Last year a very astute Brownie drew our attention to some of the sexist undertones in the Brownie story. No, she did not call them that. No, they were not intended to be there. No, they are not obvious and in-your-face. But yes, she had a point. There are places and spaces in the story that reinforce some of the roles we as Guiders are constantly encouraging girls to break.
Subtle sexism gently rears its head in the spaces in between.
In the end, Brooke and Cindy wash the dishes, bake cookies, and tend to the garden. The story stresses the point that "they lend a hand when no one is around," and "no one ever sees Brownies." Our astute Brownie saw these things and recognized something we had missed. The girls in this story are relegated to the domestic sphere. They help around the home. And most of all, as Brownies [and as girls], they are unheard and unseen.
We are Girl Guides! We are feminists and unafraid to say so. We do not want our girls to be constrained by stereotypes. We want them to dream
big! We want them to dream
loud! We want them to live their lives in full view of the world. Girls should not take a backseat simply because of their gender.
So what to do?
Re-write the story, of course!
The Brownie Story, As Time Goes By
Now before we get too far ahead of ourselves, we want to comment on the Brownie story. As many of you may know, the Brownie story originated with Juliana Horatia Ewing's 1870 story. Her version is much longer than the version we read, and features a boy named Tommy. This story was adapted into a version featuring two children (Tommy and Betty), and then re-adapted into a girls-only version as we know it today. You can read the original 1870s story
here, if you're excited about history!
Today's story isn't awful by any means! There were many things we liked!
- We liked that the story is all about girls! That makes sense for Guiding!
- We liked the moral! Help others? Do so without expecting reward? We're all for it!
- We like the Owl, and the Brownie magic! The more magic the better, we say!
- We liked the tradition! In traditional folklore, Brownies inhabit houses and help with household chores. They don't like to be seen, and will typically work at night in exchange for small gifts of food. The Brownie story does a good job of implementing this folklore, and retaining the traditional elements of the original Brownie story like the pond, toadstool, and wise old owl. The phrase "Twist me, and turn me and show me an Elf, I look in the water, and I see..." appears nearly word-for-word in the 1870 version!
But we also recognized that the critiques of our astute Brownie were well-met. We recognize that there is nothing wrong with "women's work," but when it is the only work we see, we run the risk of girls being unable to dream themselves into alternate realities. Put simply, you can't be what you can't see. This continues to be true. When asked if they aspire to be President, an equal number of seven year old girls and boys say "YES!" When asked the same question at 15, there is a massive gap that emerges (see Miss Representation for more on this). It's the same reason that girls stop participating in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) activities, and there is a disproportionate amount of women CEOs, politicians, and world leaders. We want our Brownies to dream themselves into every reality imaginable!
Brownies by Design
In recent days we have started to emphasize the notion of "random acts of kindness" with our Brownies. This feels in keeping with the Brownie tradition, while emphasizing ways to support our community, "take action for a better world," "lend a hand," and learn to do good without expectation of reward. It's a current buzzword, and we like it. It asks the girls to be humble and honest and kind for the good of it. In our revised story, we have retained the notion of goodness without reward, but we have also tried to emphasize the fun the Brownies can have while doing good deeds, and the fun they have together. We have tried to tone down the domesticity and turn up the sense of adventure.
We recognize that some people will not approve of us having re-written the story. We would respectfully say that everyone adds their own touches to the Girl Guide program, and that's what makes it special. There is nothing like meeting another group and finding you sing the same opening, but you know a different verse to "Make New Friends"! Brownies has changed a lot from its first iteration as Rosebuds (goodbye, Housekeeper badge!), and will continue to change and grow as our girls and the world we live in change and grow. We encourage creativity among the girls, and should do so in our programming too. After all, the more we can do to help girls achieve their best and happiest selves, the better.
