Editor's Note: Check out this GlobalPost blog for more offbeat global news.
A preschool in Sweden wants to eliminate gender bias by referring to children as “friends,” instead of girls and boys, and avoiding gender-specific pronouns such as “him” or “her.”
At the taxpayer-funded “Egalia” preschool in Stockholm, which opened last year for children ages 1-6, boys and girls play together with a toy kitchen, which is located next to the Lego bricks, the Associated Press reports.
They read books featuring gay and lesbian couples, single parents and adopted children, instead of fairy tales such as “Cinderella” or “Snow White,” which are rife with gender stereotypes.
School staff try to avoid masculine and feminine references in their speech, for example by not using the Swedish pronouns “han” or “hon” for him or her, and instead using the genderless word “hen,” which doesn’t formally exist in the Swedish language.
"Society expects girls to be girlie, nice and pretty and boys to be manly, rough and outgoing," teacher Jenny Johnsson told the AP. "Egalia gives them a fantastic opportunity to be whoever they want to be."
A 2010 report by the World Economic Forum on the global gender gap found that Sweden and three other Nordic countries lead the world when it comes to gender equality. Sweden is also considered a pioneer in legalizing gay and lesbian partnerships.
A Canadian couple recently drew international attention for their decision to try and raise a genderless baby by not telling anyone whether their child is a boy or girl.
When Storm was born, the couple from Toronto told friends and family that they had decided not to share the baby’s sex.
Read: Penguin lost in New Zealand offered a ride home.
“When the baby comes out, even the people who love you the most and know you so intimately, the first question they ask is, ‘Is it a girl or a boy?’” mother Kathy Witterick explained to the Toronto Star. “If you really want to get to know someone, you don’t ask what’s between their legs.”
Storm’s brothers Jazz, 5, and Kio, 2, choose their own clothes and hairstyles. Jazz prefers to wear his hair long and in three braids, and his favorite color is pink.
Read more at Global Post.
© 2012 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
| Advertising practices | Advertise with us | About us | Work for us | Help
Your article gives the impression that this is the norm here in Sweden. I can assure you it is not, children here are raised pretty much the same as in any other western democracy. Sure we have our weirdos, but then who doesn´t? Coming from California I can assure you that Sweden has fewer crazies per square foot than L.A.
You are right, I know my fellow citizens very well. They are down to earth in daily life and maintain a good balance of tradition and progressiveness. In many families in Sweden children still read Nordic fairy-tales and Astrid Lindgren's Pippi Långstrump.
Pippi is my hero! Who wouldn't love a girl who lives with a monkey and can lift a horse!!!
First of all, saying "a" preschool in Sweden does this doesn't even remotely suggest that it's the norm. In fact, it suggests that there is ONE preschool in Sweden that does this. And how is this weird? Allowing kids to be who they want to be is now for weirdos? I think you and my dad would get along famously.
amen.
Ditto.
What do you mean allowing the kids to do what they want? Forcing them to speak certain way, stocking the library with certain types of books, and who knows what.... It is the weirdo director, the teachers, and the parents forcing their liberal beliefs on the children.
"Allowing them to be WHO they want" means to different things. Learn how to read moron....
True, but this experiment kind of creeps me out.
You know what creeps me out more, though? That there's still a pay gap in the USA. That the "womanly" and "manly" traits are defined before birth, instilled in impressionable children, and accepted in all of its flawed glory.
And also that there is no constitutional amendment that guarantees that women will not be regarded as second-class citizens.
yami-
Be careful about referancing the man/woman pay gap. While I certainly agree that men and women should legally be treated equal and be treated equal in the work place, men and women are not equal in soceity, and they never will be. This is not to raise one gender above the other. Clearly men and women both need each other, if nothing else, for biological reasons.
The pay gap is on account of many different asspects, few to none dictated by the buisness world. One purely biological reason, women give birth and, traditionally, at least, raise the children, cutting into work time. While not mandated, many women find this as a duty, while men tend to see breadwinning as their duty, hence the pay gap. As a general statement (I stress general, many women are an exception to this, I'm talking straight averages here) men tend to take more risks than women. A capitalist society rewards risktaking, an additionaly reason for the pay gap.
Most people aren't sexist. It's more complex than that.
JDog, what's your argument for the fact that if a man and woman work the exact same job, with the exact same education and experience, there is quite often a pay gap between them. I don't think the pay gap is taking the average of all women's income and all men's income. It's referencing people working the same job and getting paid differently.
Well that's exactly what genderizing does. It makes you to believe that women have to stay home and take care of the kids while men go work. That's not equality that's brainwashing. I think this school has a great idea and this should be done everywhere. Women have fought so hard for equality and they're still too many people who have that same stupid narrow mindset.
As a general reference... "Never try to teach a duck how to climb a tree... it's generally a poor use of your time... and it annoys the hell out of the duck"
Wow, I'm glad to hear that. I would be concerned that these children would have some long term issues by denying what they are.
my girlfriend is born and raised swedish and shes been telling me for years about the minimization of gender roles in sweden. she has been rebuked for giving kids toys that are too masculine or feminine, and has complained about swedish men not following the more typically american dating protocols of holding a door open, taking the lead in pursuing romance, etc etc. not that any of that is bad, but she has made me well aware of it and i believe her. if you watch the original "girl with the dragon tattoo" the leading man is a good example of this, and im told he is a pretty prototypically swedish male personality. he is a solid person but so totally egalitarian that he comes off as very milquetoast. the love scene involves the female basically doing all the work, as if she is clint eastwood dragging some hopefully consenting woman off to the barn. i dont spite the swedes anything in living how they want to but i dont at all agree that this story doesnt embody a national cultural phenomenon
What's wrong with the women making the initiative? Where is the equality in that? It's Genderizing that has brought women down. People act as if women and men are two different species. I guess if you've been grown up being brainwashed that way throught the media then you start believing that's tthe way things should be. People need to stop being so ignorant.
I bet from day one you'd foreseen your boy in dresses
How sick our world is becoming under Satan's influence!
You are so Correct! Everything from THINGS like this to Gay Pride Parades all over the world. What do you say to a straight Pride Parade! They probably would Not let us!
Are you serious? lol grow up dude
That is funny, thanks for the laugh. I am sure you could have your own parade if you tried. There is nothing wrong a with a straight or gay parade. We should actually have a combined parade of both sides of the fence. Just with natural born Americans.
Straight folks have their parades every day. When they are able to walk the streets and hold their partners' hands without fear, when they are able to legally define their partnership on paper, have it recognized by any state and any country, by being able to be automatically accepted by their peers, loved ones, colleagues... There is so many liberties and basic human rights you–and others like you–enjoy every day and deny of others.
You have your straight parades everyday. It should be your honor to give us our rights as citizens of the USA, and of the world.
@ OkieVietVet – we do have a combined parade; several across the country. How about these; the Rose Parade, Macy's Parade, St. Patrict's Day Parade, New Years Parade, MLK Day Parade, Veterans Day, Memorial Day Parade, shall I go on?
