Comments on: True Stories of Girls’ Camp http://bycommonconsent.com/2006/05/23/true-stories-of-girls-camp/ A Mormon Blog Tue, 14 Feb 2012 01:27:30 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ By: california http://bycommonconsent.com/2006/05/23/true-stories-of-girls-camp/#comment-31789 Thu, 05 Oct 2006 05:35:10 +0000 http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2006/05/true-stories-of-girls-camp/#comment-31789 Girls camp was my favorite part of YW’s as well. I was one of the girls that was more on the outside of the cliques, but it never affected me to badly. All of the girls were still nice even if the more popular ones were a bit distant. At testimony meetings there was a bit of pressure but it was pressure I put on myself. Not pressure I received from others. I never bore my testimony and I never cried. I was still treated the same. As in every situation there are good and bad but I think overall girls camp is a good experience for girls. I feel awful and angry about the girls who had bad times, their leaders should have noticed. And no one should be forced to give their testimony. That’s is between a person and Heavenly Father. If they are ready and they want to then they should; not otherwise. If someone forced my child into that I would be talking with some church leaders to get the problem solved. The same about some of the hazing and mistreatment I’ve read about here. Girls camp is supposed to be a fun, uplifting experience. If you feel it is not being run correctly or in the spirit of the church then someone in your bishopric or stake needs to be talked to. If that doesn’t work take it higher. As for cultish, well that I find a bit dramatic. It’s camp, the girls are just goofing around and having fun.

]]> By: katherine http://bycommonconsent.com/2006/05/23/true-stories-of-girls-camp/#comment-31788 Fri, 29 Sep 2006 19:27:07 +0000 http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2006/05/true-stories-of-girls-camp/#comment-31788 I dont know what u r all complaining about!! honestly what a bunch of winers!! maybe things are different in the states then they are here in nova scotia but i love camp! when i was younger i must admit that my first 3 years were not enjoyable because my friends that i hung around regularly were leaving me out and not including me.
But it taught me to learn to talk to other people and make new friends,so when it was time for my fourth year none of my regluar friends wanted to go cause they dident want to go on the hike (slackers) but i went cause i finnish what i start and only 4 other girls ended up going but it was a total blast! i brought a small 4 men tent and all of us and our cool jr. leader squished in side it and laughed and giggled the hole night.
i think u really need to go to a better camp if u all have that bad of an oppion of it ,im going as jr,learder next year cause honestly my 4th year was the best year of my life,i had great leaders,and great girls that attended we never sat and wisperd mean things about other girls i dont member any fights either,i got teased a little bit because im a girly girl and got up every morning to shower and do my make-up and hair but u know what i dident care, i thought it was funny and got the make-up magic award.
U know what ur guyses problem is? u dont know how to have fun,and u wont allow ur self to have fun cause u r convinced that its stupid and for little kids,u know what who cares?theres no guys except the old men so just go crazy and have fun play a few harmless pranks,sing funny songs and particapate cause the leaders put alot of time in to gc.
p.s we sleep in heated and air conditioned cabins with showers and everything else we even have power plugs so u know what u should all come to canada ns:)

]]> By: angie http://bycommonconsent.com/2006/05/23/true-stories-of-girls-camp/#comment-31787 Sun, 23 Jul 2006 18:04:13 +0000 http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2006/05/true-stories-of-girls-camp/#comment-31787 I have several daughters. All loved girls camp but one. They each got out of girls camp what they put into it. They each saw what they wanted. It’s all a matter of perspective.

]]> By: Jenny http://bycommonconsent.com/2006/05/23/true-stories-of-girls-camp/#comment-31786 Wed, 19 Jul 2006 14:34:16 +0000 http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2006/05/true-stories-of-girls-camp/#comment-31786 Where did some of you people go to camp? I have attended both as a YW and as a leader in 2 different states and I have never seen some of these “cult like” plays and rituals or chants. I have seen funny skits that the girls always love to make up and perform, but I have never heard of the “Laminite Princess” or “Liahona Guide Us” chant, however I have heard lots of fun, old fashioned camp songs. This is the first time I have heard it called bizarre or scary. And who has ever said that you have to cry at a testimony meeting or that you are forced to bear it? I have seen girls and leaders cry when they bear their testimony (at their own will might I add) but no one ever feels like they are forced or expected to. It makes me sad to think that there are girls at some girls camp somewhere who are torturing the Beehives. At our camps we learned how to build fires, recognize constellations, set up tents, recognize plants and cook outdoors for example. Steve, you might want to look outside of your circle of relatives to get better sources of what camp is like.

