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Will boys be boys? What are little boys made of? Kenneth B. Kidd responds to these familiar questions with a thorough review of boy culture in America since
the late nineteenth century. From the "boy work" promoted by character-building organizations such as Scouting and 4-H to current therapeutic and pop psychological obsessions with children's self-esteem,
Kidd presents the great variety of cultural influences on the changing notion of boyhood.
A startling amalgam of Zulu war-cry and Sherlock Holmes, of practical tips on health and
hygiene and object lessons in woodcraft, Scouting for Boys (1908) is the original blueprint and inspiration for the Boy Scout Movement. An all-time bestseller in the English-speaking world,
second in its heyday only to the Bible, it is one of the most influential manuals for youth ever published, known and loved around the world.
"New York Times writer and author Applebome (Dixie Rising) turns from the political to the personal as he recounts his adventures over three years as a Scoutmaster for his son's Boy Scout troop in suburban New York. A "committed indoorsman" who was turned off by the "dorky superfluity" of scouting during his own baby boomer childhood, he "soon found himself sucked in to Scouting" and "the way that it brought kids and dads together in a totally noncompetitive way." This engaging book moves back and forth among three narrative strands. Applebome gives a loving and often amusing description of his son's scouting adventures, "one part Braveheart and one part Lord of the Flies." He provides an excellent short history of the Boy Scouts, from the Edwardian roots of its first leader, the "astoundingly complex" British war hero and "repressed homosexual" Lord Robert Baden-Powell, to its current enrollment decline. He also discusses the institutional scouting policy that bans gays from being members, a position successfully defended before the Supreme Court. Applebome struggles with the tension between the right of free association and the "threadbare" logic of the Scout position. But while he disagrees with the ban, he too easily dismisses it as having "minimal real -world implications," not fully acknowledging that the wonderfulness of this "unexpected vehicle to share [his] son's youth" is something that the Boy Scout organization openly denies to parents with gay children.-- son's youth" is something that the Boy Scout organization openly denies to parents with gay children. " Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.
A timely contribution to current debates over the psychology of boys and the construction of their social lives, On My Honor explores the folk customs of adolescent young men in the Boy Scouts of America during a summer encampment in California's Sierra Nevada. Based on more than twenty years of research and extensive visits and interviews with members of a single troop, Mechling uncovers the key rituals and play events through which the Boy Scouts shapes boys into men. He describes the campfire songs, initiation rites, games, and activities they use to mold the scouts into responsible adults. The themes of honor and character alternate in this new study as we witness troop leaders offering examples in structure, discipline, and guidance, and teaching Scouts the difficult balance between freedom and self-control. What results is a probing look into the inner lives of adolescent boys in our culture and their rocky transition into manhood. On My Honor provides a provocative, sometimes shocking glimpse into the sexual awakening and moral development of young men coming to grips with their nascent desires, their innate aggressions, their inclination toward peer pressure and violence, and their social acculturation. On My Honor ultimately shows how the Boy Scouts of America continues to edify and mentor young men against the backdrop of controversies over freedom of religious expression, homosexuality, and the proposed inclusion of female members. While the organization's bureaucracy has taken an unyielding stance against gay men and atheists, real live Scouts are often more open to plurality than we might assume. In their embrace of tolerance, acceptance, and understanding, then, troop leaders at the local level have the power to shape boys into emotionally mature men.
