The Stepford Sylvanians...

Sylvanian Families, the bemusingly twee brand of plastic animal tribes which live in tree houses, is enjoying a surge of popularity. Amongst its new creations is the new Pig Family.

It would be hard to imagine a more obvious reinforcement of gender stereotypes; I quote:

'Richard E. Grunt is a builder and a very good one. He builds lots of houses of all shapes, sizes and materials in the woods of Sylvania as well as garden walls, shops and schools. No job is too big or small for Richard E.

Constance Grunt like her name suggests is constantly preparing food for her large, hungry family. Pastries for breakfast, biscuits and tarts for snacks, at least five vegetables for main meals as well as puddings, it never ends!

Hugh Grunt is a 'chip off the old block' and hopes to become a builder like his dad. He has built his own den and treehouse in the garden as well as drawing up plans for a shed to store his tools; just like his father's shed!

May Grunt is a slave to fashion. She spends her time scanning magazines and shops for the latest designer outfits along with all the must have accessories. Once she has chosen her new look she then works out how to alter her clothes to create her new outfit.

I mean, please! Although the pig father's name is tantalisingly similar to Richard E. Grant, accident or design?

More descriptions of servile Sylvanians to follow...

UK slips down world equality league for third year in a row - Business News, Business - The Independent

UK slips down world equality league for third year in a row -
Business News, Business - The Independent

When men breastfeed

I just saw this on the Swedish Local news in English site.

Now that would be something, if fathers could breastfeed! I'll be following the results of his experiment and will keep you posted

the fun gap and orgasms

As always, Penelope Trunk is entertaining. Here is her latest take on the final gender frontier: the fun gap. She posits that 'What actually prepares you for life is athletics, aiming high, breaking rules, playing video games', oh, and orgasms. Not sure about her claim that there are no salary differences though...

while boys explore the world around them, girls will 'always be the little angel dressing her dolls': oh please!

The latest example, from US toy retailer educational toys planet, is frankly terrifying.

You click on 'Boys' Toys', and get the following:

Are there any special toys for boys? All boys from 1 to 99, either they enjoy assembling simple machines or complex constructions, putting together electric chains or simple mechanism, creating endless mosaic designs or new breed of dough animals, digging dinosaur fossils or pirate treasure, pretending being spies or garbage truck drivers, have one thing in common – they love to explore the wonderful world around them. Toys for Boys section brings a diversity of children toys, games, puzzle and learning products for different ages. Not only boys will enjoy the popular items from Toys for Boys, but their friends, sisters, and the whole family playing together. And what if you click on 'Girls' Toys?': It doesn’t matter if she is a newborn, an infant, a schoolgirl, a student, or even if she already has the children of her own, she will always remain mom and dad’s little girl. She’ll always be the little angel dressing her dolls, singing her songs and playing her girl games; so loveable and adorable... Please feel free to look at our toys for girls section to find exactly what your little girl wants to stay happy and joyful. Toys for Girls department brings fun educational toys and games for the whole family! This is for real, from a mainstream retailer. Can you believe it? So the uniting feature for boys is that they 'love to explore the wonderful world around them', whereas the girls are all about the relationship with the parents, and keep to indoors activities like 'dressing her dolls,' which ensure she'll be 'happy and joyful'. I'll look for some UK/European examples of this enraging trend. and some more inspiring examples, if possible...

Pervasive pinkification

Thoughtful piece by the Antonia Senior in the Times on the pervasive pinkification of girls, linked to the OECD's stats on the UK's disproportionate occupational gender gaps.

I write this under a well-meaning avalanche of baby girl gifts, nearly all of them pink. Taking my 2 month old daughter to a book launch dressed in a unisex velour brown babygro, it was assumed she was a boy. I've solved this for now by having a whole box of pink baby clothes that I prefer not to use, especially that sicky pastel shade. But how to defend her against the dragons of dumbed-down Disney princessdom?

When the neighbours can hear you scream: homebirth in the Netherlands

So now I'm a convert to home birth.

This is something I would never have even considered doing, if I hadn't lived in the Netherlands where homebirths are the norm, still accounting for around 35% of all births. Recently the BMJ published research concluding that home birth is perfectly safe for low-risk women, and I was swiftly sorted into this category by the brisk, highly trained Dutch midwives in charge of my care. 

My son was born in Belgium where they do things very differently, more according to the French model of dashing, omnipotent male obstetricians summoned at the last minute, giving birth lying on one's back and garbed up, an epidural catheter discreetly snaking its way into your spine so that you won't trouble them with any moans and groans, a varied hospital menu to choose from for afterwards.

Not so the Dutch. They are stoic and resistant to pain and there is an interesting dichotomy on what childbirth says about you as a woman here. On the one hand, birth is presented as an opportunity for empowerment, 'No-one tells women what to do here, you give birth how you want' said the midwife. This is backed up by the slightly scary and very anti-epidural Beatrice Smulders and by the persisting normality of homebirth (midwife turns up at 7 cm dilated in jeans with a birthing stool and cheers you on).  On the other hand the same advocates make sure to pile on the natural childbirth propaganda: if you have an epidural it affects bonding with the baby, you are letting yourself in for increased interventions, the pain is good and natural etc etc. So it's your body, your choice... as long as you don't want real pain relief. 

On the other side of the bench, there is growing pressure from women themselves which has forced health policy towards offering the epidural to all women in labour (previously it was only on the say-so of the attending doctor, or only given during office hours, since it was not considered to be really 'necessary'. 

Armed with this knowledge I had a home water birth, complete with lovely Canadia doula, and it was all very idyllic, in an agonising yet mercifully brief kind of way. I came out of it wishing to put flowers on the grave of whoever invented the epidural as I now understood quite how painful natural childbirth is, but also, genuinely feeling extremely happy and empowered, compared to the brain-donor feeling of giving birth in hospital. Home birth, and especially water birth, should be much more encouraged for low-risk women, that's my conclusion. However, I'm still not sure which way is more empowered. Time to 'push' for change?