HEN

"The country also proposed a new single gender-neutral pronoun – 'hen' – to replace 'he' and 'she' in order to minimize gender stereotyping."

Sweden is taking gender socialization to a whole new level. The article about gender neutral toys  I was originally reading surprised me at the end with this huge statement. It first is talking about a toy magazine released in 2012 featuring boys playing with dolls and girls shooting toy guns. Classic gender neutrality. Then, at the end, the article goes on to talk about this new proposed word that would replace he and she to make a gender neutral word for people. In fact, a Swedish child author, Jesper Lundqvist, released a book titled 'Kivi and Monster Dog' featuring the word "hen." This debate, some have argued, has gone too far and this word is unnecessary... but who knows if this is going to become a social norm?

In my opinion, this is taking the argument to an extreme, but I do see the points of those advocating for the new word and total gender neutrality. There are obvious negatives to separating boys from girls. Is it really necessary though to get rid of gender entirely? I don't know about others, but I'm definitely proud to be a girl. I'd be offended if someone called me "he." Even if gender-neutral advocators don't want to admit it, gender is a part of who we are. And if this argument about "HEN" is continued... who knows what other debates it could spark? If babies are born not knowing the difference between boys and girls, homosexuality may become more prominent since children have no concept of gender. There are so many issues surrounding the idea of getting rid of gender completely. It's interesting to consider them.