They'd let you have straight parade- you simply have to get a permit from your local government. No problem- enjoy.
I really enjoy when you voice your insecure prejudices. I guess you are afraid of anything that is not 'normal'.
Its not sick at all. Its god's influence that messing everything up.
this is misandry in the form of shaming boys who exhibit masculine behaviors. this is the aim of feminism – to emasculate boys and men until the new normal is to be gay, bi-sexual, or a-sexual. it's pure hatred of men. it won't be long before any expression of heterosexual desire will be criminalized, or at a minimum shamed as perverted.
Whole I think your prediction might be slightly farfetched, we are certainly headed in that direction. In short, the idea of feminism having pure goals for equality is absolute rubbish. The new vision of equality can now only be achieved if men are shamed and endlessly persecuted and all male behaviors are nurtured out.
evolution – biological or otherwise is a complex process. And it is certainly true of socio-cultural evolution as well. and our world's socio-cultural systems are diverse and complex. that is, the only thing we can say with certainty at this point is that if this newly adopted cultural trait is advantagous in the darwinian sense, then those societies that practice it will benefit. if not then they will pay (that is, if they are weakened by that trait/cultural behavior, other societies that did not embrace the behavior will relatively be 'stronger' to the extent of even taking advantage of the weakness of those that embraced it.
I think you're right. The goal of the extreme form of feminism isn't gender equality. They found it necessary or desirable to create male women and female men. This is truly bizarre.
Feminists goal is to change our socity to mimic Hyenas or Black widows....
None of you are right. I'm a big feminist (and a woman). My two very best friends are heterosexual, masculine, typical men. Another of my best friends is a heterosexual, feminine, typical female. That's just who they naturally are, but not all men and women are naturally that way. I don't give a shit whether my friends are male or female or whether they act masculine or feminine. In the end, we're all just people and none of us are better than anyone else.
The point of feminism really is gender *equality*. Not for women to rule the world. I, personally, get very offended when people say things like "boys are stupid/men can't control themselves", just as I get offended when people say things like that about women. Because that's the point of feminism. Men aren't worse than women. Women aren't worse than men.
I don't know what kind of feminists you guys are meeting or hearing about, but I don't know any of them and I can assure you that they are not actually feminists. They are just as bad as people that look down of men and stereotype them.
Reply to Anne: Feminists i am talking about is that they talk about "equality", like why are girls allowed or even praised by the femistis to play in the boy's footbal teams, but boys aren't allowed to play in girl's softball team? Women are now in more universities then ment by 5% +/-, so when are feminist movement going to call out to equalize the enrolments? Can you answer me why a male professor gets fired for touching one of his female student's boob and feminists rallys for the termination while one of the most womanizing figure with the greatest power in the world like Bill Clinton can do all kinds of most degrading acts in the White House to a young interns, yet feminists are not found 100 miles from the press. These are the feminists I am talking about.
I can go on and on. This is not feminist related but you might see the parallel: As we know black leaders always gripe about not having the equality in the important work place-lets look at the NBA and Rap industries, should we also dictate a quota system in basketball? Black civil rights leaders will never agree, but wait, how about the shorter! people?, handicapped? That is the same for the feminists (or the ones that I know). The word fair and its meaning is only when it suits them and benefits their own-NOT equality as you dream it.
How about fighting for and obtaining equality in septic tank removal industry? roofer? plumber? chimney sweeper? coal miners? I believe all of these types of industries are 99.99% male dominated jobs-whew that's pretty bad number and isn't it the feminists to demand 50/50? Yet, I never heard feminists picketing its offices. And as for fire department, armed services, and police department and others like it, I would rather have a man rescuing me, especially if I am unconcious or injured and I have to be carried, I am 200+ lbs and nearly 6' tall, I doubt most women will be able to carry me from a burning building and I am in the 3rd floor, but many men will. and what if I was 6' 3" and 250lbs? If I was in Afghanistan and my foxhole is shared by a female soldier, I would probably be able to carry her to the safety, but she won't be able to carry me. Feminists never understand such logic and the nature's laws. This is why feminists are threat to society which is why brainwashing the children at such young age is very dangerous and wrong. Boys are not girls and girls are not boys, they are the opposite sex.
Stay infraotmive, San Diego, yeah boy!
4a8f2K ceqkbacyjgyi
Nothing new here. American schools have not had gender for well over a decade. Read any school or “news” media report from anywhere on American K-12 public school performance, and you will NEVER see “boys” and “girls” anywhere. Both the education industry and its legions of women "education journalists" (propagandists) in the United States have used tactics similar to Sweden in the United States since the late 1990s – but for entirely different reasons.
In the United States, uni-sex terms like "students", "children", "kids" are used exclusively – solely to hide from the public the degree to which boys are being failed by our public school industry, the degree to which boys in America are being systematically denied equal rights under long-existing federal civil rights law and a whole library of legal precedent. With twice as many American women as men now ensured of college educations every year, and the nation annually importing over 750,000 mostly male foreign-schooled students to attend and conduct research at American colleges and universities, it’s far easier to blame the American boy victims for being so stupid – especially since boys don’t have even one lobby to champion their cause. Clear unambiguous law, of course, requires federal purse strings be used to ensure equality in the results of ALL aspects of American education, but enforcement isn’t needed when the public remains ignorant, when it’s perfectly acceptable to blame THESE victims, right?
This, of course, has long been America’s greatest social shame, but no one is allowed to break through the women’s and education lobbies juggernaut to even mention it. An average American women with an undergraduate degree will earn over $1,000,000 MORE during the course of an average career than will a boy who drops out of school, so there’s a really huge financial incentive for these self-interested lobbies to maintain the wall of silence, to censor the truth, to deny gender in the American K-12 public school industry. If the genders here were reversed, every women in the country would long ago have taken to the streets in full battle gear, and NO ONE would be ignorant of even the tiniest aspect of such systematic institutional discrimination.
But if American women can’t run effectively and equitably a vast and very critical government system they’ve controlled for a century, and have to resort to blanket censorship to hide the truth, what makes anyone think they can do and better with the whole country?
Oh, I forgot: “Leadership” is another of those countless birth rights, regardless of demonstrated performance, regardless of the results, regardless of any responsibility for anyone other than ”me” and “my group”. Got it.
Brilliantly written. I have been writing about this for a long time, and as you know, you can't get a word in about male rights and male discrimination without someone from the feminist left telling you you're sexist and are going to hell. I find it hilarious how women still claim that the job and education markets are unfair to women? Really, unfair? Nearly all the young women I know have better jobs and earn much higher income than the men I know (I'm 26 now). All of the people I know with Masters or Doctorates are women. Even in my field of counseling, women outnumber men like 10 to 2 because men being good therapists got shot down after Frued's elitist victorian run and are presumed to be "not as empathetic" as women. It seems the privilege of being a woman is that you can be seen as having both great male and female qualities, but as a man you can only have those qualities which society no longer has a need for.
