I once favorably commented on a garment worn by a fellow expat in Sweden who, like myself, hails from the north of England. It was a pink shirt. It looked nice. I told him so, then added: “I bet it wouldn’t go down too well in your local pub back home though.” He agreed and admitted that while Sweden brought out his metrosexual side, he drew the line at lemon sweaters casually thrown over the shoulder.
The World Economic Forum tells us that Sweden is one of the top countries when it comes to demonstrating gender equality. Yet, kidswear stores in Sweden have yet to catch on to the concept that pink could be the new black for boys. And I’m pretty thankful to be honest. I couldn’t quite see myself kitting out my little boy in head-to-toe Hello Kitty.
Kalle in his spotted pink number. Photo: Staffan Claesson/Helena Kulle
Still, cross-dressing for kids is up for discussion. Writer Anette Skåhlberg was pretty disgusted when her son’s daycare had a quiet word about his dress sense. He liked to wear his sister’s dresses and his mother didn’t view it as promblematic. Other parents did.
So Skåhlberg took it upon herself to create the character of Kalle, based upon her son, and wrote the children’s books Kalle med klänning (Kalle with a dress) and Kalle som Lucia (Kalle as Lucia).
The stories, aimed from age two upwards, are part of a wider selection of fairytales penned by Skåhlberg to expose children to equality, openness and tolerance at an early age.
There’s also the likes of Princess Kristalla who goes against the wishes of her parents who want her to marry a prince while she wants to live happy ever after with her girlfriend. Meanwhile, male giraffes Jösta and Johan want to have a baby together and go on the hunt across the world looking for an egg.
Toys have certainly moved on an age since the days of my youth when it was strictly Action Man for boys and Barbie dolls for girls. But the thrill of “dressing up” has stood the test of time. When I was at nursery school I looked forward to Wednesday afternoons. That meant a great big chest filled with clothes and hats would come out of the closet along with our imaginations.
Today, no one will turn a blind eye to Pia becoming Pirate Jack but what about Fredrik who wants to be Fairy Frida? At the Egalia pre-school in Stockholm you can be whoever you want to be. The agenda is gender-free – with teachers refraining from using personal pronouns and instead refering to both boys and girls as “friends”.
The pre-school has recently made international headlines over its methods to break down typical male and female roles, which one commentator labelled “gender madness”. I am inclined to agree. Let us not forget the story of Pop – the gender-free tot - whose Swedish parents cause a stir by deciding to keep their child’s sex a secret. While I commend the country’s mindful gender-gap endeavours, such lengths leave me red-faced rather than tickled pink.
