Girl Scout cookie season is upon us. But @girlscouts, and the women who lead their troops during cookie season, say that the organization's tradition of face-to-face sales is increasingly accompanied by customer harassment. 👇
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From 5-year-old Daisies to 16-year-old Senior Scouts, girls are often forced to bear angry tirades from adults who want to lecture them about healthy eating, moan about price hikes, or rant about the group's rumored (and false) link to Planned Parenthood.
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A recent post about cookie-seller harassment in a popular Facebook parenting group netted more than 100 replies, with dozens of stories from troop leaders and other adult volunteers about what their Scouts endured.
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In interviews with Scouts, Scout leaders, and parents, no form of cookie-related harassment appears to be more pervasive than that related to the healthfulness — or lack thereof — of the product.
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On February 3, @OonaHanson, a scouting parent, tweeted a reminder to cookie shoppers not to make weight-related comments to Scouts. The tweet received hundreds of replies, many from adult women commenting on their similar experiences.
Other parents say girls have been harassed for a different issue beyond their control: the use of palm oil. Widely used in commercial baked goods, the oil is controversial because its production can lead to deforestation and disrupt endangered species.
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Aside from remarks about health concerns, Girl Scouts have faced another issue. In 2004, the leader of an anti-abortion group in Texas took out ads on Christian radio to protest a "cozy relationship" between the Girl Scouts and Planned Parenthood.
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Facebook posts that allege a link between GSUSA and Planned Parenthood get thousands of shares, with commenters promising they'll boycott the cookie drive. A federal 990 tax form shows that no funds went to Planned Parenthood.
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That hasn't stopped anti-abortion advocates from harassing their daughters. In 2019, @InduRajan4 was working at a cookie booth with her daughter. A woman approached to say she wouldn't support them until they dropped their support of Planned Parenthood.
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Melissa Atkins Wardy said her daughter Amelia, then 7, was harassed while the pair sold cookies door-to-door in their former neighborhood in Wisconsin.
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Now a high-school sophomore, Amelia is still a Scout. This will be the 11th season of cookie sales for her and her mother. But these days, Amelia is wary of selling cookies in person, Wardy said.
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Harassment of Girl Scouts is inextricable from the larger issue of sexism in American culture, parents and troop leaders say.
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Follow @thisisinsider to read more about Girl Scout cookie sellers and the harassment they face. 👇
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