And so we re-wrote the story. Admittedly, we may have gone a bit overboard. It has a lot of personal flourishes that were definitely unnecessary, but much enjoyed by our team of leaders. There is probably, in fact certainly, a great deal of room for improvement. But it is certainly a start. We encourage others to continue modifying the story to support different lived experiences and to defy entrenched notions of gender.
We have tried to add adventure. We have tried to add magic. We have tried to add relatable experiences and rich language and alternate realities.
We hope you like it.
***
Taylor and her cousin Samantha were on their way to visit their cool Aunt Cathy. Aunt Cathy lived with her dog Peggy and her corn snake Smiley. Peggy loved liver cookies and Smiley loved birthdays. They lived in a small house with vegetable gardens, rain barrels, and chickens that laid fresh eggs every day. The girls loved eating tomatoes fresh from the garden, and collecting the eggs the chickens laid.
Taylor and Sam loved visiting Aunt Cathy. In the fall, they went camping in the nearby forest and spent lots of time hiking, climbing trees, and roasting marshmallows on the fire. In the winter, they snowshoed and skated on the frozen pond and flew down the hills on their toboggans. In the spring they splashed in the puddles, hunted for frogs, and made mud pies. And in the summer, they went to the beach, rode their bikes, and caught fireflies in the moonlight.
One night while camping, the girls and their Aunt sat around the campfire. They asked Aunt Cathy to tell them a story. She thought for a moment, then started to talk. She told the girls about all the magical creatures who lived nearby, but best of all, she told the girls the most wonderful stories about Brownies. Aunt Cathy said Brownies were magical creatures who loved to dance, play, and have fun. Above all else, Brownies loved to help the other creatures around them!
“Have you ever seen a Brownie?” asked Taylor.
“Goodness no!” cried Aunt Cathy in alarm! “Brownies love to have fun and help others, but their favourite thing to do is to do good deeds for others when no one is watching!” She told the girls how fun it was for the Brownies to do something nice, hide away, and watch the surprise and glee when people discovered the treats the Brownies had left!
Taylor and Samantha desperately wanted to find a Brownie!
“Where can we find one?” asked Samantha.
“Brownies can be anywhere!” said Aunt Cathy. “They can be around the house, in the garden, at the park, at the movies! The girls giggled at the thought of a little Brownie hiding at the movie theatre, picking popcorn up off the floor!
Aunt Cathy continued: “Most people never get the chance to see a Brownie. Only the wisest, oldest owl knows how to find them, and she only appears when the moon is blue!”
The girls spent the rest of the night cheerfully by the campfire, roasting marshmallows, and talking about Brownies, the owl, and staring at the moon, hoping to see it change colour before their eyes.
“If I met a Brownie,” said Taylor, “I would ask it to clean my room and help me with my homework!”
“If I met a Brownie,” said Samantha, “I would ask it to organize our garage and take our dog for a walk!”
The girls fell asleep quickly, snuggled down in their sleeping bags, and both had dreams filled with dancing Elves, Dryads, Leprechauns, Sprites, and Fairies. They had dreams of owls and moons and tiny creatures hidden in the shadows!
In the middle of the night, the girls awoke with a start! Their tent was brightly lit by the moon. Suddenly the girls’ eyes grew wide as they realized the moon was blue! They raced out of their sleeping bags and and ran outside. They couldn’t believe it!
Suddenly, from down the forest path, they heard a sound.
“Whooo, whooo!”
Taylor looked at Samantha. Sam looked at Taylor.
“Do you think--?” started Sam.
“Could it be--?” began Taylor.
Without a second thought, the girls started down the path towards the sound they had heard. Before long, they came to a grove of trees, growing beside a pond. Beside the pond was a single toadstool! Suddenly the girls heard a flap-flap-flapping, and before their eyes a beautiful owl came fluttering down from the trees and landed beside the toadstool.
“Are you the wise old owl?” asked Taylor.
The old owl slowly and thoughtfully nodded her head.
“Are Brownies real? Do you know how we can find them?” asked Sam.
The owl regarded the girls for a few moments, then ruffled her feathers and began to speak:
I am the old owl, that much is true.
