Every 16-year-old in Sweden to receive copy of We Should All Be Feminists

kettlehead

Less than a month after it was revealed that the UK is planning to drop feminism from the politics A-level, every 16-year-old in Sweden is being given a copy of Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s call to arms, We Should All Be Feminists.

The essay, adapted from Adichie’s award-winning TED talk of the same name, is being distributed in Swedish to high-school students by the Swedish Women’s Lobby and publisher Albert Bonniers. Launching the project at Norra Real high school in Stockholm this week, they said they hoped the book would “work as a stepping stone for a discussion about gender equality and feminism”.


“My own definition of a feminist is a man or a woman who says, ‘Yes, there’s a problem with gender as it is today and we must fix it, we must do better,’” writes Adichie in the essay. “All of us, women and men, must do better.”

“Some people ask: ‘Why the word feminist? Why not just say you are a believer in human rights, or something like that?’ Because that would be dishonest,” Adichie continues. “Feminism is, of course, part of human rights in general – but to choose to use the vague expression human rights is to deny the specific and particular problem of gender. It would be a way of pretending that it was not women who have, for centuries, been excluded.”

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/dec/04/every-16-year-old-in-sweden-to-receive-copy-of-we-should-all-be-feminists

I don't like this idea of just giving impressionable youngsters books like this...anything like "Why you should be X" is wrong. We should teach people to think and argue for themselves not trying to guide them to the "correct point of view."

Letree

Sweden is heading for hell in a handcart. Stifling political correctness, 4th wave feminism and massive Islamic immigration. A mess is brewing.

Fr_Dougal

Could be worse, could have those bloody Alive! magazines shoved through their letterbox. Bastards.

Deep Six

If I was a 16 year old in Sweden I'd burn that ****. Stuff your gender engineering up your arse.

The Randy Riverbeast

Is a bit stupid but there is nothing stopping them from using it as hamster bedding and not read it. Im not sure the laws around it but there was a state in the US that allowed an organization (could have been just religious?) to do something similar, satanist colouring books put a stop to it though. Maybe theres a few copies left :pac:

The Backwards Man

When I was sixteen I already knew that behind every publication there was an agenda, be it in a Swedish A-level paper, an online forum or the Paddy Power nap of the day.

Most sixteen year olds are that mature, so I don't know exactly why you're ranting here. Or maybe I do.

RWCNT

Seen this earlier on, absolutely loving reading people getting pissed off about it =D

Deep Six

RWCNT wrote: »

Seen this earlier on, absolutely loving reading people getting pissed off about it =D

Why wouldn't you be pissed off? It's the equivalent of giving people a book called "Colouring in Chauvinism"

Pseudorandom

Letree wrote: »

Sweden is heading for hell in a handcart. Stifling political correctness, 4th wave feminism and massive Islamic immigration. A mess is brewing.

Fr_Dougal wrote: »

Could be worse, could have those bloody Alive! magazines shoved through their letterbox. Bastards.

Deep Six wrote: »

If I was a 16 year old in Sweden I'd burn that ****. Stuff your gender engineering up your arse.

Very strong feelings to have about an essay you haven't even read.

me_irl

Swedish Justice Warriors?

the evasion_kid

should give the young fellas a copy of "the manipulated man"......its like kryptonite to feminists

RWCNT

Deep Six wrote: »

Why wouldn't you be pissed off? It's the equivalent of giving people a book called "Colouring in Chauvinism"

Because you havnt read the essay and you clearly don't know what you're on about.

Fr_Dougal

Pseudorandom wrote: »

Very strong feelings to have about an essay you haven't even read.

Did you get giddy and quote my post? Because I don't think you understood it.

The Backwards Man

Deep Six wrote: »

Why wouldn't you be pissed off? It's the equivalent of giving people a book called "Colouring in Chauvinism"

Wouldn't be a very taxing colouring book that, you'd only need blue and pink

Pseudorandom

Fr_Dougal wrote: »

Did you get giddy and quote my post? Because I don't think you understood it.

Sorry, my mistake - got a bit enthusiastic with the multiquote button.

the_syco

“Some people ask: ‘Why the word feminist? Why not just say you are a believer in human rights, or something like that?’ Because that would be dishonest,” Adichie continues

She's right there, it would be dishonest. Feminism is about getting more rights for women.

fleet_admiral

the_syco wrote: »

She's right there, it would be dishonest. Feminism is about getting more rights for women.

Can you tell us one right that men have that women dont

Nodin

kettlehead wrote: »

I don't like this idea of just giving impressionable youngsters books like this...anything like "Why you should be X" is wrong. We should teach people to think and argue for themselves not trying to guide them to the "correct point of view."

Quelle surprise.

Nodin

The Backwards Man wrote: »

When I was sixteen I already knew that behind every publication there was an agenda, be it in a Swedish A-level paper, an online forum or the Paddy Power nap of the day.

Most sixteen year olds are that mature, so I don't know exactly why you're ranting here. Or maybe I do.

