No 'him' or 'her'; preschool fights gender bias

[IndyPragmatist]

No 'him' or 'her'; preschool fights gender bias
By JENNY SOFFEL, Associated Press – Sun Jun 26, 11:40 am ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110626/ap_on_re_eu/eu_fea_sweden_gender_neutral_tots

STOCKHOLM – At the "Egalia" preschool, staff avoid using words like "him" or "her" and address the 33 kids as "friends" rather than girls and boys.

From the color and placement of toys to the choice of books, every detail has been carefully planned to make sure the children don't fall into gender stereotypes.

"Society expects girls to be girlie, nice and pretty and boys to be manly, rough and outgoing," says Jenny Johnsson, a 31-year-old teacher. "Egalia gives them a fantastic opportunity to be whoever they want to be."

The taxpayer-funded preschool which opened last year in the liberal Sodermalm district of Stockholm for kids aged 1 to 6 is among the most radical examples of Sweden's efforts to engineer equality between the sexes from childhood onward.

[Cid_B]

1. Ugh...

Yet again folks are trying to make things the same that just aren't. There are differences between men and women and that is a good thing...

[hedgehog]

3. On the other hand- there are some kids, gay and straight, who just don't fall into the

usual patterns. This will let them follow their hearts without pressure to be something they aren't.

[RaleighNCDUer]

20. It is not that they are trying to erase differences that do, and always will, exist.

They are trying to erase the enculturation that has built up about those differences.

Boys will be boys. Girls will be girls. But there is nothing that says boys can't cook and design clothes, or that girls can't drive trucks or join the infantry without losing their gender identity.

Do you really think any of these kids is going to grow up not knowing if they are male or female? The real problem, for some, appears to be that they will not grow up thinking they are better than someone else because of their gender.

[cali]

2. I think this is pretty silly.

[Odin2005]

4. This is just silly.

[blueamy66]

5. just stupid

what the hell is going on in our world?

[HereSince1628]

6. OMG! Think of the children! No more boys and girls!

It's an apocalyptic attack on families and the religion! This is where all those nude beaches in the 1950's has taken us!


I think Sweden can deal with 'radical' experiments in gender neutrality for 33 kids in daycare.

[cali]

9. uh, how do you get to OMG from comments that posit this is silly?

no one is saying they can't do it. Excellent little strawperson though. cute as all get out in a gender neutral kind of way.

[HereSince1628]

12. I'm sure

I don't know what to say in response to offense at mockery of the gravity that might have guided this sillyness into international news.

[Richardo]

7. For Christ's sake.

[One_Life_To_Give]

8. Need this here even more

This isn't about forcing kids to be gender neutral. It's about not beating the crap out of, or ostracizing the few who don't fit nicely into everyone else's description of what a boy or girl is. It's time we put a stop to the business of inflicting violence on anyone who doesn't behave identical to 80% of their gender.

[slackmaster]

10. The posting rules prohibit me from using the adjective that came to mind

Let's just call that idea intellectually challenged.

[Bill McBlueState]

11. that's awesome

I'm getting tired of how my daughter's preschool teachers assume...

*she likes pink
*she prefers to play with other girls instead of boys
*she'd rather play with dolls than trucks

Some of these things are true to varying degrees, but she needs to find her own way instead of being pushed down a "gender-appropriate" path.

Her teacher told me at the latest conference that my daughter loves to color with Brianna and Claire, but every time I pick her up, she's at the computer with Xander and Spencer, whom she calls "her little buddies."

[NV Whino]

13. I think it's a great idea

No stigma for little Sven playing with dolls, nor little greta playing with trucks. I like it.

[surrealAmerican]

14. Is this any easier to do in Swedish than it is in English?

In English it would lead to some awfully convoluted language which would be very difficult for teachers to maintain.

It's a good idea not push children into stereotypical behavior. I'm just not sure altering our language is a practical means of achieving that end.

[FLPanhandle]

15. It won't work.

Studies and experiments of children has already shown that it doesn't matter what the toys are, boys and girls play differently with the same toy. So, the focus on what the toys are and what color they are isn't going to change playtime.

For example in one study gave young boys "feminine" toys and they played catch with dolls or piled up toys to knock down. The girls were given trucks and cars, and they ended up giving them personalities and building a social structure with the toys.

I figure this will yield the same results as previous studies and efforts at this same thing.

[Bill McBlueState]

21. a question about these studies

Did all boys respond exactly the same way? And did all girls respond exactly the same way?

Or did boys and girls each show a range of behaviors with different means but some degree of overlap?

[FLPanhandle]

22. I'm sure there was a range

No human study is without some range. The mean behavior difference was striking though. The premise that by changing the toys they can change behavior is too simplistic.

[One_Life_To_Give]

26. What is the goal of the school?

You are right that most kids will ply as they always did. It's the ones who are not always inclined to traditional activities that stand to benefit from this.

[Matariki]

16. Great concept. It will be interesting to see how these kids grow up.

I don't think people realize the extent our gender roles are socialized.

[LeftyMom]

17. That's awesome.

The degree to which even the simplest, most apparently neutral things are gendered for young kids is absolutely rediculous. Look in the toy aisle- they have pink and blue lego buckets. They have the same freakin' lego in them, but the reason for two colors is that a significant number of people wouldn't buy them for girls when they only came in a blue bucket. Almost every toy is gendered like that, and kids are VERY aware of it from a young age. It's very easy to declare it innate, but how on earth can we do so when our "evidence" for such a thing is the behavior of children raised in a sexist society?

[Fleshdancer]

18. I think this is pretty cool

Let children use their imagination and play without having to worry about being made fun. Sounds pretty cool to me. In fact, I wish this was done at my preschool when I was growing up.

[Lizzie Poppet]

19. /rolleyes

Spectacularly idiotic. Gender equality doesn't derive from pretending that sexual differentiation doesn't exist. It derives from ensuring that those differences don't create unequal opportunities and treatment.

[RaleighNCDUer]

23. Chicken, meet egg.

The problem is the enculturation of gender difference begins so young that by the time you begin educating on ensuring those differences don't create unequal opportunities and treatment, they have been making broad gender-based decision for years - you are faced with educating against what is virtually instinctual. Better to not develop those modes of treating with others first, so they don't develop the engrained attitudes that you will later have to educate against.

Test it out yourself. Get a bunch of kids together and ask two questions.

1) Are girls and boys different?

2) Is it better to be a girl or a boy?

Most kids will answer 1: yes. It is obvious even at preschool ages that boys and girls are different.

But it is the CULTURE that decides if it is better to be a boy or a girl. Virtually all boys and many girls in our culture will say it is better to be a boy than a girl - in intellectual and emotional shorthand, boys are better than girls. It's hard to change attitudes imbued in people since before they became rational persons. The intellectual arguments are hard pressed to overcome the feelings rooted in their core "but I DESERVE more than she does - I'm a BOY".

OTOH, if they are taught equality from the earliest possible moment, and that teaching is backed up with neutral language that reinforces the teaching, it will be difficult to UN-teach them later in life when they enter the wider, discriminatory world.

[FLPanhandle]

24. Disagree on children saying "it is better to be a boy"

At least I haven't seen that with my daughters and their friends.

[snooper2]

25. This is stupid beyond belief...

Teacher, what is that thing between Johnny's legs..

It's a "reproductive organ", just like your "reproductive organ". Same thing just some people have an innie and others have an outie. We are all the same :rofl:

[Kaleva]

27. Girls have the opportunity to be manly, rough and outgoing?