World

No ‘Him’ or ‘Her’: Swedish Preschool Goes Gender Neutral

No Him or Her: Swedish Preschool Goes Gender Neutral

In this Monday June 20, 2011 photo, a teacher plays with children at "Egalia", a Swedish preschool aiming at gender stereotypes, in Stockholm, Sweden. At the "Egalia" preschool, staff avoid using words like "him" or "her" and address the children as "friends" rather than girls and boys. (AP Photo/Scanpix Sweden, Fredrik Sandberg)

STOCKHOLM (AP) — At the “Egalia” preschool, staff avoid using words like “him” or “her” and address the 33 kids as “friends” rather than girls and boys.

From the color and placement of toys to the choice of books, every detail has been carefully planned to make sure the children don’t fall into gender stereotypes.

“Society expects girls to be girlie, nice and pretty and boys to be manly, rough and outgoing,” says Jenny Johnsson, a 31-year-old teacher. “Egalia gives them a fantastic opportunity to be whoever they want to be.”

The taxpayer-funded preschool which opened last year in the liberal Sodermalm district of Stockholm for kids aged 1 to 6 is among the most radical examples of Sweden’s efforts to engineer equality between the sexes from childhood onward.

Breaking down gender roles is a core mission in the national curriculum for preschools, underpinned by the theory that even in highly egalitarian-minded Sweden, society gives boys an unfair edge.

To even things out, many preschools have hired “gender pedagogues” to help staff identify language and behavior that risk reinforcing stereotypes.

Some parents worry things have gone too far. An obsession with obliterating gender roles, they say, could make the children confused and ill-prepared to face the world outside kindergarten.

“Different gender roles aren’t problematic as long as they are equally valued,” says Tanja Bergkvist, a 37-year-old blogger and a leading voice against what she calls “gender madness” in Sweden.

Those bent on shattering gender roles “say there’s a hierarchy where everything that boys do is given higher value, but I wonder who decides that it has higher value,” she says. “Why is there higher value in playing with cars?”

At Egalia — the title connotes “equality” — boys and girls play together with a toy kitchen, waving plastic utensils and pretending to cook. One boy hides inside the toy stove, his head popping out through a hole.

Lego bricks and other building blocks are intentionally placed next to the kitchen, to make sure the children draw no mental barriers between cooking and construction.

Director Lotta Rajalin notes that Egalia places a special emphasis on fostering an environment tolerant of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. From a bookcase, she pulls out a story about two male giraffes who are sad to be childless — until they come across an abandoned crocodile egg.

Nearly all the children’s books deal with homosexual couples, single parents or adopted children. There are no “Snow White,” ”Cinderella” or other classic fairy tales seen as cementing stereotypes.

Rajalin, 52, says the staff also try to help the children discover new ideas when they play.

“A concrete example could be when they‘re playing ’house’ and the role of the mom already is taken and they start to squabble,” she says. “Then we suggest two moms or three moms and so on.”

Egalia’s methods are controversial; some say they amount to mind control. Rajalin says the staff have received threats from racists apparently upset about the preschool’s use of black dolls.

But she says that there’s a long waiting list for admission to Egalia, and that only one couple has pulled a child out of the school.

Jukka Korpi, 44, says he and his wife chose Egalia “to give our children all the possibilities based on who they are and not on their gender.”

Sweden has promoted women’s rights for decades, and more recently was a pioneer among European countries in allowing gay and lesbian couples to legalize their partnerships and adopt children.

Gender studies permeate academic life in Sweden. Bergkvist noted on her blog that the state-funded Swedish Science Council had granted $80,000 for a postdoctoral fellowship aimed at analyzing “the trumpet as a symbol of gender.”

Jay Belsky, a child psychologist at the University of California, Davis, said he’s not aware of any other school like Egalia, and he questioned whether it was the right way to go.

“The kind of things that boys like to do — run around and turn sticks into swords — will soon be disapproved of,” he said. “So gender neutrality at its worst is emasculating maleness.”

Egalia is unusual even for Sweden. Staff try to shed masculine and feminine references from their speech, including the pronouns him or her — “han” or “hon” in Swedish. Instead, they’ve have adopted the genderless “hen,” a word that doesn’t exist in Swedish but is used in some feminist and gay circles.