Brownies are real, and there’s much that they do.
The Brownies in fact can be found all around,
They’re at your house, in your yard, and all through your town.
They do many good deeds and when they are done,
Home they run home they run to have lots of fun.
But Brownies are near and so close at hand,
Look to the pond, and not to the land.
Peer into the water, then turn ‘round three times,
Speak loud and speak clear and remember the rhymes.
“What rhymes?” asked Taylor.
The owl blinked her shining yellow eyes then said:
Twist me and turn me and show me an elf,
I look in the water and I see...
Sam and Taylor ran to the water’s edge. Sam stepped forward. She turned three times, and spoke aloud: “Twist me and turn me and show me an elf, I look in the water and I see..” But all she could see was her own reflection. She turned back to the owl. “All I can see is myself!”
The owl’s eyes twinkled in the moonlight:
Now you’ve looked in the pond and you’ve seen what is true,
The truth is that really, a Brownie is you.
“I’m not a Brownie!” laughed Sam. Taylor broke into a fit of giggles beside her.
The owl sat up straight:
Can you sing and dance and laugh and have fun?
Can you do things for others and play in the sun?
Can you help all your family, and all of your friends?
And those you don’t know? And when the day ends,
Can you smile and share and promise and grow?
Can you be kind and be nice to all that you know?
“Well I can do those things!” cried Sam.
“Me too!” said Taylor, not to be left out.
The owl spread her wings wide:
Then you are a Brownie deep down at heart,
Now waste no more time, hurry and start!
And with that, the owl beat her wide, feathery wings and took flight. The girls watched her fly away until she was just a small speck in the starry night sky.
The next thing the girls remembered was waking up to the sun streaming into their tent. They woke up suddenly, and looked at each other. Had it been a dream? For a second both girls thought they had imagined their entire midnight adventure, when suddenly Taylor exclaimed “look!” She pointed to the door of the tent where a single, brown feather lay softly on the floor. The girls couldn’t believe it!
“Sam!” said Taylor. “Let’s be Brownies!”
“Yes!” cried Sam.
They ran out to breakfast, hungry for the chocolate chip pancakes their Aunt was busy cooking on the camp stove. After breakfast the girls helped do the dishes and pack the car. The three headed home. After helping their Aunt to unload the car, the girls set off for the park. On the way, they picked up all the litter they could find! They spent the morning having fun on the swings and the jungle gym, laughing about their first good deeds as Brownies.
They went home for lunch, and after a delicious grilled cheese sandwich, the girls noticed their Aunt’s neighbour, Mr. Murphy, leaving in his car. Mr. Murphy was an elderly man, and it was getting more and more difficult for him to move and take care of his home the way he used to. His lawn was covered in leaves from the huge maple trees that stood on his lawn. The girls plotted for a few moments, then ran to his yard and raked all the leaves! They packed them into big brown bags, and left them at the curb. They hid behind the bushes when he pulled up, and laughed out loud to see the surprise on his face when he realized all his yard work had been done!
That night the girls were tired from their day’s adventures but happy remembering the fun they had had and the good deeds they had done. They couldn’t wait to keep being Brownies tomorrow!
***
We thank our astute Brownie for challenging us to think, helping us continue to grow, and making sure we are always re-evaluting ourselves, our work as Brownie leaders, and our thoughts as women and feminists in the big, bad, beautiful world we call home. We welcome thoughtful and respectful comments and discourse below. We note that the words written here are ours alone and do not represent the Girl Guides of Canada.
Well, as we've already shown, we're not ones to stick by tradition for tradition's sake alone. So what happened when a teachable moment presented itself in the form of a camp song?
So, of course, we went with option 2. Here's the new verse of Yogi Bear that is sung after the Cindy Bear verse every time we sing this song.
So, of course, we went with option 2. Here's the new verse of Yogi Bear that is sung after the Cindy Bear verse every time we sing this song.
