Third of Swedish Women have bisexual Fantasies
Mar 9th
A country known for its beautiful people also has one of highest rates of bisexual behaviour, a survey shows. More than a third of young Swedish women (39 per cent) and eight per cent of young Swedish men said they had sexual fantasises about both genders, said experts at Malmo University. Just over one in eight young women polled (13 per cent) and three per cent of male respondents said they had sex with both men and women, compared to just over one in 20 British women (5.7 per cent), according to the poll of 850 people aged 18 to 24. ‘We are seeing a greater openness among young people,’ said Prof Sven-Axel Mansson. [Source]
Photo form the Stockholm Pride 2009Fredrik Strand Halland
Mar 4th
Gender-Neutral Pronouns in Swedish
Feb 28th
I just learned a few days ago that young Swedes (especially nerds & hackers as it seems) are establishing a gender neutral pronoun: Hen. It has been in circulation as an alternative to get round problems that sometimes arise when talking about people in the third person. It is also used by many within the queer movement for people who do not wish to conform to the prevailing two gender norm. The Swedish Language Council recommends den (‘it’) for third person singular of indefinite gender. However, large parts of the Swedish LGBT community consider this a derogatory term, since it implies that the person referred to is linguistically equated with a lifeless thing. Instead the terms hen (he/she) and henom (him/her) are preferred if one wants to refer to someone without a definite placement inside the binary system of masculine and feminine. Sources: Wikipedia & The Local
Explore Denmark!
Feb 28th
Denmark introduces harrowing new tourism ads directed by Lars von Trier (Warning: Satire! ;p)
In Sweden even the Church is Gender-Queer
Feb 26th
Sensus, a Swedish church-backed study association, has adopted a new policy to allow prospective employees to classify their gender in three ways: Female, Male or Other. The study association, which runs courses in a range of disciplines for more than 350,000 Swedes, has decided to introduce a third alternative in its standard online application form. "It is a question of letting you as an individual decide for yourself how you want to be defined. Or if you turn it around, you should not have to have one role privately and another as an employee," explained Johan Welander at Sensus to Church of Sweden newspaper, Kyrkans Tidning.
Applicants can now choose between Kvinna (woman), Man or Hen, a gender-neutral pronoun and alternative to the Swedish Hon (She) and Han (He). Hen is a gender-neutral pronoun that has long been in circulation as an alternative to get round problems that sometimes arise when talking about people in the third person. It is also used by many within the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) movement for people who do not wish to conform to the prevailing two gender norm. More at The Local
