Sweden’s push for gender neutrality

Alina Alam Columnist

In the movement toward gender equality, it seems that Sweden has surpassed most nations. The European country recently introduced a new term to its vocabulary, the word “hen,” a gender-neutral pronoun that is a combination of the pronoun “han” for girls and “hon” for boys. The term became official when it was added to the country’s National Encyclopedia.

This is not Sweden’s first attempt in their drive toward a world absent of gender distinctions. In fact, a clothing company in Sweden, Leklust, recently stopped separating the boys and girls sections in its stores. The CEO of the company, Kaj Wiberg, stated that gender roles are an outdated thing.

Many preschools have also taken part in this gender-neutralizing process by no longer referencing their students by their gender. The preschool that originally made use of the term “hen,” even banned fairytales such as Cinderella and instead carries books that concern homosexual couples, single parents and adopted children.

While many parents approve of such actions, these schools have also been met with criticism because due to many people viewing their ultimate goal of gender neutrality as absurd.

Personally, I am rooting for Sweden’s attempts at gender neutrality, especially with starting the process at preschool level. I’ll admit, however, that the thought of society existing without gender distinctions seems slightly unrealistic. This unrealism comes from the fact that we have been raised in a world where gender is assigned at birth through one’s reproductive organs, and it is an essential part of our identity.

Gender dictates a large part of our lives from our behavior, our appearance, to even which bathroom we use in a public place. Considering the significant role of gender assignment in our lives, it’s not too surprising that this idea introduced by Sweden seems like the beginning of a dystopian novel to many.

Still, it’s not as though societal change happens overnight. We will not wake up tomorrow to a world where everyone refers to one another as “it” –the closest gender-neutral pronoun in our own vocabulary. If this change is to occur, it will happen slowly. It would be decades before we could really think of men and women without any specific distinctions, and Sweden’s own attempts are only stepping stones if their ultimate goal is a gender-neutral society.

If this idea were to succeed, many of the discriminations that exist today would be erased. The assignment of gen- der places limitations on all of us, even those we may not recognize.

Women and men both have certain expectations that come with their gender assignment, as dictated by society. For example, it is rare and often discouraged for little boys to take up the hobby of playing with dolls or engaging in other cross-gender activity. Boys or girls who adopt traits that are traditionally associated with the opposite gender are often regarded as abnormal because ultimately such actions disrupt the status quo of gender.

We need to understand that much of the ideas that exist concerning gender are manufactuered by us and are not embedded into our biology. Gender is not rigid; it is evolving and changing.

So why not let this change lead us into a society where we are not limited or judged by our behaviors as either a man or woman? Maybe the actions of many of the people in Sweden are ridiculous to us because the notion of gender neutrality strays so far from our gender-obsessed world today. We have never attempted to ease gender distinction, and Sweden’s ultimate goal to do this is one that should be applauded. CT