Say it ain't so!!!!!!!!!!!

sonny.knowles

Silly bints.

fleet_admiral

kettlehead wrote: »

Equal access to their children if unmarried or divorced.

Thats a right men dont have

The Backwards Man

Nodin wrote: »

Say it ain't so!!!!!!!!!!!

Yep. Paddy's worse than the feminists, he wants your money as well as your balls. :P

Sand

I cant say I am all that bothered what 16 year old Swedes do or read, but I find it bizarre that feminism is being advertised as some sort of equivalent with human rights or equality. It definitely is not.

Feminists unashamedly push for the interests of females, over and against the interests of men. Certainly in the 19th and 20th century this was not wholly inimical to a wider human rights/equality agenda, but in 2015 in the western world, its very much cherry picking privileges rather than responsibilities. Feminists campaign for equal outcomes in simplistic male-female pay comparisons, but they certainly are not pushing for equality in male-female suicide rates, despite the likely link between the two.

Haven't read the essay.

Don't care about Sweden.

If the damned thing is so convincing that it can't be absorbed and disregarded if necessary then its probably got something in it worth paying attention to.

I suspect this may not be the case.

But this is not exactly in the top forty things worrying me today.

InitiumNovum

It’s the current year, peeps. Time’s a progressin’.

Le_Dooner

I wonder will they distribute leaflets on how not to get half your stuff taken off you when your wife decides she wants a divorce, but wants to maintain her lifestyle?

cantdecide

I can see why it would be important to let 16 year old boys know that their female counterparts will be rewarded equally for making generally fewer sacrifices and commitments.

CyclopsDeluxe

What a lot of sh1te

Annasopra

It's a fantastic idea to educate young people about feminism. It's also great in that it highlights how masculinity restricts men so much.

cantdecide

Joeytheparrot wrote: »

It's a fantastic idea to educate young people about feminism. It's also great in that it highlights how masculinity restricts men so much.

Feminism good.
Masculinity bad.

Right. I think I finally got it.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

kettlehead wrote: »

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/dec/04/every-16-year-old-in-sweden-to-receive-copy-of-we-should-all-be-feminists

....we should teach people to think and argue for themselves not trying to guide them to the "correct point of view."

Thats is never going to happen in a western education system, period. And that;s not jus ta specific comment related to femiism.

Victor

kettlehead wrote: »

Norra Real high school

If this was April 1, one would think that's Norra Real name.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Princess Consuela Bananahammock wrote: »

Thats is never going to happen in a western education system, period. And that;s not jus ta specific comment related to femiism.

Critical thinking is planned as an important component of new junior cycle curriculum fyi but yknow whatever mannn

http://ncca.ie/framework/doc/NCCA-Junior-Cycle.pdf

the_syco

fleet_admiral wrote: »

Can you tell us one right that men have that women dont

Look at the family courts, and you'll see fathers have less rights than the mothers. And the rights seem to decrease over time. I think the "pay gap" is a feminists latest thing to focus on?

Herb Powell

What are people so scared of here? I don't get it.

DarkyHughes

Pseudorandom wrote: »

Very strong feelings to have about an essay you haven't even read.

And also considering Sweden is one of the most stable countries in the world.

Just any excuse to have a pop at Muslims seems to do.

NachoBusiness

Herb Powell wrote: »

What are people so scared of here? I don't get it.

Nobody is "scared". They are annoyed.

Annoyed at third wave feminist arsehats being given free reign to shove their propaganda pamphlets down children's throats, in what is undoubtedly yet another concerted and brazen effort at manipulating up and coming generations into seeing the world in the skewed and agenda saturated way which they see it.

DarkyHughes

cantdecide wrote: »

Feminism good.
Masculinity bad.

Right. I think I finally got it.

Nope, you've got the hang of trolling down well tho.

DarkyHughes

DarkyHughes wrote: »

Nope, you've got the hang of trolling down well tho.

Not strongly bothered on this issue but that was a pretty fair summary of the post imo

One eyed Jack

DarkyHughes wrote: »

Nope, you've got the hang of trolling down well tho.

Ahh fairness DH, I think 'twas Joey was engaging in a bit of schadenfreude on this occasion with this post -

Joeytheparrot wrote: »

It's a fantastic idea to educate young people about feminism. It's also great in that it highlights how masculinity restricts men so much.

I was going to say "if I didn't know better", but I resisted, because there's nothing likely to be gained from asking Joey what he means by that when he didn't care to develop the points the first time.

I for one have certainly never felt restricted by my masculinity, and having read some of the work of the author of that book, it's the usual nonsense of "men should be allowed to feel vulnerable, women should be encouraged and be strong, yada yada", why can both sexes not be encouraged be strong and ambitious?

The author doesn't like the idea of using the term "human rights" instead of "feminism" because she "feels it is dishonest", that "women have been excluded and oppressed for centuries"...

Is this the sort of ideology we really want to be teaching anyone? Be the victim, 800 years historical oppression, now it's our turn for boys to cry and girls to be in charge...

