Read this article on gender-neutral schools in Sweden:
http://www.dailystrength.org/health_blogs/julie-cohen/articl...
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At the risk of having my head handed to me...
...I've read about three different articles about this school and heard two different reports on the radio. What folks are taking issue with here is that they're treating gender almost the same as those who deny our case for our own gender issues; the contention is that it's somehow more fluid and environmental. Some of us who believe that we were born this way; hardwired in our mother's womb, so to speak; disagree. For the most part, with nearly seven billion souls on the planet, most are either 'he' or 'she' functionally, with an overlap or 'crossover' for a minority of us.
Of course, the whole story became fodder for the 'talk radio' crowd and became one more thing for them to point to. From my perspective as a parent who raised a fine young son, it's really okay to call someone 'him' or 'he' from the start, but be open to change that if 'he' says Daddy, can we talk? I do hope I made some sense just now.
Dio vi benedica tutti
Con grande amore e di affetto
Andrea Lena
Love, Andrea Lena
Perfect Sense
RAMI
Andrea, You make perfect sense.
The idea that there are no differences between girls and boys is ridiculous. As is the concept that gender neutruel schools, pushed to the point of the absurd like this school will accomplish something. At some point in time, differences will become apparent, even if only the differences in physical develop, strength, etc. I would hope that most of us here understand that difference. In fact for those who are truly TG, they know from some early point in their life that there is a difference.
The large percent of males and females, follow the "normal" development from infancy to adulthood, that is anticipated from the moment the baby is delivered and the doctor says it is "a girl" or "a boy". Of course some percentage do not fit into that "normal" category.
The important thing is to be open to differences. To not punish or shun the boy who may play with dolls, or the girl who wants to be G.I Joe (not G.i. jane). To be ready to react in a postive way, as Andrea says, to the question, "Mom, Dad, I need to speak to you about something important?"
I guess if Andrea is afraid to have her headed handed to her, I should be afraid of even a more drastic attack.
RAMI
So what will happen in that school, when a boy, starts to act as most boys do, at say age 4 or 5?. Will they punish him for being a boy? Will they tell him to stop being a boy and be what, either a girl or an it!
RAMI
So what will happen in that
I fear that might actually happen. I don't think those schools are a good idea. They try to reeducate girls to be boys and boys to be girls. They completly deny the fact that gender is pretty much hardwired and the boundaries of gender are set by society and not by school.
The only thing they might actually achieve is to give some kids an identity crisis or something. Well it doesn't really surprise me since sweden is the country were femenism has run its worst course. I guess beeing male is a sin there...
Seriously nothing surprises me about Sweden since they accused Asange of rape for a failed condom.
Nicely put, I think :-)
For the most part, I believe that there's strong evidence that we're hard-wired one way or another before we're born. I mean, to go off on a tangent, I have one openly gay male cousin who very much identifies as "male". He grew up an average, normal boy, ran about with my older brother doing southern boy things (catching frogs, riding bikes, fishing, etc).
Whereas I pretty much universally gravitated toward spending time with either my female cousin or other girls I knew especially once school started, despite having a few boys in my neighborhood. We played with dolls often, talked about our favorite movies, giggled about music (New Kids on the Block really leaps to mind here), played make-believe with really complex - for kids at least - dramatic stories about love or loss or what-have-you.
Probably some of my fondest memories were of playing with Fashion Plates, the fashion design toy where you could mix and match little lots of little thin (metal? I forget) "plates" to create tops or skirts reverse-engraved, lay a piece of paper over it, and use a colored pencil to make a rubbing of a finished outfit design.
What I mean (and just to reiterate, I completely agree) is that in my experience, whether kids are consciously aware of it, on a subconscious level they do appear to be hard-wired in one direction or another.
Now, all that said, I DO think I'd rather have grown up treated as androgynous/gender neutral as opposed to feeling like a disappointment to society because I didn't like doing "boy" things, but ultimately I feel that I would have been much, much happier if I had been allowed to grow up treated as a girl, and I do put a lot of that into my writing, but I digress, and I ramble.
Sorry ^_^
Short, short version: What Andrea said. :-D
Gender-neutral schools
As long as the dignity of the child is maintained is my concern.
May Your Light Forever Shine
May Your Light Forever Shine
Misguided idea
As others have said, while the people behind this preschool idea believe in what they aim to do, it does seem a rather misguided concept, especially as society in general doesn't operate on an asexual basis.
A far better idea (and much simpler to implement) would be an environment that allowed children the freedom to explore gender roles - i.e. have a variety of toys marketed at each gender and both, and encourage a culture where nobody minds if Jenny prefers playing with the toy vehicles or Peter likes to dress up in princess costumes. The key word is freedom - don't try to force both girls and boys to play with exactly the same toys or carry out activities usually associated with a specific gender role. Taking the case of our fictional toddlers, it's also important to note that just because he likes dressing up in princess outfits, it doesn't necessarily mean he self-identifies as a girl; and just because Jenny likes playing with the toy vehicles and other 'boy' toys, it doesn't necessarily mean she self-identifies as a boy. Let the children dictate how they want to be referred.
There are 10 kinds of people in the world - those who understand binary and those who don't...
As the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, then only left-handers are in their right mind!