Silence Speaks the Loudest

The Girl Scout’s Amy Coney Barett tweet

By Fashion Editor, Marisa Goolgasian

On October 28, the Girl Scouts of the USA tweeted a message congratulating Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett on her appointment. 

The post was instantly met with vehement criticism from those who view Barrett, a conservative, as a potential threat to women’s rights. Some pointed to the irony of this message coming from an organization whose mission is to empower young girls. Others, like CNN analyst Asha Rangappa, accused the Girl Scouts of being insensitive in a moment when women everywhere were fearful that Barrett would overturn rulings concerning their access to health care —  including Roe v. Wade, the 1973 decision that legalized abortion.

As criticism mounted and arguments broke out across Twitter, the Girl Scouts decided to take down the post, asserting that they are a “nonpolitical, nonpartisan organization.” 

This decision incited even more outrage. Barrett’s supporters, who interpreted the removal of the post as a partisan decision, criticized the Girl Scouts for being hypocritical and buckling under pressure. On the other hand, the organization took even more heat for its defensive attempt to distance itself from politics all together and project blame onto those who interpreted their tweet as political in the first place. 

In today’s climate, when the rights of women, the LGBTQ+ community,  and BIPOC in the United States hinge on political decisions and appointments, can an organization that exists to foster the empowerment of young women remain silent? 

I could go on about Barrett, about how her stances on Roe v. Wade and reproductive rights are a matter of public record and how the obstruction of women’s access to health care is categorically proven to have disastrous impacts on their position in society. Or about how one woman in power is not synonymous with female empowerment, especially if she wields that power against other women rather than paving the way for them to join her rank.

I could question what the Girl Scouts hoped to achieve in praising Barrett — whose spot on the Supreme Court was inherited from Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the arguable embodiment of female empowerment — but I won’t. Whether the post itself was right or wrong, what came after it was much more telling about the organization, and much more alarming. 

The Girl Scouts’ “nonpolitical, nonpartisan” messaging is far more harmful than the initial tweet about Barrett or its removal. Rather than using the moment to encourage a new generation of educated, politically active women, the organization chose to reinforce the time-honored notion that women have no place in politics and would do best to stay out of the conversation. 

The Girl Scouts have a long history of controversy, dating back to the 1970s when they faced criticism from conservatives for including prominent ‘pro-abortion’ feminists such as Betty Friedan in the organization’s leadership. Not long before that, the concept of bringing young girls together to empower one another would have been a radical notion in and of itself. I’m not sure when the Girl Scouts began to stray from this precedent, but the organization cannot continue to hide behind the pretense of nonpartisanship.

It is the sad reality of our country’s polarizing political climate that if you do not stand against something, you stand with it. By remaining silent on issues that pose a very real threat to the same girls it seeks to uplift, issues that will disproportionately affect their many members who belong to an ethnic minority or are children of immigrants, the Girl Scouts is complicit in this harm.

The Girl Scouts was created to “prepare girls to meet the world with courage, confidence, and character” and be a force for the improvement of the world around them. If the organization’s example today is to remain silent and to stay out of the hard conversations, it is completely failing in its mission. The world doesn’t need more silence or complacency — it needs young women who have educated opinions and the confidence to espouse them. It is the Girl Scouts’ responsibility to exemplify the courage it promises to impart on its young members and uplift a new generation of women who aren’t afraid to have their voices heard.