http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/14/world/europe/swedish-school-de-emphasizes-gender-lines.html?pagewanted=2
In an article from the New York Times titled, "Swedish Schools Big Lesson Begins With Dropping Personal Pronouns," John Tagliabue writes about the country's effort to blur gender lines. Teacher's have discontinued the use of personal pronouns like "him" and "her" and instead have replaced them with the inclusive term "friends" or by calling kids by name. This school in Stockholm is also progressive in a way that boys and girls are both encouraged to play with dolls and blocks. Teachers further this blurring of the gender lines that exist by treating boys with as much attention when they get hurt as girls tend to. It's about finding equality in the circumstance. The school has received some criticism and even some have mentioned that the school is working toward turning little boys into little girls. The deputy mayor responsible for schools, Lotta Edholm, refutes this by saying, "The important thing is that children, regardless of their sex, have the same opportunities. It’s a question of freedom.” While the author of the article does also mention that Sweden is known for its egalitarian mind-set, I feel this is something America can learn from. The problem, however, is that as a an institution, education in regulated by the government. When you look at our government, the ratio of men to women is overwhelming. When you get to the root of the problem with social oppressions, you begin to realize that one thing reiterates another, and it becomes like the Cycle of Oppression we discussed in our class this week. Sweden is taking a progressive step in an effort to blur gender lines while people are young and educable.
This is fantastic! I applaud this Swedish for not only "blurring the gender lines", but for going against society's firm opinions and beliefs. It takes a lot of effort and courage to be at the center of attention like this. I wonder if the children at this school are aware of their environmental differences in comparison to those around the local area. This also reminds me of the news-header a few years back which presented criticism on a family which chose to "ungender" their child. They also took away the "hims" and "hers" and let the child do and act however it felt appropriate. I would LOVE to follow this story and see where it goes, and evaluate the struggles along the way. America could TOTALLY learn from this! More people need to allow the freedom of choice instead of sticking by society's continuum gender-roles.
ReplyDeleteWow, what a big step for schools to make! I wish our country was as progressive about equality of gender.. Sadly, I don't see our country getting to this point any time soon. Like you said, our government is overwhelmingly male and in order for any bill or change that has to do with equality of gender to pass, I believe that would have to change. In class we talked about how if our rate of women in government increase at the rate it is now, it could be a hundred years or more until we get to that point! This idea does seem like a perfectly ideal way to strip people's minds of gender stereotypes and help both genders of young generations to grow up feeling equal and like they can accomplish things!
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