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PaperclipPerfector  5d ago (text post)   2826 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for October 18, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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Via evolving parenthood experience, it's recently come to my attention that the Boy Scouts no longer exist, but rather a co-ed institution called "Scouting America". Boys and girls welcomed equally. No scout troop for males only.

Girl Scouts? Same as it ever was. Girls only.

How is this not a layup discrimination lawsuit? I can't even find any online discourse about it; any attempt to Google the topic simply directs me to the scouts "anti-discrimination" efforts.

edit: I was tragically unaware that Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts are two independent organizations. The naming structure led me to assume that they operated under a common parent organization, and we all know what happens when you assume...

Many anti-discrimination laws have carve-outs with reasonings like "to redress historical injustices" etc., which is how womens' groups of all kinds remain legal.

Technically, aren't most of these groups private clubs, who can be as discriminatory as they like? You can have your white men’s club just as much as you want(although dues are likely well beyond your price range).

You can have your white men’s club just as much as you want

Ha. Good one.

They literally exist. Many fraternities and unions are this in practice, a few country clubs maintain it as explicit policy, and of course there’s the hells angels.

When you say "explicit policy", are you including situations where it is an (alleged) internal policy that is denied publicly?

The central example of an [identity group] club to me is one that is openly [group]-only. Something like "Black Girls Code", where the fact it's for [group] is baked into the name (versus "Spouting Rock Beach Association")

They are a little sneaky in avoiding openly stating they are excluding people. If you look at the mission page they speak in generalised terms about how representation matters, black women are under-represented, and that:

Our approach is backed by research that shows girls taught within a group setting of peers who look like them report an increase in both their coding abilities and participation in STEAM activities

[insert joke about SJWs accidentally agreeing with racists]

Digging further to their careers community, they are (partially) explicit:

Who is this for?

This online community is built for college students and early-career professionals (0-5 years) in the STEAM fields. While we center the experiences of Black women and women of color, our community is open to all who identify as:

  • 18+
  • Femme or nonbinary

(Looking closer at the photos, one of them include a black-passing Indian woman with nametag "Manjula", so they don't strictly exclude non-blacks)

Is there anything like this for white men? "White Boys & Men Hunting Association" - open to all biological males, but centring White identity. A mission page talking about white sub-replacement TFR and how there needs to be support systems to encourage white boys to become fathers. Group photos of smiling white boys out in nature, their white male mentors, and one white-passing blue-eyed Arab boy called "Ali".

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