Gender Neutral Kindergarten in Sweden

[Chazz]

Originally Posted by Novelafemme

"Words can be manufactured, manipulated, misapplied and misappropriated, but bias resides in the heart not on the tongue."

Beautiful statement, truly...but try to keep in mind that at this age children are not biased. Biases come a bit later in life after (as you stated) language has been misappropriated and gendered.

Sure kids are "biased" at a young age - as young as 3-5 years old.

My EX's 4 year old called me, "Mr. Chazz", from day one.

Although the following excerpt is about race, not gender constructs, it makes the case for how children are, in fact, biased at a very young age.



Children Are Not Colorblind: How Young Children Learn Race

"Toddlers as young as two years use racial categories to reason about people’s behaviors (Hirschfeld, 2008), and numerous studies show that three-to five-year-olds not only categorize people by race, but express bias based on race (Aboud, 2008; Hirschfeld, 2008; Katz, 2003; Patterson & Bigler, 2006). In a yearlong study, Van Ausdale & Feagin (2001) found that three- to five-year-olds in a racially and ethnically diverse day care center used racial categories to identify themselves and others, to include or exclude children from activities, and to negotiate power in their own social/play networks."(Erin N. Winkler, Ph.D. - University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee)


http://www4.uwm.edu/letsci/africolog...colorblind.pdf