I'm now retired. I have, after an early advanced education in child development and psychology at excellent universities, lived a full and productive life with no regrets or complaints as a career professional American soldier all over the world for a half century, and thus have no irons in this fire – except the future of my country. What you say is correct, but make it too esoteric and you lose most of your audience. Just stick to the basics, and nothing is more basic than the simplicity of The Law and the Fourth Estate. It’s not so much a matter of “empathy” as it is a matter of what works to achieve the desired results – equitably for everyone. I know many dozens of US Army sergeants who can do a better job of teaching boys, in any country, than any billion dollar public school in America.
The major problem here is American "men". The American civil rights laws and the legal precedent were all firmly established long ago by the Greatest Generation, but American “men” today would rather stand there and proclaim their intention to die defending their right to own machine guns, but won't even stand up for the civil rights of their own sons in a court room. There are no public schools in America that are in compliance with the law – from participation in advanced placement programs to graduation rates to college admissions and scholarship awards, and literally everything in between, but powerful lobbies won't allow discussion of such things. And boys don’t have a lobby. Worse, men are too cowardly to force the issue and women are far too busy wallowing in their eternal victimhood ad nauseum. They are ALL, together, creating a future that will be hell for our daughters and grand-daughters.
The most despicable participants in this vile conspiracy are the 98% of "education journalists" in America who are women and totally fail their sacred responsibility as members of the Fourth Estate to thoroughly investigate and inform the public of the full truth – which would make responsible adult legal action inescapable.
A small part of the issue is described at: http://invincibleprobity.wordpress.com/2011/03/28/why-are-american-men-so-dumb/
"An average American women with an undergraduate degree will earn over $1,000,000 MORE during the course of an average career than will a boy who drops out of school"
... obviously.
Yes, obvious. And so are the drop-out rates, the suicide rates, the arrest rates, the drug use rates, etc., etc., in our schools that are anywhere from eight to twenty times higher for boys than for girls – in a self-serving women-dominated “education” universe. This is all indisputable evidence of across-the-board institutional discrimination. I could go on for another fifty pages, but, at my age, I've heard every lame excuse, and every flippant comment, under the sun ad infinitum – and I'm no longer buying ANY of it. Ours has become a nation of incredibly under-educated children – and none are more under-educated than boys. I don't care what your gender is; in this area, you're either responsible or you're just another self-serving bigot or spineless coward. Absent actual men, American women are simply “advancing” on the crippled minds of boys. A society that was not already totally dysfunctional would have started fixing the problem well over a quarter of a century ago – no matter what it took. America deserves far better than this, but it’s citizens simply no longer measure up, no longer ensure that ALL its citizens benefit equally from what our ancestors created.
Very good answer. I get the feeling our governments want two kinds of humans. The rich and political professionals, and all the rest will be just beige, and do what they are told. Big brother is watching.
Now we have a nefarious campaign underway to convince school students that "not everyone needs a college degree" – as long as those not needing one are males, thus duplicitously trying to head off rising anger over our blatantly sexist pro-girl public K-12 system. If women think that their daughters and grand-daughters will not one day face very virulent accusations of their "advancing" solely by deliberately stilting boys in schools their mothers controlled, they are sadly delusional. Besides, THEY will be footing the bills for all those many tens of millions of under-educated males – in every way imaginable.
Result: a no-win situation caused by the self-involvement of today's super-spoiled boneheads – all to the extreme detriment of our entire society tomorrow. Every time I see an arrogant flippant comment on this subject I see some nitwit who has learned WHAT to think, but not HOW to think. And why not? Self-interest lobbies do a FAR better job of “teaching” than all our schools together. And it’s just SO easy to dump on the only group without a powerful lobby.
Well said!!! If there is a movement to stand up for the rights of boys then count me in. Strange, I have two daughters and even I can see our current education system so clearly supports girls learning style it immediately puts the boys behind. No matter what this so called "preschool" claims, boys and girls are different. Our boys kill themselves at a rate of 5 to 7 for every girl that does. They feel hopeless. Where is their advocate? And women actually complain about pay gap? Men need to be Men and stand up for the boys. Just like the Women stand up for their girls.
You, sir, are an actual man, who recognizes that our society needs well educated and well rounded girls AND boys, women AND men, and that they each have different ways of learning and different gifts to contribute, given equal opportunity in environments that maximizes conditions for each. There was a time long ago, before the rise of the powerful women's lobbies, when such things were taken for granted, when equal rights actually meant equal rights AND equal responsibilities, not just “what’s best for me and my group”. If the US Regular Army can do it, and do it well, then so can our schools.
And for those who see some duplicitous intent in my words: After college I spent most of my life as a professional American ground soldier, and one of my top heroes today is Sp4 Monica Brown, a combat medic with one of the toughest infantry units in the world – the 82nd Airborne Division – who was all of 19 when she saved the lives, often with her own body, of several wounded male soldiers under protracted heavy enemy fire in Afghanistan and earned the Silver Star for her valor in combat. I would select Sp Brown to stand beside me ANYWHERE.
Destroying normal family life is an essential step towards the Marxists' "brave new world."
There is a limit to everything....................
Where is the limit..........? Swede's have already destroyed their family live's now they want to try something new out.
since an idle WOMAN'S brain is a devil's workshop
Isn't true equality about accepting ALL gender possibilities, including those that happen to follow traditional patterns? What I find disturbing here is that the deliberate control of traditional gender identity development is inadvertently leading to a disapproval of any traditionally male behaviors. And in the end, how do they identify success with this experiment, when half the males act like females and have the females act like males? And what does this mean for traditionally male behaviors, that NOW any typically male behavior must DELIBERATELY be undervalued in order to encourage males to take on more traditionally female gender roles? This entire experiment appears to be a the twisted agenda of obsessive male haters, particularly of the feminist persuasion, where now innocent young males will have to be punished for feminism anger. Look, everyone wants men and women to have the same opportunities in life, that's a given, but this is madness. Conditioning children to forget genders while growing up in a world where gender assignment is a necessary function of society is recipe for disaster. All of this gender control, I fear, is a reflection of feminism anger emanating from those few females who had difficulty adjusting to their gender roles growing up, so now they're going to punish men and the rest of the world by raising an army of gender neutral people. Insanity.
Why take away part of a child's identity such as gender? I think it is better to encourage kids to be PROUD of being a girl or PROUD of being a boy, rather than acting like their gender is something to be ashamed of and hidden. There's nothing wrong with encouraging a wide variety of activities for both genders, but you don't have to tell kids to ignore who they are for that.
I can appreciate the intentions of a school like this, but I personally don't think it's the best way to create equality.
I wonder how they explain where babies come from?
abandoned alligator egg...
It's a preschool. I doubt they do sex education.
If you are born with a penis your gender is male, if you are born with a vagina your gender is female. That is reality.
