In the swedish language, as in most languages, we have different ways of titulating a person. We have JAG (I), DU (you), HON (she) and finally HAN (he).
Sometimes we find ourselves in a puzzling situation when talking about a someone with a undefined gender. We can't call a human being DEN (it), can we? We can say PERSONEN (the person), HON ELLER HAN (she or he) but as soon as we know the sex we have the obligation to use the word that clarifies exactly what kind of a human being we are talking about.
The use of HAN and HON also defines the expected roles in our society. How many times have you talked about a unknown doctor as HAN, a unknown kindergarten supervisor as HON and a unknown partner as a ...?
Now, as the feminists, parents and pre-school teachers of Sweden has worked hard for the implementation of the word SNIPPA (a nice and rather neutral word for the vagina) in the swedish dictionary, maybe it's time to start fighting for the use of the word HEN instead of HON or HAN.
If we give ourselves a chance to talk about people without labeling right ahead we might also learn to judge people out of their abilities and personalities instead of their gender.
