14 comments

Mary Kassian

His, Hers, Hens, and the Madness of Politically Correct Gender Language

Posted on 05.23.12 by Mary Kassian | Twitter: @MaryKassian

 

All your Friends are Hens

Forget the “his” and “hers.” Sweden has introduced a new, gender-neutral pronoun: “hen.”

The word was added to the online version of the country’s National Encyclopedia days after International Women’s Day. It was sparked by the publication of Sweden’s first ever gender-neutral children’s book, Kivi och Monsterhund (Kivi and Monsterdog). The child, “Kivi,” whose gender is non-specified, wants a dog for “hen’s” birthday.

Toward a Gender-Neutral Society

Newspaper columnists, TV announcers, feminist bloggers, and Swedish gender-neutral educators could not be more pleased. The Nordic country has always advocated gender equality. It has the highest proportion of working women in the world, and females earn about two-thirds of all college degrees. But now, activists want to push the matter to its natural and logical conclusion. They want to abolish gender altogether, and construct a utopian, gender-neutral society. They’re intent on raising up a new generation of children who’ve been freed from the limitations of stereotyped gender roles.

Breaking down gender distinction is a core mission in the national curriculum for Sweden’s preschools. Many have hired “gender pedagogues” (gender police) to help staff identify language and behaviors that risk reinforcing stereotypes. At the taxpayer-funded Egalia preschool in Stockholm, staff avoid using words such as “him” or “her” and address the children as “friends” or “hens” rather than girls and boys.

In these gender-neutral schools, language is regulated, certain forms of play are taboo, and children’s interactions and attitudes are closely monitored by teachers. One Swedish school got rid of its toy cars because boys “gender-coded” them and preferred them over other toys. Another preschool removed “free playtime” from its schedule because, as a pedagogue at the school maintained, “when children play freely, stereotypical gender patterns are born and cemented.” In order to keep things gender neutral, every detail of the children’s interactions are micromanaged by politically correct adults, from how they form friendships, to what games they play and what songs they sing.

Does Language Matter?

Swedes figure that the introduction of a gender-neutral pronoun will help matters along. After all, how can you raise a child in an environment free of gender distinction when the very language you speak distinguishes boys from girls?

They have a point. Language does make a difference. Obliterating gender-distinct pronouns will undoubtedly help obliterate gender distinctions. If you blur the words, you blur the meaning.

For instance, if proponents of gender-inclusive Bible translations were to follow their lead, a few years from now we might crack open the first few pages of Genesis to read this politically-correct, gender-neutralized translation of the text:

“So God created hens in Hen own image, in the image of God Hen created hen; hen and hen Hen created them. . . and the rib that the Lord God had taken from the hen, Hen made into a hen, and brought hen to the hen. . . therefore a hen shall leave hen’s parental hens and hold fast to hen’s hen.”

I’m only half kidding. If they have the audacity to change the language to make it more inclusive, the next logical step is to change it to make it more gender neutral.
The language does matter. “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Gen. 1:27, emphasis added). We were created to display His glory. Male and female. He and she. His and hers . . . not hens. The pronouns matter. Gender matters.

Hard to See

Someday, the English language may change. As in Sweden, the politically-correct gender pundits may force it on us. But I, for one, will resist the change. For in stripping our language and lives of gender distinction, we lose the depth and color of the image God has given us to display His glory. We turn off the lights, so to speak. All the rich, vibrant colors and textures fade into dull, monolithic grey. And it becomes hard to see.

And that, no doubt, is Satan’s plan.

When we lose the image, we lose our selves. God did not create gender-neutral beings. God did not speak in gender-neutral language. Therefore, stripping a language of its gender distinctions, and teaching children that they shouldn’t think of themselves as him and her, but as hens, ought to offend our sensibilities and ruffle our collective feathers.

It’s just a horribly bad idea.

What do you think? How do you think a gender-neutral environment might impact kindergarten children? Do you think it’s possible to over-ride who God created us to be? Do you think a gender-neutral society is better than a society that upholds gender distinctions? What sort of consequences might result from a gender-neutralizing social experiment?

Comments

  1. Terrific post.
    www.worthwhilebooks.blogspot.com
    posted by hopeinbrazil
    on Wednesday, May 23, 2012 at 9:29 am
  2. Lord, have mercy!
    posted by Elveria
    on Wednesday, May 23, 2012 at 10:06 am
  3. I read about the gender-controlled preschools recently, and appreciate this expanded update. Powerful, truthful post. Will repost ... people need to understand the foolishness of these choices.
    http://www.heartchoicesministries.com/
    posted by Dawn Wilson
    on Wednesday, May 23, 2012 at 10:53 am
  4. Ironically, Hen commonly refers to a female animal.
    posted by Shay
    on Wednesday, May 23, 2012 at 11:24 am
  5. While I agree that it is important to honor biological sex and cultural gender differences between men and women, I also appreciate the need for a gender-neutral, third-person, singular pronoun.

