> I thought that Swedish kindergartens and schools make sure not to force gender roles on children
The problem is, even if they didn't do that what about parents who grew up thinking that and then project it on their kids? What about TV and other media consumption that shows stereotypical roles?
It's hard to account for and eliminate all types of gender roles because many are more subtle and / or "normal" to most people who grew up with it.
A quick anecdote: my daughter, who loves science and computers, was playing 'house' with her classmates in preschool when several children told her she had to play the role of mommy while they go out and work in this pretend scenario they created. This made my daughter think "I want to be a boy because girls can't have cool jobs". Those kids she was playing with weren't ever told this is how things had to be but they all had stay-at-home moms so they just assumed it was normal and how things are supposed to be. My wife is also a stay-at-home mom which likely helped reinforce it regardless of how much encouragement we both give our daughter.
So everything influences kids. It's hard to control for all of these variables.
Watching their moms also has a major influence. My wife works long hours as a lawyer. Our daughter role played the other day having a baby, handing it over to me (the au pair) and going to work.
"Delusions of Gender" has a cool anecdote along these lines.
Parents claim they've learned nature trumps nurture. They gave girl firetrucks, found her tucking the firetruck to bed. Parents conclude it's the nurturing feminity.
Psych asks "who tucks her to bed every night?". Oops.
The problem is, even if they didn't do that what about parents who grew up thinking that and then project it on their kids? What about TV and other media consumption that shows stereotypical roles?
It's hard to account for and eliminate all types of gender roles because many are more subtle and / or "normal" to most people who grew up with it.
A quick anecdote: my daughter, who loves science and computers, was playing 'house' with her classmates in preschool when several children told her she had to play the role of mommy while they go out and work in this pretend scenario they created. This made my daughter think "I want to be a boy because girls can't have cool jobs". Those kids she was playing with weren't ever told this is how things had to be but they all had stay-at-home moms so they just assumed it was normal and how things are supposed to be. My wife is also a stay-at-home mom which likely helped reinforce it regardless of how much encouragement we both give our daughter.
So everything influences kids. It's hard to control for all of these variables.