Tuesday, September 09, 2014

Scouting For Boys: Baden-Powell vs The One-Eyed Trouser Snake

In 1908, Robert Baden-Powell published his classic boook of advice for young men called "Scouting For Boys", the handbook for his fledgling Scout movement.

At the last minute, his publisher got cold feet and urged him to remove a passage on "self-abuse", advice which B-P grudgingly took. Luckily for us, the passge was not entirely lost, and was restored in a 2004 reprint.

So, what did Baden-Powell think of masturbation? (Hint: He's not a fan)

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So. Leave it alone, or if you can't go speak to your Scout Master, and he'll sort it out for you. Wise words, indeed.

5 comments:

isolator42 said...

Perhaps sound advice at the time of writing, if hysterically medically inaccurate.

Not exactly future-proof though is it?
For example: What if the scout leader is a very attractive lady, who I would be pursuing myself in a most gentlemanly manner, if I wasn't already married?

...hypothetically speaking, of course*


* Definitely not hypothetical at all.

Flaxen Saxon said...

Now everything becomes clear. If only I had had this advice as a boy. Then perhaps I would not be mad, an idiot and blind in one eye.

The Dancing Cake Tin said...

I met a known Scout Master once.

Robert Smith said...

I can't find that bit in my book, can you tell me what page it's on please?

TRT said...

@Keith Smith

It's probably on the pages that are stuck together.