“We use the word ”Hen” for example when a doctor, police, electrician or plumber or such is coming to the kindergarten,” Rajalin says. “We don‘t know if it’s a he or a she so we just say ‘Hen is coming around 2 p.m.’ Then the children can imagine both a man or a woman. This widens their view.”

Egalia doesn’t deny the biological differences between boys and girls — the dolls the children play with are anatomically correct.

What matters is that children understand that their biological differences “don’t mean boys and girls have different interests and abilities,” Rajalin says. “This is about democracy. About human equality.”

Comments (244)

1 2 3 ... 7
  • Dark Eden
    Posted on June 26, 2011 at 1:14pm

    Didn‘t we already do this in the 60’s and 70′s and after a lot of pain and toil come to the conclusion that boys still want to be boys and girls still want to be girls? Oh sorry liberal means never having to learn from past mistakes.

    Report Post »  
    • wash1776
      Posted on June 26, 2011 at 1:26pm

      Liberals don’t make mistakes. THEY ARE THE MISTAKE!

      Report Post »  
    • Sr Newk
      Posted on June 26, 2011 at 7:01pm

      I am in full agreement with Wash1716. One thing for these Liberals definitely don’t have and that is “Common Sense”, but they have plenty of “No Sense Whatsoever”

      Report Post » Sr Newk  
  • suffolkva
    Posted on June 26, 2011 at 1:14pm

    This is so perverted it’s hard to know where to begin. I’ll limit my comment to asking what these ******* will do when the real world impinges upon their stupid fantasy and they are attacked in war? Will their little fairy girlie-boys and macho he-girls be up to the task of defending themselves? That’s a laugh. The only way these weirdos can even exist is in a world where other people, such as Americans, protect them from those who would conquer them. This is why the Swedes were suspect in collaborating with Nazis in WWII. They are useless. Their moral haughtiness makes me feel ill.

    Report Post »  
  • babylonvi
    Posted on June 26, 2011 at 1:13pm

    Political Correctness and Social Engineering, that ALWAYS works out OK, doesn’t it?

    Report Post » babylonvi  
  • Akira Gomi
    Posted on June 26, 2011 at 1:13pm

    WHat now? Go to all anatomy books and strike out the words Penis and ******? Mommy is this a Boy cat or a girl cat? Let’s vote on that ok? Just like in school, Is it a boy cat or girl cat, ****** the “V” the new “N” word..

    Report Post » Akira Gomi  
  • chicago76
    Posted on June 26, 2011 at 1:13pm

    When all is said and done all those kids will be basket cases. The crazies doing this to the kids will move on to bigger and better things.

    Report Post »  
    • KickinBack
      Posted on June 26, 2011 at 2:08pm

      Drugged up and easier to control. If not put down altogether.

      Report Post » KickinBack  
  • lketchum
    Posted on June 26, 2011 at 1:11pm

    Folks… prepare like mad fools. Two years minimum of food and toiltet paper and sundrys.

    The fools on the left are out of money – our money, and the end game is near – they will not be able to feed or support their massive base that depends upon them entirely. We are past a tipping point and in a few more months, you’ll be defending your preps with your lives. Obama has an executive order declaring having more than one week’s food on hand a felony – so they can seize what you have stored. So be prepared to hide in place and defend your home. Human beings become clever savages capable of anything after just a few days without food. Be grateful many of those dependent upon the left are obese tub-o-lards that will die off very quickly. Sad to say, but it will get that bad.

    Report Post » lketchum  
    • Akira Gomi
      Posted on June 26, 2011 at 1:15pm

      Let them try to come into my house, Bunch of fire wood in the street..

      Report Post » Akira Gomi  
  • KeithOlberdink
    Posted on June 26, 2011 at 1:09pm

    I‘m so glad I don’t have kids and got a vasectomy. This world is going to friggin hell.

    Report Post » KeithOlberdink  
    • KickinBack
      Posted on June 26, 2011 at 2:06pm

      “This world is going to friggin hell.”
      ————————————————-
      And not in a hand basket, but a friggin cargo ship!