    Most users of English already substitute "their" the way a Swedish-speaker might use "hen." Not having a gender-neutral pronoun forces us to choose between the cumbersome "he or she" or the grammatically incorrect "their."

    This is one argument where practicality might overrule philosophy.
    http://experimentalwifery.com/2011/11/12/ten-things-you-can-do-to-help-your-husband-reclaim-his-masculinity/
    posted by Alison Solove @Experimental Wifery
    on Wednesday, May 23, 2012 at 12:08 pm
  6. This is just so sad. I was especially saddened to hear how toy cars were removed from one school in Sweden because the boys preferred them over other toys. You asked a good question, Mary. You asked, "Do you think it is possible to over-ride who God made us to be?" I have to believe in my heart that the answer is "No," no matter what others try to do. Little girls will always want to be mommies and play with dolls and tea sets, and little boys will always gravitate to dump trucks and fire engines. It's the way God has wired them. Unfortunately, what Sweden is doing in their society is going to cause a lot of confusion and heartache. I am comforted by the fact that this is indeed my Father's world, and though the wrong is oft so strong, God is the Ruler yet! He will have the last say, and one day right all the wrongs. Even so, Lord Jesus, please come quickly.

    Blessings,
    Arlene
    posted by Arlene
    on Wednesday, May 23, 2012 at 12:19 pm
  7. WOW and WOW..total INSANITY!!! Read about this recently but this is just too much! I love what you said, Arlene. Puts it perfectly! Sad sad sad. I'm going to share this on FB! Just can't articulate how very very sad this is. If a daughter sees her Mom making dinner or going to work or talking on the phone or any number of things, she will want to copy it..same idea for boys and Dads...how confused will children become when they can't copy what they see? It's how they play..how they "work out the world around them". HOW STUPID is it to tell the children "how" to play??? Guess i've switched from sad to mad. lol Well this is just DUMB!!!!!! Lord, please save us from ourselves!!!! Revive our hearts!!!!!
    posted by Sherri
    on Wednesday, May 23, 2012 at 3:55 pm
  8. I'm just curious, what's your stand on hermaphrodites? How should we treat them? What should we do about their gender identity?
    posted by J.J.
    on Wednesday, May 23, 2012 at 8:47 pm
  9. JJ, this is an important question. I have wondered about this myself sometimes, and I have yet to find an answer. _However_, I doubt that this preschool in Stockholm is attended purely by hermaphrodites, or that all this was developed to make them more comfortable. I'm not sure how many people with an intersex condition there are nowadays. Enough to justify this? What about the millions who have a very clear gender identity and are quite happy with it - AND are now subjected to this?
    posted by Kelly
    on Wednesday, May 23, 2012 at 9:36 pm
  10. We will be starting the True Woman Divine Design study the first of June with 25+ ladies signed up. And what's the first lesson?? GENDER MATTERS!!! Yes, it most certainly does because it is the design of our Creator God. Pray for the ladies who will be attending that they grasp even deeper the marvelous plan of God and to see that they were created as women to glorify our Lord Jesus Christ! I'll be sharing this post for sure!
    posted by Susan
    on Wednesday, May 23, 2012 at 10:50 pm
  11. I think it's very sad and foolish. They would say that we impose male or female gender on children against their will; I would say that they are imposing non-gender on children against their will!
    I would also be interested in hearing more of your thoughts on intersexuality or hermaphrodites. I am certainly a believer in gender as God created it, and I only just recently learned that some people are actually born with physical characteristics that make doctors and parents wonder what their child's gender is from the get-go. This is confusing to me, and while the case is rare, it is probably a question that the world will ask of Christians in the even more confusing days to come!
    posted by Kristin G.
    on Thursday, May 24, 2012 at 8:42 am
  12. "Hens" is not gender neutral. Didn't anyone grow up knowing that a "hen" is a female chicken?" Well, maybe not in Sweden....

    I LIKE being a girl/woman/female - i DON'T WANT to be a boy/man/male. That totally goes against my grain, against what my Creator made me to be. Gender Neutrality is sort of stupid in my book. We're different and that's all there is to it - and I thank God we are.

    I'm reading True Woman 101 (albeit very slowly) and I like what I'm reading -- Thank you once again for giving me somthing so edifying!
    posted by ann
    on Tuesday, May 29, 2012 at 6:54 pm
  13. God's ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts higher than our thoughts. Dare we stand for anything different than the way Sovereign God created us - male and female? Lord, revive and embolden your children in this day and age!

    Thank you Arlene for putting things into perspective.
    posted by Emily
    on Monday, June 4, 2012 at 3:06 pm
  14. *bang* -that was my jaw hitting the floor.

    Amazing post. By the way, I love being a woman. Not a hen.
    posted by Zxorah Rowan
    on Sunday, June 24, 2012 at 10:50 am

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