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Preschool in Sweden Does Away With 'Gender'
Filed under: In The News
These kids are all "genderless friends" with one another. Credit: AP
At a preschool in Sweden, there are no boys or girls. Only genderless "friends"
Even the Swedish equivalent of pronouns such as "him," her," "he" and "she" have been replaced. However, new words have been made up just for the preschool and don't appear in any Swedish dictionary.
Will all those changes help the children grow up without the tyranny of gender expectations and stereotypes? CNN reports that's what taxpayers in Stockholm are paying to find out with the Egalia preschool, where children and adults walk a politically correct tightrope.
Cinderella, Snow White and other stories with definite gender roles are off limits. Instead, kids get stories about gay and lesbian couples, single parents and adopted children.
"Society expects girls to be girlie, nice and pretty and boys to be manly, rough and outgoing," teacher Jenny Johnsson tells the Associated Press. "Egalia gives them a fantastic opportunity to be whoever they want to be."
CNN reports a 2010 study by the World Economic Forum on the global gender gap found Sweden and three other Nordic countries lead the world when it comes to gender equality. Sweden is also considered a pioneer in legalizing gay and lesbian partnerships.
Related: 'Genderless' Baby Raises a Storm of Controversy
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
6-27-2011 @ 3:23PM
dragoness_muir said...That is awesome! I remember when I was school, constantly hearing things (from both my peers and teachers) like "You can't be a pilot...", "You can't be a doctor...", "You can't play the trombone...", all because I was a girl. Gender boundaries place so many restrictions on kids. If they're genderless or those boundaries are taken away, they'll hopefully grow up to be much better people.
Reply
6-28-2011 @ 2:47AM
CART said...Awesome?? Replacing one extreme with the opposite one is AWESOME?? :o
And what preschool have you been to? "Hitler's Delight"?? In my preschool nobody said anything like "you can't do that, you are a girl/boy" to anyone. Boys, girls, we all could play the same games with the same toys (cars, dolls, trains, you name it), whatever we liked, and nobody needed any guidelines...
This is how this civilisation will end - we will suffocate ourselves with ridiculous rules...
6-27-2011 @ 4:22PM
Lauren said...Politically correct pre-school? How sad. Sounds like they're just swapping one stereotype for another one. How can you teach about gay/lesbian relationships WITHOUT mentioning gender? Oh that is ok to teach....Not all girls are girly and not all guys are manly. Everyone knows that, it just makes a convenient excuse to push the gay/lesbian agenda along. I don't appreciate being told I HAVE to believe its a correct lifestyle. People have plenty of beliefs that they don't push the government to endorse and enforce.
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6-27-2011 @ 9:09PM
Michelle said...Even if the teachers at this preschool do not teach gender, the kids will know the girls from the boys anyway. At my daughter's preschool this year, there were only 4 girls in the class. During free playtime, the 4 little girls played together, while the boys played in their own group(s), with no prompting from the teachers. You can't stop Mother Nature.
Reply
6-28-2011 @ 5:42PM
Squiggles said...I do like the concept of taking gender stereotypes out of preschool, but not using gender-specific language when referring to an individual child is plain silly, along with only showing same-sex or single-parent families. Life consists of more than girlie girls and rough-and-tumble boys, and most kids have no problems figuring that out. Most preschools nowadays don't push certain toys or games onto a specific gender either. My kids' preschool simply had stations at which children could play, and nobody was made fun of when playing with something that wasn't "gender appropriate".
How about just letting kids be kids? I think it's more the parents who need a lesson in individuality, not our kids.
Reply
6-28-2011 @ 10:14PM
Itis93 said...To all the geniuses out there, STOP THINKING! boys will be boys. Girls will be girls. Period, say no more. If you don't believe me have some kids. You'll learn alot!
Reply
6-29-2011 @ 1:08PM
thedamedomain said...Just wait til those genderless little people reach adolescense, at which point pronouns will become utterly useless because anyone walking into a room will be able to the boys from the girls!
NB
www.thehomefiresareburning.com
Reply
6-30-2011 @ 9:17AM
Cat said...Ok readers. Do you really think any of this will hurt the children? It's a harmless (yes, really harmless) social experiment. It's just preschool, not preschool through to high school. This is a group of people who are trying out a heartfelt idea to see if it can help our ailing society (probably girls in particular, who are dieting, sexually active and getting plastic surgery at ever-younger ages). Let's cheer these educators on and hope they're on to something! I wish them all the best and am curious to see how it turns out.
Reply
7-10-2011 @ 2:51PM
Kate said...Then how about we just stop teaching girls that ridiculous stuff? My 3-year-old daughter is much more comfortable in oversized t-shirts and sweatpants. She doesn't know what "fat" is. I've never talked about being on a diet. I don't wear make up or do my hair or wear fancy clothes either. Oh, and I'm straight and married and Christian. It's entirely possible NOT to need to go to these extremes to allow children to be who they are!