      Report Post » KickinBack  
    • JJ Coolay
      Posted on June 26, 2011 at 11:49pm

      On the contrary Keith…. I‘m SO glad I have kids because I’m helping keep the % of normalcy up!! :)
      Keep reproducing conservatives!!

      Report Post » JJ Coolay  
  • TheLordReigns
    Posted on June 26, 2011 at 1:08pm

    Just another work of the devil to put forth the sodomy agenda…
    It’s high time Believers in Christ: We know the TRUTH and JESUS is the Author, the Finisher, and the Perfecter of our Faith. Put your Trust in Him and in HIS NAME alone…Satan is raging with a vengence…that’s why we see so much evil abounding…the enemy, Satan, who uses leaders in various people groups is, guess what…DEFEATED, he was defeated on the Cross of Calvary! The LORD crushed his head and the victory is totally ours! The war is already won, but the battle continues…Stand firm in the Faith and know what you believe and why: Stand for Truth! JESUS IS THE ONLY TRUTH….it’s going to get worse, from evil to evil….the time is short for satan and he is raging around like “a” lion seeking whom to devour…but if you serve the KING OF KINGS, THE LORD OF LORDS, “THE” LION OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH, the battle is not yours to win, it‘s the LORD’S AND HE ALREADY WON! Satan uses governments and people to put forth his evil agenda to bring all those who do not trust in JESUS CHRIST down with him to hell…how deceived!! The agenda today raging is sodomy for evil intent…
    Wake up, your redemption draws near…remember these are the days JESUS said that would be “As in the Days of Noah”- Remember, “Will not the LORD of all the earth judge rightly? Remember how HE destroyed HIMSELF, Sodom and Gemorah? There is nothing new under the sun

    Report Post »  
  • UpstateNYConservative
    Posted on June 26, 2011 at 1:07pm

    Yeah, right. If not a boy, if not a girl, then what’s left–an ‘it’?

    This is so stupid.

    Boys want to be men, and girls want men to treat them like ladies. It’s in our basic natures. This little venture is doomed to failure, unless the Swedes want everyone to be p*ssies.

    Report Post » UpstateNYConservative  
  • llotus
    Posted on June 26, 2011 at 1:05pm

    That could mess a child up. Not a boy, not a girl. what do you have left to label girls and boys as one ? They, them ,those or it. They are taking radical liberalism too far. These people are supose to be smart. Must be part of the aluminaty. Phenes. Lotus.

    Report Post »  
  • wash1776
    Posted on June 26, 2011 at 1:03pm

    This kind of crap beggars belief. Not we can’t be boys and girls, men and women? Why? Who is pushing this garbage besides the liberal progressives and gays?

    Report Post »  
  • OhioMarcus
    Posted on June 26, 2011 at 1:00pm

    stupid – no other word – ok, deranged

    Report Post » OhioMarcus  
  • TeaForMe
    Posted on June 26, 2011 at 12:59pm

    How nice it must be for the Swedes to have no more serious problems to deal with than this. Or is it that the country’s being run by wing-nuts?

    Report Post »  
    • NoStoppingUs
      Posted on June 26, 2011 at 2:00pm

      Sweden has a problem with Mohammedians. The mohammedian men love to target and rape young swedish women. They are brutal and base.

      Report Post »  
    • highcarry
      Posted on June 26, 2011 at 5:33pm

      gender awareness does mess kids up. the people who push this grew up with gender awareness and look at how screwed up they are.

      Report Post » highcarry  
  • ErinLindsey
    Posted on June 26, 2011 at 12:56pm

    There goes the planet. If this fad becomes the “proper” way to educate children, the planet is screwed. Thank goodness I’m not planning on having any kids. I wont have to worry about watching my children be brainwashed.

    Report Post » ErinLindsey  
  • bbg1123
    Posted on June 26, 2011 at 12:55pm

    Maybe it’s just me, but gender neutral would, in my opinion, do more to take away a childs identity, than it would help create one. They may as well be building test tube kids

    Report Post »  
  • Cuthalu
    Posted on June 26, 2011 at 12:55pm

    This is child abuse.

    Report Post »  
    • jb.kibs
      Posted on June 26, 2011 at 9:14pm

      it’s terrorism on children.

