Category: Society

According to the World Value’s Survey, Sweden is one of the most secular countries in the world. In other words, the importance of religion in people’s daily lives is much less than in many other cultures.

And this is shown in an analysis released by the Church of Sweden’s chief analyst, Jonas Bromander. he claims that in the next ten years, the church will lose one million members´and this will lead to a loss of 1.5 billion kronor for the organisation. The obvious consequence of this will be cutbacks amongst the 23,000 employees and that many of Sweden’s 3700 churches will have to be shut down.

Is this the cause or the effect of Sweden’s secularisation?

I saw a sign on a newspaper stand today- ‘Are you provoked by hen?’. The hen that is being referred to is a new term of address that is gender neutral and that can be used to describe male or female. And this is why it’s provoking for some.

In Swedish, ‘han’ is he, and ‘hon’ is her. The term ‘hen’ is suggested to cover both. The pronoun was suggested in an article in 1994 – but actually it was initiated earlier than that. In 1966, it was introduced by journalist Rolf Dunås in a local newspaper in the town of Uppsala.

But why is it causing a storm now? In January this year, a children’s book called ‘Kivi and the monster dog’ was released. In the book, Kivi was referred to as ‘hen’. Was she a girl or was he a boy? The author deemed it unnecessary and the children readers didn’t mind. But parents, media, politicians and certain schools reacted strongly.

In another experiment,at a primary school in Stockholm, the teachers use the term ‘hen’ when talking about the children. The intention is to avoid pigeonholing children at an early age into a specific gender with everything that that brings with it. Again, mixed repsonses have been observed in the parents – some love it and othjers hate it.

In cultural studies, there is a dimension known as ‘Maculinity-Femininity’. This dimension refers to how clearly separated the gender roles are in a society. A Masculine society is a society where men do traditonal men’s things (work, fix the car, building, plumbing etc), and women do traditional women’s things (cook, clean, take care of children). A Feminine society is a society where these gender roles are less clear, where there is overlap between the sexes in terms of behaviours and expectations.

According to research, Sweden is the most ‘Feminine’ country in the world. So, it’s no surprise that there is a high awareness of gender neutrality and that it expresses itself in, for example, pronouns such as ‘hen’.

So, we may see ‘hen’ as a ridculous attempt to make everybody the same, or as a natural and logical progression of the Swedish belief in gender equality.

Swedes love their cakes.

And this week has been a major cake week that has given the economy a real boost. First on Tuesday, people stuffed down the creamy, marzipany lent buns known as semlas. And today, local bakeries around the country are reporting that a certain item is sold out. The shelves are empty. And what might this item be?

Prinsesstårta, or Princess Gateux, of course.

A new princess was born in the night, so today everybody wants Prinsesstårta.

Why? Group think.

Group think is a very interesting cultural and psychological phenomenon that occurs within groups of people or whole societies. It is the mode of thinking that happens when the desire for harmony and belonging to a group overrides individuality. It creates a positive feeling in the group or society as it provides ‘social glue’. However, the negative cost of groupthink is the loss of uniqueness, and independent thinking.

So, princess born = princess cake for many people in Sweden.

Let’s hope they christen her Princess Mazzarin or Princess Tosca. That should boost the economy even more.

(Note: Mazzarin and Tosca are other popular cakes in Sweden)

In the middle of the night, Sweden got a new Princess. She has no name as yet, so right now she’s Princess Thing. Not only has her mother, Crown Princess Victoria, given birth to her first child but she has also provided Sweden with the next monarch.

Unlike many other countries in the world, Sweden’s line of succession to the throne goes to the first born, not necessarily the first son. Sweden adopted this equal progmeniture in 1980 when the current king had his first child, which happened to be a girl. Up until 1980, the throne went to the first-born son. For example,the king himself is the youngest child with several elder sisters.

This change on the law reflects clearly the Swedish belief in gender equality even up in the higher echelons of society. Nowadays, it sounds ridiculous to us in Sweden that elder sisters would forgo their right to inheritence/title/estate just because they are female and have younger male siblings. It feels dusty and old-fashioned.

Only in 2011, was there an agreement in the UK to change the law in a similar way. Any future child of William and Kate, regardless of gender, will be heir to the throne after William.

The other day, I couldn’t believe my eyes. My chin nearly hit the floor with what I saw on one of the busiest streets in central Stockholm.

Sweden is, for many, associated with socialism, even ‘communism’, depending on your particular political leaning. And what I saw in central Stockholm really reminded me of the stereotypical images we have of the communist USSR.

In Sweden, the government has an alcohol monopoly, which means you can only buy wine and spirits in certain shops called Systembolaget. These shops are dotted around city centres and have restricted opening hours. Obviously, they’re very popular because Swedes are not known for their reservedness when it comes to alcohol consumption.

Anyway, in central Stockholm, next to the main railway station there is a Systembolaget. The other day, I needed to buy two bottles of white so I decided to go to this particular branch. As I approached it, I couldn’t believe my eyes. This is when my chin nearly hit the floor. I saw something I’ve never seen before. Outside the shop, there was a long queue to get in. A bouncer on the door was letting customers in gradually. People were queueing up to buy alcohol. Hello! Communist warning!

Now, I happen to be a fan of Systembolaget. Often, there’s a very good range of quality products, the price of wine is very competitive and it’s a way of supporting improved public health. The main argument against it, of course, is the questionable ethics of a monopoly and the fact that it is a clear example of state control over individual freedom and choices. I haven’t really prioritized the latter in this case – up until now. Seeing the queue of people freezing in the snow until they could get in to buy a bottle of wine seemed somehow very wrong. It was really a kick back to times that most people would rather forget.

So, anyway what happened?

Of course, I got in line and stood at the back of the queue and shuffled along slowly with the rest of the drones until I was allowed in to purchase my two bottles of Chardonnay.