Gender Neutral Kindergarten in Sweden

[Chazz]

Gender neutral toys have been around for a generation.

I work with kids. The gender binary is getting worse, not better. Young people are more affected by popular culture than the toys they played with as little children.

As a child, I played with girl and boy toys. It did not change my cisButch outcome.

[BullDog]

I don't see anything wrong with kids all calling each other friends rather than gender specific pronouns. However, I think allowing space for boys to play with dolls and girls to play with trucks or whatever other toys they choose- where there is no value placed on trucks being more important or boy-like or where boys will not be ridiculed for playing with dolls is more important than the reason we can all play with dolls or trucks is because we are all "friends" rather than "she" or "he."

[EnderD_503]

I've been following this story for some time, and I have to say I'm pretty impressed with all I've read on it. I think it's an excellent idea. As others have said, it's not that the kindergarten system is attempting to take away gender should one wish to identify one way or the other, but to allow kids to decide for themselves what they want to play with rather than telling them trucks = boys = better and dolls = girls = lesser. The pronoun issue is also great, imo. I think at the very least it will help kids understand each other as humans first, instead of as specific genders as they're unfortunately taught in many places.

I also applaud them taking out books that peg boys/girls into fixed roles, like Cinderella, Snow White etc. where the "damsel" is always in distress and the "prince" must always come save her.

As others have said, Swedish/Scandinavian society is far more progressive than North American society, and even Western/Central European society in many respects. There seems to be a rise in the number of Swedish parents raising their children as gender neutral/allowing their children to express themselves as any gender they wish. And to be frank, most Scandinavian men I've met haven't been as obsessed with acting hypermasculine when they don't feel that's for them the way men are pressured to in many other societies. It's an interesting time in the "gender movement" when it comes to Sweden, imo. From Stieg Larsson's graphic depiction of a woman committing a revenge rape against her rapist (something which, from the articles I've read, North American critics have been less comfortable with...which is excellent, imo), to getting rid of the rigid gender binary in younger generations by widening the breadth of what they can acceptably be.

All that to say, I fully support this, and I do hope Canada catches on soon. Though that may be wishful thinking with our lovely friend Mr. Harper in the PMs seat. If I were to make a prediction, I would say that the rest of Scandinavia as well as the Benelux will be the next to catch on to striking gender rigidity from the Kindergarten curriculum.

[tapu]

EnderD, hi. I'm glad to read more specifics about this endeavor.

I'm still not understanding what goes on with pronouns in the class. When the teachers need pronouns (they can't keep saying friends, friend), do they use replacement forms (just to make some up as examples: hish, ishi...)? Are the kids then to pick up the use of the replacement forms?

If what you've been following goes into those details, I'd love to read it myself. I've just not been able to imagine it in practice at all.

tanx

[EnderD_503]

Originally Posted by tapu

EnderD, hi. I'm glad to read more specifics about this endeavor.

I'm still not understanding what goes on with pronouns in the class. When the teachers need pronouns (they can't keep saying friends, friend), do they use replacement forms (just to make some up as examples: hish, ishi...)? Are the kids then to pick up the use of the replacement forms?

If what you've been following goes into those details, I'd love to read it myself. I've just not been able to imagine it in practice at all.

tanx

As far as I know they only use "friends" when they're addressing a group of students, instead of calling them "boys and girls" or "boys" or "girls." As far as the pronouns, they say they use "hen" when addressing anyone in the third person, instead of him/her. They've explained that it's a non-existent pronoun in the Swedish language, but which they're using as a kind of gender neutral pronoun (a bit like they or even zie/hy etc that are sometimes used in English in the lgbt community), instead of identifying or assuming any one person's gender as masculine/feminine.

[tapu]

I had trouble seeing the practicality of using "hen" until you said it's like using "they."

I think that English speakers would be able to move more easily from "she/he" to "they," because of the related language change that has already been in progress for a while, namely "they" = 3rd person singular when referent is unspecified. (Previously "one" or the egregious "he," now "they.")

A replacement of established forms by novel, unrelated, and previously non-natural forms would be very difficult to effect in one swoop. But do you (or does anyone) know if maybe "hen" has been following a trajectory similar to "they"? If so, then I can see this finally now.

afterthought: it is likely something is being adopted as neutral 3rd person in Swedish, given the cultural direction this whole idea indicates