Sweden

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.

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.

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-fifth most translated author, Astrid Lindgren is about as formative as it gets. Who among us doesn’t love Pippi Longstocking?

There's lots of great music being made by ladies in Sweden right now. If your knowledge of Swedish pop doesn't extend beyond ABBA, I think you're in for a nice surprise.

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, catchy and accompanied by great videos (included after the jump!).