You're mixing up the jargon here. GENDER is refers to identity whilst SEX refers to the biological functions (ask any anthropology, psychology, or anatomy professor about this and they will definitely correct you on this). So if you have a penis, then your SEX is definitely male, but your GENDER is arguable. You can grow up either having traditional male qualities in the gender spectrum, grow up having androgynous qualities, or have gender identity crisis due to identifying with more feminine traits than masculine ones, thus thinking that you wish you grew up as a girl instead of a boy. Hence all this hulaballo about gender-neutral stuff these days.
Give your gender/sex explanation to Mother Nature because, except for very minor cases, boy chimp knows who he is and girl chimp knows who she is.
This is a reply to Jay:
I happen to be one of those "very minor cases". I really don't appreciate you saying that I'm a man simply because I have a penis. This is incredibly disrespectful.
The distinction between sex and gender is very important, because otherwise you simply cannot accommodate for people such as myself. I am biologically, anatomically, and (I assume) genetically male, yet I'm a woman.
Basic scientific philosophy tells us that a theory cannot stand contrary to evidence, even if it's only one piece of contrary data amongst millions which the theory covers perfectly. The alignment of gender and sex does not explain me, whereas the differentiation does, as well as those who are cisgender (although you do need to abandon the binary nature of each to cover everyone).
Also, "very minor" does not mean "few". There are entire communities of people who defy your notion of sex and gender. There are hundreds in the city I live in, and dozens within walking distance. You may only be excluding one in every one hundred people, but you actually end up excluding a heck of a lot of people.
Response back to Belle: If you say you are a woman in a man's body, I can't say honestly I know how your life would be like in a hetrosexual societyl. However, you and your friends cannot say how we live our lives as man loving a woman, marrying to live, love, overcome all obstacles, raising a family, growing old together, watching our offsprings leave the house to find their mates, raise a family.....
This is what MY friends and I have to look for as straight men. Just like you say you are a woman inside a man's body, this is what we must do and to protect our way of life because we are men who live in man's body and must do what we must do. Thus, let boys be boys and girls be girls. If you rather wear dresses and wear make-up, that is fine with me, but please do not change the definitions of boys, girls, man, woman, marriage.... these are our words and our world.
Oops, the first paragraph was supposed to point out that just as we can't fully understand you guys, you guys can't claim to fully understand us.
I agree that men should be men, but I don't see why people are so offended by not assuming that people born with a penis are men. This will be true most of the time, yes, but sometimes it won't. For those who are men, they will merely grow up not thinking so rigidly about gender, and for those who are not, they will have an easier time discovering and accepting their identity.
Belle's comments are so inverted, selfish and twisted, that any society that adopts his views will prey on the innocent for their "right" to exist. When I see comments like his, it's no wonder Nazi s experimented on the weak and the infirm. This Swedish school is guilty of a crime against humanity...forced social experimentation on innocent children....
Gender is a set of actions in a context. It's what you do, not what you are. There is nothing rigidly deterministic about sex's impact on gender. The notion that there are only two genders is 100% cultural construction.
Labels and borders... put a name on something or an invisible line around something and humans will discriminate, degrade and wage war... it's just the way we are.... this is a great idea for kids to grow up in until they can form their own ideas and beliefs.
People, there is a HUGE difference between sex and gender. Kudos to Sweden.
All they are trying to do in this school is to allow the children to develop naturally, without indoctrination. That's the point. I went to elementary school at a time when there was a heavy emphasis on gender indoctrination, and found myself making aprons and asparagus tea sandwiches when the boys were off learning woodworking, which I still wish I'd learned. To the extent that a child is naturally inclined to do something, s/he will do it. Anything else is social engineering.
I agree. No one should have to make anything dealing with asparagus.
Much, much later on I learned that asparagus can function as a vehicle for getting Hollandaise sauce into your mouth, so it is worth something. I'm still mad about the woodworking, though. Most of my female peers who were forced to take sewing in elementary school still speak of it in hostile tones. We're still trading war stories all these years later. We hated, hated, hated it!. If this were "natural" to us, we would have loved it, so that takes care of that theory.
Hey, sewing can be fun!
But I agree on all accounts. Women and men are, to me, exactly the same. We, essentially, design our children to feel otherwise. We tell them, "look, you can see with your own eyes–there is a difference between us!" But they fail to realize that the mind does not always agree with the body. And that is perfectly normal. Pretending it's not is irresponsible.
We like preserving this gender dichotomy, don't we? I don't see the appeal. These Swedes have the right idea.
I would think many of you who believe the Swede's program is allowing nature to give boys and girls a chance for nature to take place (not social engineering) and thus boys will play with dolls and girls will erect buildings out of legos.... I would also guess that many of you are liberals and believe humans come from monkeys.... Well, I am sorry to inform you that in nature-among the higher intelligent animals, the role of the dominance are still with males, except for hyenas. What I am saying is that in nature, males and females have their distinctive roles from very young age and definitely by maturity. Therefore, unless the baboon society was also bio-engineered all of your arguments does not hold water! It is called nature and the natural order of things. So let boys grow up to be responsible, strong young men and let girls grow up to be nurturing and loving young women.
Beautifully explained, Patricia. I'm glad I'm not the only one who GETS IT.
I remember as a child wondering why the boys were made to play with wrestling toys (action figures, weapons,etc) and girls with babies, play food, etc. This is gender indoctrination. We as children were PROGRAMMED to like these things, and then you wonder why males are statistically more prone to violent behaviors?
And as for those 'Happily Ever After' fables the school banned? Brilliant move! I've complained time 7 time again to friends about the disgusting disillusionment that comes from these fables like Cinderella & the like:
1 That people MUST get married
2 That marriage ends 'happily ever after'
3That a man will solve all your problems
4 That a relationship/marriage is only between a man & woman
And as laughable as the effect on grown women (& men) those movies have is, how many women you know trying unhappy with life, trying everything in their power to bag them a 'Prince Charming', marry, & have that 'fairy-tale ending'?? And of those people, how many of them do you think believe that once they 'do' marry, all is well?
Outside of religion, classic fairy tales have a HUGE outlasting and brainwashing effect on the psyche (esp for women), and it's unfortunate. Luckily I have a mind of my own.
Why can't the resolution of a fairy tale NOT be marriage?
Why can't the lovers be same-sex?
Why must the protagonists live happily ever after after saying 'I do'?
Why must their even be just 2 people in a relationship?
1 That people MUST get married-This is not Nazi Germany or a country run by the Moonies, no one says one MUST be Married. Most choose to marry because they want to build a family together or live as a mate for life.
2 That marriage ends 'happily ever after'-Beginning as two lovers and live a wonderful life together living through hardships and pain, along with love, trust, friendship, and realize after decades together that you did it together.
3That a man will solve all your problems-man, if he is a man will take the full responsibilities as the husband, father, and the protector of the family. The man will give his life for his woman and his family without a blink of an eye and if he was able to protect his family, his last breath will be a satisfied one.
