海角大神

In Sweden, no 'he' or 'she,' just 'friend'

In an effort to combat gender stereotypes, a government-funded preschool in Stockholm has eliminated the use of gendered pronouns.

鈥� A local, slice-of-life story from a Monitor correspondent.

Here in Stockholm 鈥� at the taxpayer-funded preschool Egalia 鈥� girls are encouraged to play with trucks, boys with toy kitchens. And while many progressive preschools make moves in that direction, Egalia steps it up. Referring to someone as 鈥渉e鈥� or 鈥渟he鈥� is not allowed. Only 鈥渇riend鈥� will do.

Alexander S枚derqvist, a teacher at the school, says he believes in helping the youngest members of society avoid gender-based stereotypes. 鈥淚t鈥檚 fun to be part of something different,鈥� he says, adding that there is a waiting list for entry to the school.

Others note that Sweden has long been a leader in promoting gender equality (箩盲尘蝉迟补濒濒诲丑别迟). A study published last year by the World Economic Forum 鈥� 鈥淭he Global Gender Gap Report 2010鈥� 鈥� ranked Sweden fourth worldwide (behind Iceland, Norway, and Finland).

But some critics of Egalia, where teachers and staff select books and activities aimed at discouraging rigid, gender-specific play among the 1-to-6-year-olds, say the Swedes may have gone too far.

Jeanne Sager wrote recently on the parenting website CafeMom that 鈥渋nside the walls of Egalia, gender doesn鈥檛 exist. But outside of Egalia, gender does exist. ... I want my daughter to be equal to boys, but that doesn鈥檛 mean that she should ignore her femininity...鈥