Sweden\u2019s New Gender-Neutral Pronoun:\u00a0Hen<\/em><\/a><\/h2>\n[…]
\nEarlier this month, the movement for gender neutrality reached a milestone: Just days after International Women’s Day a new pronoun,\u00a0hen<\/em>\u00a0(pronounced like the bird in English), was added to the online version of the country’s\u00a0National Encyclopedia<\/em>. The\u00a0entry defines\u00a0hen\u00a0as a “proposed gender-neutral personal pronoun instead of he [han<\/em>\u00a0in Swedish] and she [hon<\/em>].” The\u00a0National Encyclopedia announcement came amid a heated debate about gender neutrality that has been raging in Swedish newspaper columns and TV studios and on parenting blogs and feminist websites.[…]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nThis again connects to how everything’s political<\/a>. Yes, trying to change a natural language might be taking it a bit too far. But this piece points out quite a few things that can conceivably be seen as fostering inequality; it’s really interesting to see how maintaining a supposedly neutral\/natural status quo becomes explicitly political in this situation.<\/p>\nUltimately, for all the liberating ideals behind these attempts, as soon as they become part of an oppressive mechanism, there’s nothing liberating about them. As the piece says:<\/p>\n
\nIronically, in the effort to free Swedish children from so-called normative behavior, gender-neutral proponents are also subjecting them to a whole set of\u00a0new<\/em>\u00a0rules and\u00a0new<\/em>\u00a0norms as certain forms of play become taboo, language becomes regulated, and children’s interactions and attitudes are closely observed by teachers.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n(Full piece here.<\/a> H\/t to whoever shared this on Facebook!)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/img.zemanta.com\/pixy.gif?x-id=d654bf98-9629-4c08-b20d-d2e6dd4a8950\")
<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It’s not every day that you see these words combined: “pronoun causes controversy”. And I’m honestly not a fan of politically manipulating language, especially since I know enough about language to know we know very little about it. But I was still delighted to read this piece on Slate.com: Sweden\u2019s New Gender-Neutral Pronoun:\u00a0Hen […] Earlier … Continue reading Sweden’s gender-neutral pronoun goes official<\/span>
\nEarlier this month, the movement for gender neutrality reached a milestone: Just days after International Women’s Day a new pronoun,\u00a0hen<\/em>\u00a0(pronounced like the bird in English), was added to the online version of the country’s\u00a0National Encyclopedia<\/em>. The\u00a0entry defines\u00a0hen\u00a0as a “proposed gender-neutral personal pronoun instead of he [han<\/em>\u00a0in Swedish] and she [hon<\/em>].” The\u00a0National Encyclopedia announcement came amid a heated debate about gender neutrality that has been raging in Swedish newspaper columns and TV studios and on parenting blogs and feminist websites.[…]<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
This again connects to how everything’s political<\/a>. Yes, trying to change a natural language might be taking it a bit too far. But this piece points out quite a few things that can conceivably be seen as fostering inequality; it’s really interesting to see how maintaining a supposedly neutral\/natural status quo becomes explicitly political in this situation.<\/p>\n Ultimately, for all the liberating ideals behind these attempts, as soon as they become part of an oppressive mechanism, there’s nothing liberating about them. As the piece says:<\/p>\n Ironically, in the effort to free Swedish children from so-called normative behavior, gender-neutral proponents are also subjecting them to a whole set of\u00a0new<\/em>\u00a0rules and\u00a0new<\/em>\u00a0norms as certain forms of play become taboo, language becomes regulated, and children’s interactions and attitudes are closely observed by teachers.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n (Full piece here.<\/a> H\/t to whoever shared this on Facebook!)<\/p>\n It’s not every day that you see these words combined: “pronoun causes controversy”. And I’m honestly not a fan of politically manipulating language, especially since I know enough about language to know we know very little about it. But I was still delighted to read this piece on Slate.com: Sweden\u2019s New Gender-Neutral Pronoun:\u00a0Hen […] Earlier … Continue reading Sweden’s gender-neutral pronoun goes official<\/span> \n
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