4 That a relationship/marriage is only between a man & woman-relationships can be anything between man and a man, woman and a woman, man and his dog... It is the marriage that we call and relationship between a man and a woman so that we can have a base in our society (to keep the society going). After this, homosexuals want a relationship together, let them have relationships-why do they have to get married? Lets say this is legal, how about man wanting to marry his dog? a woman wants to marry her pet snake? As I wrote, even in nature there are marriages among animals as many of them mate for life and some just do their things during the mating period and part, but isn't it funny that it is always between a male and a female? Except for earthworms maybe they are supposed to be "asexual"? Whether you believe the Creation or Evolution, they both dictate males doing their roles as males and females doing their part as females and whether it is better or for worse, Marriage is between a man and a woman, or male chimp and a female chimp.
That's all well and great, however what to do for the "hen" when the children just may NOTICE that one hen has a penis and the other hen doesn't??? Time to teach about ROOSTERS and HENS! You are going backwards, not forwards, and the kids will go behind the building and teach each other the difference without any guidance. Sorry "forward thinkers" you are living in lala land and the children are being deprived of a true self image as a male or female which they are and which they will discover and be ill informed as the children depicted in the movie "the blue lagoon"
If gender weren't important, then evolution would have had us all in one gender millenia ago. But, males and females do exist. Testosterone and estrogen do create differences in our bodies. Left- and right-sided brains do cause us to relate and absorb and "digest" information differently.
I was born with a male sex organ (still have it). My body NATURALLY produces testosterone, heavy body hair, lower voice, protruding Adam's Apple, larger musculature, hands, feet. These are not sexist. They're NATURAL. Men are supposed to be larger and more aggressive. Our genes and the chemicals being produced in our bodies make us this way. This is genetics at its basest point. Men are supposed to be "manly." Women are supposed to be "girly." This is what our genes and the chemicals in our bodies make us, tell us, form us.
WHY ON EARTH should anyone have a problem with what nature has given us without any choice whatsoever. Are we now supposed to "breed out" what evolution has forced in?
sweden's method of bringing gender equality is bad for children. then can teach gender equality by removing discrimination against each other, both genders are needed for god's creation and both need to be trained to take equal responsibility but the soceity can not eliminate mother's instincts and father's responsibility by removing gender inequality the way the swis schools are trying to do. that will harm human race as done by the islamic soceities and countriies, which are also irreligious..
This would only be a "problem", something objectionable, if women saw in it some "disadvantage" to THEM and their group. It's perfectly acceptable to turn boys into girls, but don't anyone DARE try to do the reverse. THAT would bring out ALL the screaming women's lobbies everywhere in an instant. Their guiding rule is simple: If you can't meet the standards of the other side, well then just detroy the other side at the earliest possible age.
The comments suggesting that something is being removed or denied these children are perplexing because I can't find anything in the educational model of this school that is doing anything of the sort. On the contrary, it appears that a wide range of toys and opportunities for exploration are being provided to these children and they are being allowed to follow their own natural +inclinations rather than being pushed one way or the other or told that participating in a certain activity is bad (which always is accompanied by the implication that there is something wrong with people who do participate in it). I don't see how it is better to force children into stereotypes, when stereotypes never accommodate our individual differences and stunt the development of our individual talents.
Yes, exactly. The school has no business taking out certain human language that describes one another like he/she/man/woman/boy/girl..... AND if for some weird reason more boys want to play with GI Joe toys and wear Power Ranger costumes, let them and if some of the boys want to play with Barbie dolls and wear pink dresses-fine. Just let the boys and girls decide for themseleves (not by director or teachers). If 2 male giraffe story book is on the shelf, so should the Bible stories and if the director or the teachers want to read to the students, they should read both to be fair and give the children a chance so that at least as they grow-up, they are not hindered to be attracted to the opposite sex and being a hetero sexual is NOT shameful or wrong.
Now lets ask the most important question. Why does the preschool have a dog. Why didn't my preschool have a dog? Boys and girls alike are secondary, the main issue, is that in that picture, it appears that those little children have a dog. This puts all American preschools to shame. In fact, f*ck that, it puts all preschools to shame. I think President Obama should put tough new regulations on class pets. Those hamsters couldn't save the students if a monster attacked them, but if the students had a nice cuddly bloodhound, the class's infiltrator would be torn to shreds in the most painful way possible, in plane view of the students, who are being taught about how animals are your friends!
Whoever set up that school is deluded. Even if one ignores biologically-influenced social roles for the sexes, one still has to consider the anatomical differences. All this will do is badly confuse kids and possibly result in them needing years of therapy. Instead, let girls be girls, let boys be boys; they will all be happier for it in the end.
So, it's back to the stork dropping babies down the chimney. What happens when it's time for basic anatomy and human reproduction? Do the girls feel uncomfortable when a boy enters the bathroom while she is trying to pee?
The preschool is for ages 1-6, yes? So, do they graduate early once they proceed to, "if you show me yours I'll show you mine?" Which will solve the riddle for these children pretty swiftly yet create all new an exciting ones for much later down the road. Haha. Should be an interesting experiment non the less.
All this does is screw up the lives of the children...if you want them to make there own choices then let them..but you cant let them with out some sort of guide line..as for girls and boys.. rather any of you humans like it or not all your doing is proving to YOUR parents that they couldnt raise you right..its a Slap in the face..its like your om and dad said the word "NO" to many times and now you in your room throwing a fit..Now yor dead set on making peoples lifes a living hell ..im sorry i mean your only trying to " do the right thing" if the good lord wanted us to mate with the same sex we would have the necessary parts to do so...
Huh?
When I told my mother that I was going to transition, I made damn certain that she knew this was not a failing on her part to raise a boy, or to recognise that I wasn't. I told her that she managed to raise someone with enough self-awareness and courage to recognise that they're transgender, and to have the community support about them to go forth with that. It wasn't a slap in the face. I think it's perfectly reasonable that she raised me as a boy (although I would think it perfectly reasonable had she raised me in a more neutral manner).
As for the parts for same-sex coupling, yeah, we have those. God, if he exists, was even kind enough to give men a pleasure centre such that they can enjoy being the "bottom". Why would God have put it there if they never intended for it to be used?
Ages in through six in preschool, and a lifetime after that in therapy.
Is this a serial killer factory? Charles Manson, and most serial killers that live to be interviewed experienced gender confusion at a very young age. The Canadaian couple should have their children removed from their home. Equality is one thing, but trying to pretend that there is no difference between boys and girls is stupid and ultimately harmful to the child.
This is just stupid.
I dont have a problem with people being gay, but why do people have to force kids into it. A boy is a boy, and a girl is a girl. Dont try to tell them otherwise. thats just going to confuse impressionable kids. If as they grow up they decide they feel differently, then accept them for that. But at least to begin with, work with what nature gives you. It usually proves to be a pretty good jumping off point.
"I dont have a problem with people being gay, but why do people have to force kids into it. A boy is a boy, and a girl is a girl. Dont try to tell them otherwise. thats just going to confuse impressionable kids. If as they grow up they decide they feel differently, then accept them for that. But at least to begin with, work with what nature gives you. It usually proves to be a pretty good jumping off point."