]]> By: Ali http://bycommonconsent.com/2006/05/23/true-stories-of-girls-camp/#comment-31785 Mon, 17 Jul 2006 02:36:59 +0000 http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2006/05/true-stories-of-girls-camp/#comment-31785 In all the 5 years of YW camp that I have attended there have been no “cultish rituals” or any rude anitiations! It has never been bizarre or scary! I find camp to be a true testimony builder! And every single girl gets along and the pranks that are pulled are perfectly harmless! I dont understand why any other girls camp would be like the stories above! And there would never be only one male up at camp….

]]> By: Olivia http://bycommonconsent.com/2006/05/23/true-stories-of-girls-camp/#comment-31784 Fri, 07 Jul 2006 22:09:48 +0000 http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2006/05/true-stories-of-girls-camp/#comment-31784 steve evans,

how do you even know this stuff??? i find it really creepy to know that you know so much about girls camp……..did you sneek up there? or are you just a girl named steve??? and girls camp is pretty much the sweetest thing ever!!!!!! it rocks my world!!!!!!!!i would really like if you e-mail me back answerin my questions..

Thanks,
olivia

]]> By: Lora http://bycommonconsent.com/2006/05/23/true-stories-of-girls-camp/#comment-31783 Thu, 29 Jun 2006 17:55:50 +0000 http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2006/05/true-stories-of-girls-camp/#comment-31783 Thanks Hannah, I am girls camp director this year. I have gone to girls camp more years than I can count. The vast majority of camp is a positive experience. Some girls bring baggage with them, some girls have personality conflicts, some leaders don’t handle every situation perfectly. I have had girls state that camp was the best experience of their lives. 99% of the girls love camp and look forward to going again next year.

]]> By: Zelophehad’s Daughters » Blog Archive » Measuring Spirituality: Some Thoughts on Emotionality and Gender http://bycommonconsent.com/2006/05/23/true-stories-of-girls-camp/#comment-31782 Tue, 27 Jun 2006 23:35:54 +0000 http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2006/05/true-stories-of-girls-camp/#comment-31782 [...] In church contexts, women’s emotional demeanor as well as the emotional content of their comments often becomes a way for us to measure their spirituality. As Lynette (and others) observed in a comment on Steve Evans’ BCC girls’ camp thread, one of the less tenable aspects of Girls’ Camp for her was “the testimony meetings where spirituality was measured in tear-production.” While this expectation of emotional production to affirm your spirituality grows less blatant and direct for adult women, it still exists in subtle ways. Additionally, I would be surprised if most men could point to similar experiences. While I am sure there are exceptions, I doubt that a large number of men have felt accused of a lack of spirituality because they did not shed a tear or two or did not tell a heartwarming story while bearing a testimony or teaching a lesson in a church class. [...]

]]> By: Hannah http://bycommonconsent.com/2006/05/23/true-stories-of-girls-camp/#comment-31781 Fri, 23 Jun 2006 09:14:31 +0000 http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2006/05/true-stories-of-girls-camp/#comment-31781 I would also like to add that I learned a lot of outdoor skills. Mainly because our leaders where dedicated to it. We didn’t have cabins. In fact we had a huge tent that we all slept in and had to put up ourselves. Also we used just rope and small logs to make our tables and the rest of our camp. It made me feel confidant that if I only had the bare minimum I could make a campsite.

]]> By: Hannah http://bycommonconsent.com/2006/05/23/true-stories-of-girls-camp/#comment-31780 Fri, 23 Jun 2006 09:00:49 +0000 http://www.bycommonconsent.com/2006/05/true-stories-of-girls-camp/#comment-31780 On the matter of the testimony meetings, I would like to say that I am one who would always cry. And not because I felt pressured to. In a teenage girls life there is so much drama outside of camp. Unfortunately sometimes some girls bring that with them, but I never felt that when I went. At the end of a very spiritually uplifting week I felt so happy that tears would come. Those girls who especially have a hard time out side of camp too, would let it all out and were aloud to let it go with out judgment. I would be hurt if someone asked me to stop crying. My last year of camp we were asked to focus our testimonies on Jesus, and not tell so many stories. I thought it was a great idea since that is what a testimony is. Girls still cried and it was another spiritual meeting. I feel awful for those who have told stories about how badly they were treated. As a leader or a girls camp this year I think it is up to the leaders to really be involved and make sure that does not happen. Girls camp is suppose to be an escape from that sort of stuff. It was for me.

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