That's really not any sort of gender equality I'm familiar with!

B.A._Baracus

I hate feminism. I really do.
It's all just excuses. I am held back, blah blah blah, men make more than me because they are male, blah blah blah. SHUT THE FU*K UP!!!!! :mad:

You wanna talk about women being oppressed? then why dont feminists go over to the middle east?
But of course they won't because over there it's like the 'wild west' when it comes to laws and if they spoke up you know yourself :rolleyes:

So women in the western world talk about feminism. Because lets be honest it is a western-created word. But of course rather than just admit to the realities of life that it is hard and you've got 7 billion to compete with... No, no, it's men that are the problem!

Thats right. It's men who are the problem. Thats the reason why you arent earning 75k a year, even tho you never went to college or applied yourself or even tried etc ... it's because men hold you back

Alexis Sanchez

DarkyHughes wrote: »

And also considering Sweden is one of the most stable countries in the world.

Just any excuse to have a pop at Muslims seems to do.

Yet the Sweden Democrats are scoring around 20% - 25% in the recent opinion polls for their next GM: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_general_election,_2018

The Swedes are rebelling against the Social Democrats and their PC, pro-mass immigration, pro-feminism nonsense.

My name is URL

Alexis Sanchez wrote: »

Yet the Sweden Democrats are scoring around 20% - 25% in the recent opinion polls for their next GM: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_general_election,_2018

The Swedes are rebelling against the Social Democrats and their PC, pro-mass immigration, pro-feminism nonsense.

FG have about the same level of support in opinion polls. Is there a rebellion under way here too? People have been awfully quiet about it if so.

Yosef.coen

Joeytheparrot wrote: »

It's a fantastic idea to educate young people about feminism. It's also great in that it highlights how masculinity restricts men so much.

Of course the solution is to turn men into a lesser type of woman, ignoring the obvious scientific biological differences between the two sexes. Great idea altogether. Pseudo science at its best.

Herb Powell

NachoBusiness wrote: »

Nobody is "scared". They are annoyed.

Annoyed at third wave feminist arsehats being given free reign to shove their propaganda pamphlets down children's throats, in what is undoubtedly yet another concerted and brazen effort at manipulating up and coming generations into seeing the world in the skewed and agenda saturated way which they see it.

Erra fucck it, safe spaces for all. And flags. Little ones.

manonboard

Joeytheparrot wrote: »

It's a fantastic idea to educate young people about feminism. It's also great in that it highlights how masculinity restricts men so much.

That's a really good point to make I didn't consider. The restrictions on men, particularly socially enforced ones about repressing emotions and being vulnerable, is a travesty placed upon men and male children... It leads to massive mental health issues and suicide, often the most common best case is that we get functioning males that are ridiculously underdeveloped to handle their happiness/difficulties in relationships and life.

manonboard

Deleted User wrote: »

Critical thinking is planned as an important component of new junior cycle curriculum fyi but yknow whatever mannn

http://ncca.ie/framework/doc/NCCA-Junior-Cycle.pdf

I was excited by that information.. but reading the link. It seem sooo minor. I really hope it expands drastically in the future. Its so sad to see the constant cycling of societal problems and same old solutions being used. More critical thinking would do wonders for us in every way.

manonboard

DarkyHughes wrote: »

Nope, you've got the hang of trolling down well tho.

Its just a thought in my head at the moment, but i think he wasn't actually that incorrect. Yes i do believe he was trolling but his points about feminism good and masculinity bad are pretty valid.

I think feminism is good as a whole (plenty of problems in it though, it gets corrupted) as it promotes equal rights for either gender.

masculinity though, that concept is less about equal rights and more about defining the role and attributes of a man. How to be manly per say.
That tends to trap men in very defined boxes that often contradicts their desires and needs. Its a sad state of affairs.

Im not sure what the word is for how we enforce roles/attribute on women. femininity? That could be compared against masculinity, but comparing feminism against it makes no sense.

Billy86

Letree wrote: »

Sweden is heading for hell in a handcart. Stifling political correctness, 4th wave feminism and massive Islamic immigration. A mess is brewing.

Oh yeah, it's an absolute sh!thole up there.

It took until the third post until someone brought up Muslims though, not sure if that's above or below par these days on AH?

Billy86

Alexis Sanchez wrote: »

Yet the Sweden Democrats are scoring around 20% - 25% in the recent opinion polls for their next GM: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_general_election,_2018

The Swedes are rebelling against the Social Democrats and their PC, pro-mass immigration, pro-feminism nonsense.

Two things:

1. Your own link shows that they are polling at 27.6% as of the latest poll, a mere 2.5% lower than they received in the last election, and have been above 25% more often than below it. That's pretty disingenuous of you to list as "20-25%", but not nearly as much as the fact that...

2. They are polling higher than any other party in the country.

super_furry

There's a hell of a lot of newly registered accounts here who seem obsessed with talking about how nasty feminism is recently.