The
article I chose to right my blog on differs from the previous articles I
have written about because it speaks about a society that has embraced gender
equality and is working to rid itself of gender roles. Sweden has always been an advocate for gender
equality and is now trying to start this equality off at a young age. Top-Toy, which is a private toy company, has
decided to drop all gender roles in Swedish Toys ‘R’ Us catalogs and stores.
Toy catalogs in Sweden now depict boys helping girls doing their hair, and
children dressed up as Spiderman taking care of a baby doll. Sweden is also furthering their fight against
gender roles by adding men to previously all-female staffs at pre-schools, and
having teachers use gender-neutral pronouns when referring to their students. Sweden had received backlash from various
media outlets claiming that Sweden was “turning boys into girls.” This however
has not affected Sweden’s approach to gender roles as they continue to try to
rid their society of gender stereotypes.
I really enjoyed reading this article and I though it was
very interesting because it showed how ridding our society of gender roles is
completely possible. Making such a simple change as showing children playing
with a variety of toys in catalogs could make a world of difference. This gets rid of the harsh divide that is
portrayed between boys and girls. This change will show children acceptance,
and that no matter what they choose to do its okay, and they will not be weird
or different because of it. I think the actions made by Sweden are a huge step
forward in gender equality. Even though
there was some backlash to these changes, it seems as though the praise for
Sweden silenced those opposed to it.
This shows that the changing of gender roles is not as much of a problem
that it is often made out to be. I
believe that America needs to take the leap that Sweden has and I think they
will be pleasantly surprised at the impact it will have. All we need to do is make a simple change to
the way we advertise products and we could be changing the lives of thousands
of children.