"Teal explores in considerable depth Baden-Powell's . . . relationships with boys, men, young girls and the designing women who would have been his wife
. . . . Mr. Jeal comes to the not unsurprising conclusion that Baden-Powell was a suppressed homosexual. . . . This is a sympathetic though not uncritical study. . . . Mr. Jeal brilliantly illuminates
the many borrowings, only some acknowledged, that lay behind the creation of the Boy Scouts. . . . {However, he} might have sacrificed some of the minute details of Balden-Powell's life for greater insight into the social and cultural
climate of Edwardian Britain that made the emergence of the Scouting movement inevitable. . . . Balden-Powell is a fascinating character who is well served by his new biographer, but oversized
studies of men who are less than giants require additional justification." From Zara Steiner - The New York Times Book Review
Why is this book listed here? Because the very first BSA Scout Executive was really a YMCA professional. Many of the original men involved with BSA were
also Y-men. Founded in the mid-19th century, the YMCA fostered close, spiritually sustaining relationships between young men. By the century's end the "Y," as it became known, had implemented a wide-scale program of physical exercise and sex education, in part to combat the increasingly visible specter of physical intimacy between men. But this emphasis on the perfected male body only increased the institution's reputation as a haven for homosexuality. Drawing upon diverse sources, including YMCA records, social histories, urban and economic studies, "physical culture" physique magazines, and gay memoirs, Gustav-Wrathall explicates not only the hidden sexual subtexts of the Y's social history but examines how changing attitudes about sexuality, male friendship, gender, marriage, and privacy all contributed to shaping the nature and both the overt and covert purpose of the organization. Take the Young Stranger by the Hand is a highly readable addition to the ever-growing body of gay history and theory. --Michael Bronski
Boyle puts a human face on sexual abuse in the Boy Scouts by placing one offender's story at the center of his report. Now imprisoned for his second Scout-abuse conviction, Carl Bittenbender's a nice guy, not gay (boy-molesters usually aren't, Boyle says), "good" with kids; he fits the profile for scoutmaster--and, unfortunately, also for the typical boy-molester. Skilled at conning others and himself (he knows molestation is wrong), he's pitiable, even forgivable. But not trustworthy. Boyle demonstrates that the Boy Scouts' national organization knew about Bittenbender and his ilk since it has kept files on sex offenders among scouting volunteers for decades. But it largely ignored them, never using them systematically to help local scouting officers screen prospective volunteers. Until Bittenbender's and other cases exploded in the press during the 1980s, that is, since when it has done nearly everything--short of admitting to molestation troubles from scouting's beginnings--to correct its neglect. An absorbing, admirably evenhanded treatment of one of those things nobody wants to talk about--which, of course, is a large part of the problem.
"Steady and sober, this exhaustive history of the Boy Scouts of America and the Y.M.C.A. suffers from some
of the unexciting virtues of an ideal scout. But bear with it. David I. MacLeod has an interesting story to tell about the evolution of service organizations for boys and about middle-class ideals of manliness." From
Wendy Kaminer - The New York Times Book Review
Videos
Camp-fire witnesses desire and denial in a tale of unrequited love in a boy scout's heaven. When the 18
year-old Tijl is forced to choose between his girlfriend Ineke and his best friend Wout, their camping trip turns into a tension-filled journey of self-discovery. Playing truth or dare by the fire confronts the
protagonists with some important choices. This particular short film is being shown in children (aged 12-18) in Belgium schools, to discuss tolerance towards lesbian and gay people.
This documentary film "traces the conflict between the anti-gay policies of the Boy Scouts of America and the broad-based movement by many of its members to overturn them. The story is told predominantly through the experiences of a 13-year old boy and a 70-year-old man - both heterosexual, both dedicated to the Scouts, and both determined to change the course of Scouting history. Their challenge is being waged in their hometown of Petaluma, California - a place more familiar with agriculture than activism. Yet it is here where they have begun an international grassroots petition drive and media campaign to overturn the BSA's anti-gay policy. In 1998, they formalized their movement into an organization called Scouting for All.
Created by Academy Award-winning director Debra Chasnoff and producer Helen S. Cohen, IT'S ELEMENTARY: Talking About Gay Issues In School , is a highly acclaimed film shot in first through eighth grade classrooms across the United States. The film, intended for an adult audience, is a window into what really happens when educators address gay issues with their students in age-appropriate ways. With surprisingly funny and moving footage, IT'S ELEMENTARY demystifies what it means to talk with kids about gay people. The film makes a compelling argument that anti-gay prejudice and violence can be prevented if children have an opportunity to have these discussions when they're young. Released in 1996, IT'S ELEMENTARY has won numerous awards for excellence, been acquired by nearly 2000 educational institutions, and has received widespread acclaim from educators, policy makers, parents and religious leaders. Not surprisingly, IT'S ELEMENTARY has also been relentlessly condemned by the religious right.
60 Minutes (April 1, 2001 episode; Segment title - Boy Scouts: No Gays Allowed.) This episode of CBS' "60 Minutes" reviewed the quasi-military BSA arguments against gay scoutmasters and whether there was a "common sense" concern over pedophilia, which CBS refuted with the FBI statistic that three times as many crimes against underage boys are committed by heterosexually married men as by single men identifying as "gay." For an excerpted transcript of this episode, click here. |
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