Sweden

End of Gender: His n' Hers n' Hens

by Malic White
April 27, 2012 at 10:52am
Swedes are tossing out their “His n’ Hers” bath towels in favor of language that’s a little more inclusive. Earlier this month Sweden’s online National Encyclopedia adopted the gender-neutral pronoun “hen” in addition to “he” [han] and “she” [hon]. Post-media explosion, the controversy extends beyond the Swedish-speaking world. Slate reports that Sweden’s linguists caught their first whiff of gender neutral language in the mid-1960s. In 1994, linguist Hans Karlgren proposed using hen as a personal pronoun to replace the awkward “he or she” that clutters formal writing. But Karlgren’s strictly practical view of having a word that “enables us to speak of a person without specifying their gender” has been taken up by a political movement.

Douchebag Decree: That Racist Swedish Cake and Everyone Who Had a Piece in It.

by Julie Falk
April 19, 2012 at 2:06pm
Like many, I find these images racist, repulsive, and anti-woman. But, because this cake was consumed at museum and not, (believe it or not) at a pathetic frat party, and this cake was conceived as performance art, we will discuss further. Read more »

Iconography: The Rather Extraordinary Astrid Lindgren and Pippi Longstocking

by Chally Kacelnik
December 20, 2010 at 10:37am
If any icons loom large, they're those of our formative years. Let's open up some children's books, shall we? With sales numbering at about 145 million copies and, according to UNESCO, as the world's twenty-... Read more »

B-Sides: Abjeez

by Sara Reihani
April 27, 2010 at 7:21pm
If you, like me, think M.I.A. jumped the world pop shark with the "Born Free" video, try Abjeez, an Iranian pop/ska group based in Sweden fronted by sisters Melody and Safoura Safavi. Their music is political, personal, satirical, funny,... Read more »

Bitchtapes! A New Kind of Love.

by Shaamini Yogaretnam
February 12, 2010 at 7:55pm
Bitchtapes! A New Kind of Love. Tired of listening to Taylor Swift sing about all those love pains she’s endured? Yeah, me too. In (dis)honor of Valentine’s Day, here are some of my favorite tunes to smile to that present a love that is sometimes problematic, often tiring but never... Read more »

On the Map-In Your Facial: Queer Feminist Pornographers

by Mandy Van Deven
September 16, 2009 at 3:23am
Recently in Sweden, adult film director Mia Engberg received 500,000 kronor ($69,000USD) in public funding from the Swedish Film Institute to create a collection of... Read more »

Sex-Based Abortion Legislation: WTF?

by Kelsey Wallace
May 15, 2009 at 1:07pm
Faithful blog readers, I need your help understanding something. My “gender” Google news feed has been blowing up lately with... Read more »

Gratulerar, Sverige!

by Kelsey Wallace
April 1, 2009 at 4:22pm
When I was growing up, my friend's mom had a sticker on the back of her minivan that said "Happiness is Being Swedish." If The Knife, Ikea, and... Read more »

The OTHER Teen Vampire Romance Movie

by Annalee Schafranek
February 14, 2009 at 1:25pm
Several months ago, I remember hearing a movie reviewer say, "If you seen one teen vampire romance film this year, let it be Let The Right One In." I figured that since the Bitch site has been ... Read more »