Nationality and self image

Culture and Sexuality in Modern Swedish Society

Nationality and self image

Every country in the world has a stereotype that, true or not, reflects their identity and culture in the eyes of the world. The British with pubs, the Germans with beer, the French with cigarettes, and the Swedes with…sex.

This stereotype may have arisen because Sweden has the highest level of gender equality and sexual liberty in the world. In terms of gender equality, there is no other country in the world that has higher proportion of women in the labor force than in Sweden. Men and women are treated fairly in this country, there is absolutely no discrimination between their roles, because both their rights and responsibilities in society are the same. In terms of sexual liberty, the Swedes are very open when they discuss sexual issues in public, they express their opinion very straightfowardly. Sex education and self protection are mandatory in schools and colleges. And Sweden is also one of the first countries in the world to recognize homosexuality and same-sex marriages. As a consequence, gender equality and sexual liberty are both very typical in Sweden and make the country unique in this regard.

Firstly, I will assess gender equity in Sweden. I have to admit that I have never seen so many women doing stereotypically male jobs (and vice versa) anywhere in the world like in Sweden. When I first came here, I was a bit surprised to see a lot of female bus drivers and men holding babies in their arms on the streets because this image does not exist in my country (or many other countries I have been to). At the time, I wondered if this image was typical in Sweden, and now I can say that it is.

According to the Swedish government, when men and women share power and influence equally, it leads to a more democratic society. Therefore, they believe that it is only fair for men and women to enjoy the same opportunities, rights and regulations in all aspects of community life. “Gender equality also contributes to economic growth by promoting people's skills and creativity”, said the Government Offices of Sweden (GOS).

However, it was not until Sweden became a Social Democracy that gender in this country became more balanced. Back in the 1930s, the roles of women in society were mentioned by Fredrika Bremer - the first Swedish woman to challenge the religious framework of Swedish society publicly by arguing for women’s liberation. At that time, the ideology of Swedish society was dominated by the Lutheran Church, in which women were not allowed to appear in persona publica (Hammar, 2000). In contrast, Bremer claimed that women should have a voice in society. She complained “There are many number of books written to shape woman into good wife and mother, but hardly any to shape her into a good human being and citizen in all walks of life, and independent of marriage” (Bremer, 1902 ). Because of this, she received a lot of criticism and many objections from the Lutheran church. But all her books afterwards became very popular all over the world, making her “the first and noblest spokeswoman and liberator of Swedish women” (Hammar, 2000).

And today, what Bremer worked for has come true in modern Swedish society. Swedish women can stay at home taking care of the house and children, but they are also more prone to work and attend higher education. Recent studies show that gender distribution among students in postgraduate studies and doctoral degrees is more than equal today; 60% of students going to under-graduate universities are female, and two-thirds of all degrees are awarded to women. Apparently, there are even more women than men participating in adult education in Sweden (GOS).

In the political and economic sectors, 43% of parliamentarians and 50% of cabinet ministers in Sweden are women, and the proportion of female professional and technical workers is the highest worldwide (The Economist). Moreover, in professional life, the numer of women in top positions is increasing considerably, especially in private firms and companies. It shows that women are becoming more powerful and important nowadays in the Swedish society.

Similarly, in family life, today not only Swedish women but men also have parental leave from work whenever a child is born or adopted. So the responsibilities of men and women in the family are entirely equal. They both have to share household duties and child care.

Apart from gender equality, sexual liberty is also a stereotype of Sweden. The Swedes have a very liberal and permissive attitude towards sexual relations and, as mentioned above, they readily talk about sex in the public sphere. Today sex education is compulsory in school programs; homosexual relationships have also been officially recognized in Sweden, and people have the right to change their gender in this country.

However, like gender equality, the issues of sexual liberty have also evolved over decades. During the 1960s, sexuality was one of the most discussed topics in public debates. At that time, young liberals, social democrats, journalists, authors and filmmakers were already involved in sexliberal campaigns. They called it a “sexliberal movement” and the goal was to increase individual freedom, and to establish a new standard where sexual pleasure had its own value. (Lennerhed, 2004)

Earlier, in the 1950s, the Swedish film industry had already produced pornographic films for cinema audiences. The German even used the phrase "Schwedenfilm" as a way to imply a pornographic movie (NY Times). One of the most striking films in this era is Hon dansade en sommar (1951) made by Swedish director Arne Mattsson, which had storylines about love and the relationships between men and women and how they were prejudiced by society at that time. The film was reviewed as one of the earliest films to include nude scenes in mainstream European cinema (IMDb). Two years later, the film Sommaren med Monika (1953), directed by Ingmar Bergman, also successfully explored the roles of love, women, sexuality and nature in the film industry. Both of these films depicted love, relationships and sexuality between men and women within the context of nature. And until now, naturalism is still very visible in Swedish culture, not only on screen but also in daily life.

