Parents in the northern Swedish city of Umeå have banded together to set up a feminist pre-school for their young children, The Local reports.

Caroline Ahlénius is one of those behind the initiative to expand the remit of privately run pre-schools.

“We feel there is a need for a gender perspective whereby children are not limited as a result of their sex. In other places maybe boys don’t learn to express themselves and maybe apply violence rather than more productive solutions,” she told local newspaper Västerbottens Folkblad.

While the details have not yet been ironed out, the newspaper reports that the new pre-school may be equipped with gender-neutral toys and children’s books written from a gender perspective.

Caroline Ahlénius is concerned that a regular pre-school education might cause her daughter to suppress her personality.

“I think children should have equal opportunities to meet their full potential,” she said.

While you’d hope that all pre-schools would provide a gender-neutral education, this must be good news for this city, anyway.

Photo by scribeoflight, shared under a Creative Commons license

Posted by Jess McCabe on 28 February 2007, at 5:06 PM