      Report Post »  
    • FormulaLT
      Posted on June 26, 2011 at 11:21pm

      It is equally as appalling as the “Forbidden Experiment”, perhaps more so since the parents are volunteering their children as guinea pigs.

      Report Post » FormulaLT  
  • rbcintexas
    Posted on June 26, 2011 at 12:53pm

    This is feminism trying to destroy the male in today’s society. It is absolutely amazing that while they want to celebrate the differences in culture at they same time they are repressing the differences in sexes. Boys are boys and girls are girls and they need to sccept that. Anything less is liberal madness.

    Report Post » rbcintexas  
  • cookcountypatriot
    Posted on June 26, 2011 at 12:52pm

    the parents that send thier kids thier are the sicko,s….poor kids

    Report Post » cookcountypatriot  
  • obama-mecca-me-sick
    Posted on June 26, 2011 at 12:50pm

    Lets just mandate penis and ****** removal and refer to everyone as it. what a wacky world we have become.

    Report Post »  
  • Unruled
    Posted on June 26, 2011 at 12:49pm

    F*#%ing madness! That is all I can say….

    Report Post »  
  • Seth Patriot
    Posted on June 26, 2011 at 12:49pm

    Has the entire world gone stark raving mad ?

    Report Post » Seth Patriot  
  • BuckleUpAmerica
    Posted on June 26, 2011 at 12:48pm

    Those poor children! They don’t stand a chance!

    Report Post » BuckleUpAmerica  
    • theprofessor1031
      Posted on June 26, 2011 at 1:30pm

      I agree. I really feel for the children in the world now. What these people are doing is pure evil, and they will pay in the end. It‘s just sad how many kids they’re gonna drag down with them. It sickens me.

      Report Post » theprofessor1031  
    • RLTW
      Posted on June 26, 2011 at 2:43pm

      Another progressive attempt at destroying human instinct and bringing about the extinction of the individual and HIS or HERS personality based on gender.

      Report Post »  
  • Midwest Blonde
    Posted on June 26, 2011 at 12:46pm

    Geeze! Lets create an entire generation of people who are confused about what role they play. Lets face it, there are male brains and female brains. We (the genders) THINK and act differently. Maybe not as 1-6 year olds but eventually, we become different.

    I do wonder though, if they have unisex restrooms? and what do they say when children discover the differences (physically) between the genders?

    Report Post » Midwest Blonde  
    • vennoye
      Posted on June 26, 2011 at 1:26pm

      If there is NO gender difference, homosexuality is no problem. If homosexuality is no problem, look at how little you need to do in birth control. Environmentalists WILL get the population down to their 500,000 million by any and all means available!! Aren’t you thrilled?
      KickinBack
      Civilization is devolving rapidly……beginning to understand the “Days of Noah” better?

      Report Post » vennoye  
    • Brooke Lorren
      Posted on June 26, 2011 at 4:21pm

      I worked at a day care for a couple of years… even in America, the 2 year olds share a restroom together. They don’t really care. In the older grades, they do have individual bathrooms, but it’s one toilet per bathroom. I don’t know how they would do it there.

      I don’t have a problem with letting kids play with the toys that they want (to a degree), but it’s nonsense to act like kids are the same regardless of gender.

      Report Post »  
    • jb.kibs
      Posted on June 26, 2011 at 9:08pm

      that’s exactly right.
      it’s not about what they say it is.. about ‘how males and females are SUPPOSED to be portrayed’ that is BULL. that is not what it is about at all, IF it was.. WHY then do we have all these passive males and outgoing females that we have TODAY. RIGHT NOW? think about it…
      this is complete terrorism. it IS terrorism on your children. i am dead serious.

      Report Post »  
    • JJ Coolay
      Posted on June 26, 2011 at 9:35pm

      Midwest…. even as children they are different!
      I have 2 boys and a girl and there is a HUGE difference in them even from a young age. The gender-bent dispositions became apparent as early as 1 or 2 years old when one gravitated towards toy trucks, tools and guns and one gravitated towards dolls and kitty cats, etc. Guess which ones gravitated towards which?