Sex education in Sweden was introduced for the first time in the 1940s, but didn’t become mandatory until 1955. In the beginning, sexuality education was mostly technical and biological in nature, but since the 1970s, it has changed its emphasis more to sexuality, love, relationships and living together, concepts which are considered “softer and more human” (IES). Today, sex education is divided into four levels, according to age. Pupils from 7 to 10 are provided with information about menstruation, self-pleasuring, contraceptives, pregnancy and childbirth. From 10 to 13, the lessons include the physical development of puberty, sexual intercourse, and homosexuality. Ages from 13 to 16 are educated about sex roles, premarital relations, marriage and family, abortion, prostitution, pornography, HIV/AIDS and safe sex. And at the college level, topics include sexual desire, falling in love, sexual prolems and, ethical and religious viewpoints on contraception and abortion, subjects which go further into social contexts.

As an outsider and a person who has never experienced sex education before, Swedish sexuality education programs really blow my mind. I have been provided with perfectly informative lessons and enabled to express my opinion about sex in all aspects of life. What intrigues me the most is that the professors are so open to giving lectures about sexuality even to students who come from very different backgrounds (to some of us, sex is a sensitive topic). Some movies have been screened in the class and nudity is not even censored, so it is easier for us to imagine how sexual intercourse and sexual desire between men and women should be. For example, Jag är nyfiken, a Swedish film made in 1967, features several raw sexual-intercourse scenes throughout the movie. The film was even banned in the United States, but it succeeded in candidly exploring the sexual and political awakening of people, particularly a young Swedish woman.

The recognition of homosexuality and transexuality is also contributes to sex liberalism and gender equality in Sweden. As mentioned previously, Sweden was one of the first countries in the world to ban prejudice against homosexuals and to give same-sex couples legal ‘partnership’ rights, and was the first country in the world to allow transexuals to legally change their sex, although they still have to obey certain government regulations.

In 1998, the Swedish film Fucking Åmål was first screened in public and in the next few years, it won 19 awards for the best film about homosexual relationships. The story is simply about the relationship of two teenage girls who fall in love with each other. They are embarrassed by their friends at school but finally they are brave enough to show their love towards each other in public. The topic is certainly not a new one nowadays, but at that time homosexuality was still something controversial. And Sweden was really a pioneer in accepting this phenomena in the the society.

Another stereotypical foreign view of Sweden is that “The Swedes are blond and sexy”. That is the answer of a majority of people when asked about Sweden. Why is that? What makes the Swedes look sexier than other people around the world? After considering all of the analysis above and what I have observed in real life, I can conclude that it is partially true. During summer time, it is common to see the Swedes lying on the grass tanning their half-naked bodies. In the sauna, they do not hesitate to take off all their clothes, even in front of strangers, because they are very open about sex and do not get embarrassed by nudity. There is a video on the internet with the title “Inga from Sweden” which features a Swedish blond girl in a sexy dress, singing and dancing in a seductive way. Behind her are some images of Swedish nature. The video is like a myth about Sweden where you can find many “blond sexy girls” and party with them. And nature is a familiar image of Sweden.

All in all, whether or not Sweden is a country of “beautiful models”, it still has a very unique self image that no other country has. What the Swedish government has done to this country is undeniable. The stereotypes of gender equality and sexual liberty are factors that make Sweden different from any other country in the world. Some say that Sweden has reached the peak of Socialism, it is common sense that its citizens should be equal, no matter what gender they are. Whether you are a man or a woman, gay or a lesbian, you are treated the same in this society. And sex education should become a norm in every educational system. Some people critize the idea of educating children about sex in schools, saying it has a negative influence on young people in their way of thinking and personalities, but research clearly shows that there is a decreasing rate of both abortions and teen-age pregnancies in Sweden, which is still a pending goal to be achieved in most developed countries. Nevertheless, according to Katarina Lindahl, the executive director of the Swedish Association for Sex Education (RFSU), “it is not about taking your clothes off in front of cameras, or blonde women in beer commercials. It is something else: It is a question of openness among people, of what we are willing to discuss among ourselves and our children about sex." (NY Times)

Date: 2016-04-22; view: 908