BayToBay
DP Veteran
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- May 20, 2011
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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.
1st - staff referring to all the kids as "friends" is not the relationship they're supposed to have.
2nd - I'm surprised no one is questioning the basis for this. They quote a teacher saying that "society expects girls to be girlie, nice and pretty and boys to be manly, rough and outgoing" but is it really like that in 2011 Sweden? I have a hard time believing that. I thought Sweden was one of the more progressive countries out there and she's making it sound like Mayberry in the 1950's. So if it's NOT like that, then why the extreme reaction of removing all gender references toward the children? It's just - puzzling.
She is describing the whole of western culture. Women are pressured to obsess about looks, hygiene and being sweet. Men are taught to be rough, outgoing and unemotional. That does not describe some bygone era. Those are modern gender roles.