I'm transgender (MTF). It took me ages to realise this. It took me years to even realise I might want it, and it was another two years until I decided I did want it. I still struggle with thinking of myself as a boy, because for almost my entire life I've been told I was a boy, and treated as such.
I really wish that someone had enrolled me in a school like this, so I didn't have these thoughts going round and round in my head, calling me "he" and using my male name. It's made worse by the fact that I work a job where I present as male, and act like it. Get home, put on a skirt and stockings and a nice bra, and I feel right again, but it gives those thoughts encouragement.
For the majority of people, assuming they're cisgendered will be fine. However, every once in a while, it's not, and it can mean that person loses years of their life struggling with the insistence of everyone around them to assume a certain identity. Then, once they finally do break through that and start to get their life in order, they have to deal with people like those dotted throughout this thread who insist that their identity is wrong. I imagine that being taught to treat people as people first, rather than as a gender, might have softened their views, too.
Gender equality is important but when it gets to the point when people cant say "him" or "her", or even resort to using fake words is just a joke.
Boys are boys and girls are girls
You know, there are plenty of languages in which pronouns are gender neutral.
"People who are assigned the gender "boy" are often but not always boys, and people who are assigned the gender "girl" are often but not always girls. People who are assigned the gender "boy" are sometimes girls, and people who are assigned the gender "girl" are sometimes boys. Sometimes they are both, or neither."
I fixed it for you.
They should get rid of all the personal pronouns, and refer to everything as she/he/it, spoken as one word.
Too reminiscent to the WW2 Germans use of Comrade to find comfort in this trend.
uhhh.... it was the Communists that refer to people as "comrade", not the Nazis
uhhhh. Nazis did say "Hail Hitler" 20 times a day though, instead of Good Morning Sir, Have a Great Day Mam, Hi, How Are You?... Or modern day Swedes are saying "I think I drank too much coffee and have to go to FRIEND'S ROOM!!!" OR "WOW look at that beautiful FRIEND in that red bikini"... Get it???
Just read the comments, and it seems to me that a lot of people here have misunderstood the whole idea. They don't force kids to be gay or anything like that, they simply treat kids of both genders equally. The idea that this method would confuse the children due to them not being able to tell the difference between boys and girls is absurd. The children still still learn these words at home, they're just not forced into a life where the people around them focus on their sex, but on their personal qualities instead.
There's nothing wrong with treating both genders equally and kids should be allowed to play with any toys or participate in any type of activities they want to do. But should you go as far as to not allow children to refer to each other as he/she and instead use 'it', or even encourage calling a classmate as 'it'? Absolutely absurd. That is when the line has been crossed and by some distance. Do you also think we should also ban fairy tale stories and movies since they promote 'gender stereotypes'. Maybe we should close down Disney as well.
Girls are Girls, Boys are Boys. I wonder what the majority of Swede's think about their money being wasted for this sick experiment.
Closing down Disney would be a good start to doing away with stereotypes and prejudices
I think you misread something here, they don't forbid the children to refer to others as boys or girls. It's the teachers that aren't to use words like boys and girls so much.
The bottom line is that they still discourage the kids to call their classmates as girls and boys like the rest of society and the rest of the world. There are other ways to help children treat each other equally rather than try this destructive experiment. The parents who have enrolled their children into this so-called "pre-school" must have lost their minds.
You're right. What's funny is that the only one making an issue out of the children's gender is them, yet somehow they're doing this to promote "tolerance".
No they're trying to promote destructive behavior in young children. Because they're indoctrinating children into believing that "being an individual" has to do simply with one's gender, rather than one's moral character. They're promoting behavior which has no purpose other than just to "stand out aesthetically' – so ironically these people are promoting the idea that one's level of "effeminacy/masculinity" matters – they're just doing it in the opposite way – and to a much higher degree than the average person or family.
That's the thing, they don't discourage the kids to call their classmates boys or girls. And in what way is this a "destructive experiment"? You're gonna have to come up with some better arguments to prove your statement.
I would guess you are a liberal. I bet if babies, boys and girls were left alone without male-dominated philosophy influences on them that boys and girls will grow-up to be the same or with very little differences. As a liberal, I bet you also believe that chimps and guerillas are our cousins. Well, I am sorry to tell you that their society also mimics ours. As does most mamals (except for the hyena, I will give you this one). So, all of you liberals and feminists trying to change our society and come-up with new ways to change the human society and its order is actually going against the nature and its natural order. This is why a school like this is dangerous and unnatural.
Nature is flawed in so many ways. Just because nature works one way, doesn't mean we should follow its example. We're trying to teach equality, tolerance, and respect. That such things do not arise in nature in the ways we are seeking is irrelevant to the virtue of the goal.
Well dude, even as a non-liberal here who is against this idea of "indoctrinating kids into individualism", if you're going to deny the theory of evolution then you're destroying any credibility your point otherwise had – so please do us a favor and quit making our side look stupid.
And yes, evolution is a scientifically proven fact, agreed upon by 99.995% of all scientists in the world, and accepted by 75% of Christians as well – and has been proven fact for over 200 years – and there isn't anymore of an actual scientific "case" against evolution (just a political one) than there is for the earth being flat, or the sun and planets revolving around the earth (Christians used to believe those too). If you heard something different from AnswersInGenesis, Discovery Institute, or DrDino.com, then it was a lie.
Case closed.
Response to SamK:
I never said evolution was false. I believe in evolution, and I agree with you that it is as close to fact as any scientific theory can hope to be (although you do misuse several terms – science can never prove anything. I will let this slide).
However, I do reject evolution as a defence for any ethical stance. That evolution chose a particular feature or mannerism means only that it was good for surviving long enough to reproduce. Human society is well beyond that. If evolution provided us with some notion of gender, it was in the context of a hunter/gatherer lifestyle. It is meaningless in modern society.
Another behaviour which was popular for reproduction and often favoured by evolution is rape. We pretty universally agree that this is a reprehensible act. Many would call for the death penalty. Most would agree that a very long prison sentence is not too high a price to pay.
Also, please do not build strawmen. It was ridiculous of you to jump to the conclusion that I am a Creationist, and you did so merely so you could attack that position rather than my own. All this does is demonstrate that you believe I'm wrong, but can't figure out how. It's a weak fallacy, and in the end only harms your case.
WOW! After reading all the comments, we have a bunch of paranoid people reading CNN today. :3
These phrases might be old fashion, but
#1 Where there is smoke, there is a fire.
#2 When farts start, there usually is shit that will soon follow.
Not scientific, but hopefully you get the point.
They are not saying children shouldn't have a gender, but that they should discover it on their own. A few simple steps, such as using gender-neutral pronouns and identifiers, can help to avoid foisting a biologically-determined gender identity upon them. Why are people so afraid of people being who they want, rather than who you want?
As for this being an attempt at emasculation, you do know that there are about as many FTMs out there as MTFs, don't you? You probably don't notice because they're not as prominent in the media, and they tend to pass better under hormone therapy, but the numbers are pretty close. Encouraging people to explore and identify their own gender does not rob masculinity of precious members.