      Report Post » JJ Coolay  
    • kaydeebeau
      Posted on June 27, 2011 at 6:19am

      Why don they just use “it”? Since all good little leftist (in the famous view of one of BHOs Czar which I can’t remember which one right now) thinks that it is ok to eliminate children up to around the age of 3 since they are more of a drain on society than a contributor. Good grief….just when I think things can’t get any crazier….

      Report Post » kaydeebeau  
  • LadyLibertykicksASS
    Posted on June 26, 2011 at 12:46pm

    I can hardly wait to see the bills for Therapists as the kids get older. GOOD LUCK!

    Report Post »  
    • jb.kibs
      Posted on June 26, 2011 at 9:06pm

      exactly.
      Also, i want to know how these people think ‘society expects males to be out going, and females to be passive’. where does that come from? from their childrens parents? that is up to you to raise YOUR children how YOU want. not schools, schools don’t force males to be out going and females to be passive… explain how there are SO many passive males and out going females today if this program JUST started… really, explain that one.. you people are crazy, this is BEYOND what they claim. they are trying to ruin our population through children, wake the F up.
      anyone who sends their children to public schools today, gets what they deserve.

      * and… i hate the word society… there is not 1 particular society… humans is that category. Society is such a bs term that only socialists use. where do you get ‘society information’, you know… to know what society thinks? seriously? where? lame stream media and yourself? you think that way so you say everyone else does? really.. i’m sure there are plenty killers who think they are right, so that means society thinks that way? shallow minded people…

      Report Post »  
  • ozchambers
    Posted on June 26, 2011 at 12:42pm

    This is where Rose Ellen went to pre-school.

    Report Post » ozchambers  
    • darkknight91
      Posted on June 26, 2011 at 1:02pm

      It’s amazing to me how braindead Europeans and half of Americans are and how easily duped they are in pushing this kind of nonsense. This is nothing more than the roots of Marxism. Take away the individual’s identity and make everyone the same. Destroy God, the family and the individual. A recipe for disaster.

      Report Post » darkknight91  
    • KickinBack
      Posted on June 26, 2011 at 1:08pm

      I used to think that humanity in a whole was degressing. (Not PROgressing like the progressives think, unless you think of progressing back to the dark ages…) But now I don’t know what the hell we are headed for.

      Report Post » KickinBack  
    • Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
      Posted on June 26, 2011 at 1:11pm

      So the stupidity crisis continues unabated…indeed there is no cure for stupid actions.

      Report Post » Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}  
    • AOL_REFUGEE
      Posted on June 26, 2011 at 1:35pm

      Can “man” (pardon me, Sweden) devolve to the point of overthinking “himself” into a state of complete stupidity? Apparently, in Sweden, “he” can.

      By the way, all that nonsense will be for naught as soon as those kids reach puberty.

      Report Post » AOL_REFUGEE  
    • nptden
      Posted on June 26, 2011 at 1:48pm

      This is all for destroying cultures and instituting a NWO dreamed of and promoted by the rejects of society. They are so unbalanced they must change the world to feel any worth or acceptance. They go against the Nature of Man itself.

      Report Post » nptden  
    • BoiseBaked
      Posted on June 26, 2011 at 2:00pm

      Just idiotic.

      Report Post »  
    • KickinBack
      Posted on June 26, 2011 at 2:04pm

      I worry that these kids would become so confused…not so much in their own identities, but what society actually expects of them…to the point that they will have to be doped up on anti-depressants for the rest of their lives to keep them from going postal or killing themselves.

      Report Post » KickinBack  
    • booger71
      Posted on June 26, 2011 at 2:13pm

      And just think, I thought Dr. Spock’s ideas of parenting were wacky.

      Report Post » booger71  
    • Eric_The_Red_State
      Posted on June 26, 2011 at 2:33pm

      @darkknight91
      Exactly what this is.
      And the sooner it is brought out into the open the better.
      Has this worked anywhere? – No.
      So why is it so attractive to so many?
      Probably because they are lulled into the lie that the big-bad rich person (which includes anyone making money) is no paying their “fair share”

      When you pay people for not working and tax those who do – don’t be surprised when “Unempolyment” goes through the roof.

      Report Post » Eric_The_Red_State  
    • HappyStretchedThin
      Posted on June 26, 2011 at 2:42pm

      Got news for the Swedes. This experiment has been run, and has failed. Give the boys dolls, they don’t play house with them: they have play fights. Give the girls cars, they don’t race each other: they play house.

