"Time Mag:" Sweden's Push for Gender Neutrality

[Carolyn Marie]

Interesting story. I haven't decided how I feel about it yet.

http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2159265,00.html

Carolyn Marie

[Guest Mia J]

Gender Equality is one thing. But I am not sure I could agree with gender neutrality.

MJ

[Cyndee]

Some studies have indicated a "genderless" society would benefit Men's longivity.

I don't know if gender neutrality is the answer, but it's an interesting concept.

I would venture to speculate that by the time the 21st century finishes out, there will be far less differences in what we consider "gender roles" than today in western cultures, the trend is unmistakable.

[Guest sPAZAttack]

I think that this is the right way to go. Gender is more of a fluid concept that varies from culture to culture. It seems like this school is not being too radical, they are just trying to combat gender stereotypes. The same gender stereotypes that omit us from truly expressing ourselves in public for fear of shame or embarrassment.

Children show gendered behavior from the age of two. Gender stereotypes can be pretty harmful to a child's development. For example, look at Disney princesses, what do they teach little girls about being a valuable member of their gender? That they are submissive, always beautiful and dependent on men. These texts along with other children's material such as fairy tales promote gender- typed behavior from an early age and embrace patriarchy .

A child, regardless of sex; should be able to pick up whatever doll that they want to play with and play without scrutiny or bullying if it does not fit their assigned gender. Boys and girls having more freedom to express themselves can only be a good thing I think! I wonder how I would have turned out if I was schooled in Sweeden!

[Guest N. Jane]

This was often tried 30 or more years ago by young parents of the Hippy or Flower Children generation and it was found that boys still tended toward "things" and active play while girls gravitated more toward people and relationships. The biggest advantage was to raise children who were not as confined to gender stereotypes and had more latitude in their own development choices. It seemed to produce young people who were more secure in their own masculine or feminine identity and who were more accepting of variations.

It will be interesting to see how this unfolds....

[Guest KimberlyF]

This was often tried 30 or more years ago by young parents of the Hippy or Flower Children generation and it was found that boys still tended toward "things" and active play while girls gravitated more toward people and relationships. The biggest advantage was to raise children who were not as confined to gender stereotypes and had more latitude in their own development choices. It seemed to produce young people who were more secure in their own masculine or feminine identity and who were more accepting of variations.

It will be interesting to see how this unfolds....

Very true. The Scandinavian countries have been doing this for over 30 years now, and yet men are still not going to 'care work' and women still flock to it. Well, the only major change with the idea that girls can do anything is that there are a whole lot more female doctors instead of just nurses.

It doesn't matter if the child plays with a doll or a truck or a block, when they grow up, most of the 'care work' (child care,teaching,nurses, doctors, physical therapists, psychologists and domestic work) will be done by women-some of it unpaid.

Here is a 2012 report

http://www.thelocal.se/20121107/44276

Women in every age bracket in Sweeden makes between 24-40% less annually when compared to the same age bracket of men. Yet parents who send their kids to this school claim things are going so good that gender equality is a non-issue.

Sweeden currently ranks as 4th smallest gender gap in the world.

It doesn't even matter if men and women got paid at exactly the same rate, if women take a disproportionate number of unpaid days off to care for sick family members or other issues.

The problem isn't making the world think masculinity/masculine jobs are the same as femininity/feminine jobs. They simply are not. And of course some males do feminine jobs and females do masculine jobs. The problem is making the world value them the same so that one group doesn't have all of the wealth.

[Drea]

This was often tried 30 or more years ago by young parents of the Hippy or Flower Children generation and it was found that boys still tended toward "things" and active play while girls gravitated more toward people and relationships. The biggest advantage was to raise children who were not as confined to gender stereotypes and had more latitude in their own development choices. It seemed to produce young people who were more secure in their own masculine or feminine identity and who were more accepting of variations.

It will be interesting to see how this unfolds....

There been lots of instances segment of society trying to remove the nurture component of the nature vs nurture equation. More often than not in the belief that in removing the nurture component that the young boys and girls wouldn't grow social role biases and breed more equality. As has been noted there does seem to be real nature differences which stubbornly don't go away.

Now I think such scenarios do allow for a wider variation into allowing the kids experience and exploration into what is traditionally gender non-conforming interests without negative stigma attached. But as has been noted, the girls and boys do on average gravitate to different types of play and interests.

[Guest]

I think that this is the right way to go. Gender is more of a fluid concept that varies from culture to culture. It seems like this school is not being too radical, they are just trying to combat gender stereotypes. The same gender stereotypes that omit us from truly expressing ourselves in public for fear of shame or embarrassment.

Children show gendered behavior from the age of two. Gender stereotypes can be pretty harmful to a child's development. For example, look at Disney princesses, what do they teach little girls about being a valuable member of their gender? That they are submissive, always beautiful and dependent on men. These texts along with other children's material such as fairy tales promote gender- typed behavior from an early age and embrace patriarchy .

A child, regardless of sex; should be able to pick up whatever doll that they want to play with and play without scrutiny or bullying if it does not fit their assigned gender. Boys and girls having more freedom to express themselves can only be a good thing I think! I wonder how I would have turned out if I was schooled in Sweeden!

I don't think you'd want to know.

Then again it depends on which decade you'd choose the Swedish schooling in.

Huggs,

Joann