Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Gender Equal or Gender Neutral?


Associated Press Photo By Scanpix Sweden, Fredrik Sandberg
  I came across this interesting article about a preschool in Stockholm that seems to strive, not just for gender equality, but for gender neutrality in some ways. I found the article after reading about a family who didn't reveal their child's sex until the age of five.

Some things make perfect sense to me: putting Legos and Blocks in or near the housekeeping area, providing books about adoption and all kinds of families, and downplaying the superhero/princess pitfalls. But I find it a bit curious that the school doesn't use gender words like, "he" and "she" and they've even made up a word, "hen," when referring to a person that has not yet been identified as male or female.  
  • What do you guys think of this? 
  • Where do you draw the gender line?  
  • What do you do to promote gender equality in your programs?

4 comments:

  1. I am not sure what to think of this. It might be kind of weird to refer to the kids as hen.

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  2. What da world ??? This article made my "ADHD" flare up !!!

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  3. There was another article recently about parents raising a "genderless" child. This is very misguided. Every single cell in that child's body carries dna with a chromosomal combination that makes the child "male" or "female". The parents might not like societal roles that are associated with one gender or another, and may seek to be neutral in how they raise their child in regards to these roles...but a child has a gender, like it or not!

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