      Report Post » HappyStretchedThin  
    • Dustyluv
      Posted on June 26, 2011 at 3:00pm

      Bump uglies with anyone! Idiots!

      Report Post »  
    • sidestep
      Posted on June 26, 2011 at 3:06pm

      What happens when three friends run to the restroom? Danny looks at tommy and his is bigger and sue stands there without one? How do you divide that up equally?

      Report Post »  
    • Rightsofman
      Posted on June 26, 2011 at 3:07pm

      Sweden is so over run with Muslims that they won’t be able to pull off this bit of insanity for long and the girls will find themselves in burkas before long wondering why the ones with short hair get to wear regular clothes – uh change that to muslim male garments.

      Report Post »  
    • IronSights
      Posted on June 26, 2011 at 3:13pm

      What amazes me is two things 1) the parents are actually enrolling their kids in this crap 2) government funded. Why aren’t the masses in Sweden up in arms over this. It’s nothing more than a science experiment be conducted by a group of people who are delusional when it comes to their own level of intelligence. And those participating and funding are just flat out stupid!

      Report Post » IronSights  
    • Drives Like Jehu
      Posted on June 26, 2011 at 3:32pm

      This is soooooo confusing; I thought that libbies/pinkos/progressives/fascists/socialists/commies were all about DIVERSITY and now they want to make boys and girls IDENTICAL???

      Report Post » Drives Like Jehu  
    • Eliasim
      Posted on June 26, 2011 at 3:40pm

      This experiment is silly and it isn’t non-biased. If there wasn‘t a particular outcome they were looking for then they wouldn’t be doing this thing. And, and if they are willing to tamper with HUMAN beings, then they will CERTAINLY be willing to tamper with mere tools and calculations, and outcomes.

      Report Post »  
    • RepubliCorp
      Posted on June 26, 2011 at 4:24pm

      Rehashed idea from the 60′s…….. didn’t work then

      Report Post » RepubliCorp  
    • aliengenius
      Posted on June 26, 2011 at 4:58pm

      Wow! and these are the descendants of those who sailed mighty oceans to North America and struck fear in the hearts of men (or is it hen?) across England and Europe…Goes to show what happens when life becomes easy and cushy and its only been half a century at that. WW2 really did a number on the collective psyche over in those parts. Sad…so sad…

      In typical liberal fashion they celebrate diversity by homogenizing the sexes. The liberal mind is truly defective at its core. And to think we all sat on our asses and lived our lives never batting an eye as the inmates took over the asylum.

      Report Post »  
    • chazman
      Posted on June 26, 2011 at 6:12pm

      Sweden is so forward thinking. NOT! Sweden is a country of automatrons. They are on the cutting edge of stupid.

      Report Post »  
    • streetrodder
      Posted on June 26, 2011 at 8:54pm

      And i think she teaches there.

      Report Post »  
    • JJ Coolay
      Posted on June 26, 2011 at 9:31pm

      The entire world is upside down. Man is this place foreign!!!

      Report Post » JJ Coolay  
    • BOMUSTGO
      Posted on June 26, 2011 at 9:57pm

      How do the kids know which restroom to use???

      Report Post » BOMUSTGO  
    • Wilkins
      Posted on June 26, 2011 at 11:00pm

      How many muslim children in this preschool?

      Report Post »  
    • Zorro6821
      Posted on June 27, 2011 at 7:49am

      This will mess up the kids for life. What kind of insanity is this.

      Report Post »  
    • Sound The Trumpet In Zion
      Posted on June 27, 2011 at 7:56am

      If my children were going to this school, they would be addressed by being either a girl or a boy and they would not go through sexual orientation classes to make them confused as to who they are or they would be hearing from me and they would NOT like that.

      Report Post » Sound The Trumpet In Zion  
    • Cerealface
      Posted on June 27, 2011 at 11:37am

      Good, maybe I wouldn’t have gotten made fun of so much in school.

      Report Post » Cerealface  
    • chazman
      Posted on June 28, 2011 at 3:32pm

      How far to the left can one go … Swedes are weird, and so is ROSE ELLEN!

      Report Post »  
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