It's easy to discover your gender:
1. Look between your legs.
2. If there's a penis, you're a boy. If there's a vagina, you're a girl.
3. Simple as that.
Biology IS what determines gender – it's a scientific fact. Saying that people need to discover their "non-biologically determined gender" is an oxymoron, and it's absurd. It would be like me "deciding" what my ethnicity is. I'm Irish, but I guess you think that if I say that i "feel" more Chinese (as if I'd actually know what it means to "feel" Chinese), that that would make me Chinese. Lmao...
Sex and gender are very different. Sex is a description of one's body, and is not binary. There are people with ambiguous genitals, or whose external genitals do not "match" their reproductive systems.
Gender is a social construct. Descriptions like "man", "woman", "girl", and "boy" are comments on a person's gender (although they are often misused by those who do not recognise the distinction).
The idea that gender and sex are indistinct is unscientific. A theory cannot stand contrary to evidence, and there are millions of people who stand contrary to that idea, myself among them. You can't insist that reality is on your side when there are people right here, typing a response to you, who clearly defy your idea of reality.
This fact has been recognised by the medical profession. This is why we have guidelines to help people transition, rather than try to force them back into the box we think they belong in. The vast majority of academics who study gender and sexuality recognise that gender and sex must be distinct and non-binary to properly describe the human condition – otherwise it's simply ineffective.
As for your comparison with race, one's race is actually biologically determined. To be Chinese means something about your genetic makeup, and certain aspects of your physiology. I do know someone who was adopted by a culture other than their own, and identifies as a member of that race.
Belle: just wanted to say I agree with every one of your comments/replies to comments to this article that I have read so far.
Genetalia really shouldn't define a person as much as the person defines the person. What is truly confusing is being raised in a limited image of how society dictates one should be, and having it conflict with how you feel you should be. We're all born naked, the rest is drag.
Indoctrination at its finest. This is no better than what young earth creationists do to their children.
And there's no purpose in this at all. If a parent raises their child well, and develops their character, then it doesn't matter in the real world whether they like dolls or action figures or not – these guys are the ones making the big deal out of that.
Oh and guys (and girls) who have proper character developed do gravitate towards sports or activities that require ambition – the idea that all activities and lifestyles are "equal" is just BS designed to make lazy people feel better. For example – If a guy eats 5 Big Macs a day and weighs 500lbs, then that IS for a FACT an unhealthier lifestyle than what a fitness guru lives – it's not just a "lifestyle difference". As an adult, if someone wants to live that way then it is their right sure, but calling a duck a duck is not being "intolerant", it's being honest.
Can't tell if trolling...
This is the future. Time to wake up to all the illusions we've created and get back to our primal natural selves. and start over.
Stop demasculating boys.
Stop replying without reading the article and comprehending what is actually being done.
In Stockholm's spas it's not unusual to see a class of 7-year olds sitting side by side in a sauna, naked of course. I always thought it's healthy and natural and innocent especially comparing this to USA beach baby-girls in swimsuits covering their nonexistent breasts. Now, those graduated from the "advanced" sexless kindergarden finally see (if they didn't this already sitting on their pots) say, sit side by side in a sauna – wouldn't they be curious about their differences? Would this curiosity be healthy and innocent? Would they as teenagers ask questions why adults lied to them and what for?
I know many examples of young women in Sweden being critically unhappy in their private lives exactly due to the feministic models so forcefully imposed upon them because it IS a lie that gender roles do not matter, it IS a lie that only in a genderless society women can be equal to men and that they can be free only being gender-free. The logic is perversive to me.
It's absolutely ridiculous that everyone is flipping out over something that should be benificial for children. I grew up in a Catholic gender-biased home and I'm a bigender pansexual. I still have problems accepting it thought most of my friends know about it. Gender and Sex are two COMPLETELY different things. I think that if you get rid of gender bias, you promote equality. It isn't right for anyone to shover their ideals down each others throats. If you want to be a cisgendered heterosexual, fine. Great. But don't try convincing other people about how it's the "right" and "moral" thing to do. That's just a bunch of bull. I think that once we move past all our predjudices, we can stop hating each other.
We are all human beings and lables and boundaries only harm. I want to live in a world where it's safe to be yourself. For someone to say to me "You can't marry her because it's not morally right" is the most ridiculous thing in the world. Marriage should not only be between a man and a woman just because a bunch of people believe it's only for the purpose of procreating. There are legal and sentimental reasons for marriage as well. Marriage should not be about procreating. It should be about mutual love and respect. The sooner we move past these gender sterotypes, the better.
What right does anyone have to take away my civil rights? I am a human being and I deserve to be treated with respect. I don't want to be judged and catagorized just because I have the sexual organs of a female. I want the respect of a fellow human being. What these people are doing could be risky, but their hearts and minds are in the right place. I do believe they should make things a little more open to both homosexuality and heterosexuality. But as for the banning of those books, I don't think they could have made a wiser choice. And it's not so much a damaging experiance for the child unless the parents give conflicting veiws and opinions. And for so many people to regect the idea becuase they feel that without being a majority in society they will lose their power, you;d better get used to the idea because the minority will become the next majority in the future.
Civil Rights do not give rights for anyone to do everything they want: Can a person marry an animal? Can a full grown person marry a 5 year old? NO. But you would argue as human beings we should not have barriers and limitations? NO, you are wrong. Only reason why you can flirt with the fringes is because we have (or used to have) a decent base. God, country, family and our rights under the umbrella of the ultimate 3 (G, C, F) Before you go crazy about religion and all its destructiveness... I am not trying to debate the issue of religion.
Most societies, religions, law of nature (in most cases among the primates and other intelligent mamals...), and even logic teaches us the order of boys and girls are to grow up to be men and women, as the opposites attract, a man and a woman marry each other begin a family, children are born and the cycle repeats itself. I know that there are minor variations to this and that is fine as long as the majority is not threatened or harmed. Well, this case of boys and girls being taught by adults to alter the law of __________, is threatening and harmful.
If we are so equal as you suggest, logic teaches us everything we do and the lives of all human beings MUST be equal. Perhaps pregnancy should be in rotation? As well as menstruation-every month rotation? Equality dictates sports teams or competitions must be won by the very best athlete/team/performances under the agreed rules-why are girls able to participate in boys football, baseball, and even wrestling, yet boys cannot join the girl's soccer, softball, swimming... In golf, Michelle Wie and Anika Sorentrom can participate in PGA, but no man can play in LPGA. Is this the meaning of equality to you? I'm sure you get the point. The point is that we ARE different and that is what makes the world go around!!! IF we left our children alone (from birth), and let them grow up with absolutely no interventions, do you wonder how they would grow-up and how the society will form? I know exactly how it will turn out, just look at your cousins: the chimps (98% genetical match with us). They know the differences of sexes and the roles for each sexes, why don;t you? Why doesn't the crazy preschool in Sweden?
