'Genderless' Preschool In Sweden Says No More Boys Or Girls

ParentDish:

At a preschool in Sweden, there are no boys or girls. Only genderless "friends"

Even the Swedish equivalent of pronouns such as "him," her," "he" and "she" have been replaced. However, new words have been made up just for the preschool and don't appear in any Swedish dictionary.

Read the whole story: ParentDish

Comments

[Talossa]

01:43 AM on 07/01/2011

Sapir-Whorf is still alive?

[timbeaux]

01:15 AM on 06/29/2011

What happens to genderlessness the first time a boy hits a girl?

[thatbitfurther]

09:04 AM on 06/29/2011

Surely nobody should be hitting anyone else, regardless of sex?

[HerrMonk]

03:09 PM on 06/28/2011

Apparently in Sweden experimenting on children is looked upon as progressive and forward thinking.

[leckan]

01:50 PM on 06/30/2011

Experimenting you say, I would rather put it as taking away outer influences.

[HerrMonk]

05:03 PM on 06/30/2011

...yes, because in our natural state gender roles don't exist...

[Talossa]

01:42 AM on 07/01/2011

Define "outer".

[dsws]

07:14 AM on 06/28/2011

Kids are smart. They know that male and female are culturally important categories while they're still toddlers, before they even start preschool. At some level, they'll also pick up on the fact that this respite from gender acculturation is artificial. Whether they rebel against it, feel the need to catch up, or decide that everyone should get a break from it the way they did, will depend on the details.

Meanwhile back in the US, why the meaningless use of "friend"? Whatever happened to the words "child" and "kid"? Unless the fad changes, both of those are going to be gone from the living language in a generation, persisting only as the sort of word you see in books but only actually use if you're trying to sound old-fashioned. Meanwhile, "friend" is going to lose any connection to actual friendship. It seems to be deliberately drilled into all child-care workers that they must absolutely never say "children", but why? Who decided?

[zenju2]

06:40 AM on 06/28/2011

Reminds me of "Monty Python's Life of Brian:"
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Judith: [on Stan's desire to be a mother] Here! I've got an idea: Suppose you agree that he can't actually have babies, not having a womb - which is nobody's fault, not even the Romans' - but that he can have the *right* to have babies.
Francis: Good idea, Judith. We shall fight the oppressors for your right to have babies, brother... sister, sorry.
Reg: What's the *point*?
Francis: What?
Reg: What's the point of fighting for his right to have babies, when he can't have babies?
Francis: It is symbolic of our struggle against oppression.
Reg: It's symbolic of his struggle against reality.

[Lamont Rivers]

04:01 AM on 06/28/2011

This is great. I can't wait until the day a woman is quarterbacking the Giants.

[RocheTm]

11:03 PM on 06/27/2011

What are they trying to prove here?

[Ed Baker]

06:00 PM on 06/27/2011

It's difficult to assess the impact this will have on young children who are developing their sense of self and self-image. Gender is a major part of self-image. We are not genderless beings.

Indeed, children of both genders should be treated equally, and given equal opportunities. But this sounds quite Orwellian to me.

I am deeply troubled at this kind of experiment being conducted on very young children.

[Acert]

09:02 PM on 06/27/2011

Children's sense of gender is in large part biologically determined in the uterus.

[dsws]

06:40 AM on 06/28/2011

Sexual orientation is determined in utero, as are many aspects of sexuality. Although usage varies, the core meaning of "gender" refers to the cultural aspects of what male and female are understood to be and of how one lives out one's identity as male or female. In that sense, gender is not determined in utero.

[dsws]

07:21 AM on 06/28/2011

There's no inherent need for gendered pronouns. To a whole lot of people in the world, the same word 他 suffices for both male and female, and has since time immemorial, often despite rather strict gender roles.

Preschool is always full of cultural indoctrination. Only the content is different here.

[HerrMonk]

03:12 PM on 06/28/2011

What are you talking about?

Most languages not only have gendered pronouns, but give gender to all objects.

A couple of outliers you can point to are the exception, not the rule.

In fact, as languages modernize, they were more likely to drop the neuter instead keep the male/female, rather than replace the male/female with neuter.

English for example (like most Germanic-rooted languages) at one time had a masculine, feminine and neuter.

[edtastic]

03:23 PM on 06/27/2011

Stuff that makes me embarrassed to be liberal. It is a stupid experiment since these differences are very real. They are not race which is a social construct this is a solid visible biological divide that exist in every sexually reproducing species on earth. Gender can't be thrown out the window because you don't like it anymore. What are they trying to prove?

[Ed Baker]

05:58 PM on 06/27/2011

Since gender identity is such a part of the child's identity, I am very troubled by this kind of experimentation on children.

Gender identity is a key part of an individual's psychological make-up, some people who are transgendered go through very traumatic surgery to have their gender physically altered.

[TheParson]

11:22 PM on 06/27/2011

Look for hypermasculine men and hyperfeminine women to come out of this experiment in the future.

[rrose]

03:15 PM on 06/27/2011

interesting experiment.