This week the BBC World Service reported on Sweden’s first “Gender Neutral” school. Egalia pre-school in Stockholm aims to free
children from the gender boundaries society imposes on them.
Allowing children to play with whatever toys they prefer (cars or dolls irrelevant of gender) and allowing them to chose whatever dressing up clothes they prefer is general practice within schools. Speaking exclusively to Newsnibbles one primary teacher told us:
“Children need to have the opportunity to play freely and explore and develop their own identity, regardless of gender.”
However, Egalia takes this philosophy one step further. The staff are not permitted to use gender specific terms when referring to children or animals. Instead they have to use names only, or “hen” which apparently is a gender neutral Swedish word. Here at Newsnibbles we have adopted the same policy when referring to our interns. We either refer to them by numbers (one or two) or “it,” which is a gender neutral English word. Although we pride ourselves on our gender equality, from our very specific dress code and makeup policy to the stories we chose to cover, really this is just because we can’t be bothered to learn the interns’ names or genders. They’re never with us long.
Egalia even extends gender equality to its curriculum. The children read books about two giraffes adopting a crocodile for example, as opposed to more “traditional” family stories. Whilst a lot of people in Sweden are behind the gender neutral school, which has a long waiting list, some people think gender neutrality is becoming “absurd.”
Oliver Coey, a Swedish resident gave us this statement on the topic:
“If anything in Sweden it’s a role reversal. The women are strong and tough, and the men pretend to be.” He then added “I do great hosting packages and can help setup WordPress. If anyone is interested you can find out more on my website: http://www.upthink.co.uk/”
You can read the full BBC report here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-14038419
Boys playing with dolls make up a huge fraction of our Design History/ Clothing Industry. Girls playing with cars and trucks make up for well rounded motor heads that no man dareth to cross..Gender Equality – dolls and toy cars rule!