At the risk of offending someone which is highly likely considering the diversity in the world we seem to be in such a rush to rid ourselves of the two genders we have in our world we blind ourselves to the beauty of this diversity
There's not much diversity in a gender binary. Step outside it, and see the wise range of gender expressions in those who are not comfortable with their assigned gender, and you may appreciate the diversity of gender.
“If you really want to get to know someone, you don’t ask what’s between their legs.”
That is a stupid statement. The reason people ask the gender of a baby is to know whether it's male or female. If there is so much crazy, paranoid thinking about the difference being irrelevant, why not just surgically remove all genitalia and close it all up, leaving a colostomy style apparatus for elimination of waste matter?
Anyone else seeing the total insanity here?
Strange but I was thinking that surgical removal of all visible signs of gender being removed at birth if not before birth would be the next evolutionary step with gender neurtal thinking. Reminds me of the Twilight Zone or Out of Limits. This is all about control, they reject stereotypes to create a different type of stereo type. They are insane.....! Also, when did it become a BAD thing to be a BOY or a GIRL or a MAN or a WOMAN? When did it become BAD to be a Normal Human Being, male or female and occasionally by nature ambiguous? Imposed neutrality and imposed equality are just a different type of InJustice. Basically they are saying to these kids "You are unworthy of being what God and or Nature made you and we are going to make you over In What We Think Is A Perfected Image." There has to be something mentally wrong when people refuse to accept themselves and others, especially children, as they were created and want to change them to be what they are not. I don't understand, don't want to try to understand because I understand it to be SENSELESS. Also I refuse to be made and or forced to understand.
Did you even read the article?
Why is it that nobody can be defined. Men and women are different physically, emotionally, psycologically. Evolution has differed the sexes. Whether or not you think you're protecting kids from whatever evils come from being called a boy or a girl, their differences will still exist and they will be even more confused when they get to that curious age than they would have been otherwise. Instead of acting like we have no differences, explore why we are different and teach them that it is normal.
See other comments for the difference between gender and sex.
It is Not Evil to be a Boy or a Girl, a Male or Female, or a Man or a Woman. We are born with gender, to deny and or ignore it is irrational.
No one's denying it. They're merely refraining from assuming.
Why the hell are people so close minded?
“When the baby comes out, even the people who love you the most and know you so intimately, the first question they ask is, ‘Is it a girl or a boy?’” mother Kathy Witterick explained to the Toronto Star. “If you really want to get to know someone, you don’t ask what’s between their legs.”
Yeah, right that's how it became a parent, it didn't ask what was between it's mate's legs. For Goodness sakes if we go through life not categorizing how can we survive?
I consider myself a fairly liberal person, but I find this whole 'experiment' ridiculous. The world that we find ourselves is not perfect, and it never will be. A small percentage of people will be homosexuals, and I don't see any benefit in pressuring them to conform or trying to punish them in some way. Having said that though, I see no benefit in allowing a couple of 'imbeciles' to decide that millions of years of evolution is wrong, all human societies are wrong – and we should start addressing boys and girls in a gender neutral manner. What the heck is the point in that, except to try and create confusion in the child's mind? Ultimately this experiment will fail, because guess what – boys will be boys, and girls will be girls.
"millions of years of evolution is wrong"
Evolution had nothing to do with gendered pronouns.
"all human societies are wrong"
Most human societies have been wrong about slavery.
"What the heck is the point in that, except to try and create confusion in the child's mind?"
To avoid reinforcing gender stereotypes and to allow children to discover their own identity, thus helping to alleviate confusion in the child's mind when their identity does not sufficiently align with what society says they should be.
"boys will be boys, and girls will be girls"
And both will be both, and others will be others, and often the people who fall into these categories are not those we expected at birth.
So, where does it end Belle? When we become non-gender & non-sex distinctive society, what is next? Beastility? Android sex? Pedophilia? Do you see why the base (hetrosexuals) has problems of the fringes? Because there is no end. Therefore, accept the rights and laws of today and stop with this Gay Marriages (call it whatever else) and this Gender Eraser (one and two are both numbers but different value, one is great as #1, but two is a better as $2... it is all relative, just don't say 1 is 2 and 2 is one). The humanity has to have a base, the center, the normalcy, and the sun WILL rise from the East in the morning.
QUACK QUACK QUACK THIS IS SICK WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH SWEDEN I ONLY BELIEVE IN JESUS AND THE FAITH AND LOVE HE SPREADS CHILDREN SHOULD NOT BE ABLE TO BE THEMSELVES, ONLY CONFORM TO THE GENDER EVERYONE THINKS THEY SHOULD BE RAAAGHHHH
Well this should keep the shrinks in business .
" I find your lack of faith disturbing " . (STAR WARS) .
~
TTHIS is Appaling to me on a personal level. We are Created as either MALE or FEMALE in the womb ;
Only in this unnatural world in which we currently exist can this form of behavior be taken into context ;
'QBbq' .sea.air.land.space.time. ' " She may not go fast, but she'll make sail Captain " ' [ all ME ]
~
[({S3KShun8})]
A TraNslitER8Shun4:2:1:0: [_asvOLD_ASV_]
ROMANS 1:{1-7}
"Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called _to_be_ an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, which he promised afore through his prophets in the holy scriptures, concerning his Son, who was born of the seed of David according to the flesh, who was declared _to_be_ the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead; _even_ Jesus Christ our Lord, through whom we recieved grace and apostleship, unto obedience of faith among all the nations, for his name's sake; among whom are ye also, called _to_be_ Jesus Christ's: to all that are in Rome, beloved of God, called _to_be_ saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ."
[S3KShuN8]
Why in the hell are we letting the hippies win people? We can't let this become the norm or we are going to have to deal with a bunch of confused kids who have no idea who they are.
I think boys and girls are very different not just plsaicylhy, but emotionally as well. They like different things, respond to events differently and are wonderful in their own unique and separate ways. While this school and parents who raise their kids in this manner are trying to celebrate their child’s diversity are really creating a system that molds kids together to be the same. I also believe it is extremely dangerous to experiment with children, which is what this school and many parents are doing. They are trying new methods to parenting that have not shown themselves to be effective and they are trusting in something that they believe will have a positive effect when it can very easily ruin these children’s lives.
Good post. I study one thing more challenging on different blogs everyday. It can at all times be stimulating to read content material from different writers and apply slightly something from their store. I'd want to use some with the content material on my weblog whether you don't mind. Natually I'll give you a link on your web blog. Thanks for sharing.
Pure insanity.
good stuff
really appreciated this article, i'm going to read a little more in your website after i'm finished with work! 
Nothing shocking about this. Sweden also has a feminist political party that wants to make it illegal for men to urinate while standing up. I'M NOT KIDDING. You have to wonder if this school has adopted this absurdity.
I'll right away grab your rss as I can not find your email subscription hyperlink or e-newsletter service. Do you've any? Please let me recognize in order that I may just subscribe. Thanks.