Sweden Adds Gender-Neutral Pronoun

Sweden is a country that thinks a lot about equality - and gender. As Slate Magazine reports, the nation recently introduced its first gender-neutral pronoun, hen (in Swedish, "he" is han and "she" is hon), into the online version of its National Encyclopedia. What we find most striking, though, is that the new pronoun began to gain popularity - and spark controversy - after popping up in a children's book, Kivi och Monsterhund (Kivi and Monsterdog), which uses hen throughout, never specifying Kivi's gender. 

In fact, many of Sweden's most radical policies relating to gender are child-oriented. Sweden's national curriculum guidelines state that preschools should "counteract traditional gender patterns and gender roles." However some Swedes argue that adults should not interrupt children's discovery of their gender and sexuality, fearing that when teachers actively work to counteract traditional gender roles, they may still be limiting children's gender expression. 

Read more about Sweden's efforts in gender equality and neturality at Slate.