2007-05-22

Parenting is gay

I do believe this is the worst post on Finland for Thought since Finnpundit went on a hopefully permanent hiatus. In reaction to an article stating that Culture Minister Stefan Wallin (Swedish People's Party), whose portfolio also includes equality affairs, will launch a project "aimed at encouraging parental leave", guest blogger Kristian writes:

[T]he issue centers around gender identity.
Which is blatant nonsense. The linked article says, "The aim of Wallin's project is to promote awareness of parental benefits that already exist. This would mean that fathers would also be allowed to use them more." The question is to what extent men participate in raising their children, not what gender they consider themselves to be. At a stretch the issue has to do with gender roles, but that's very different from gender identity.

As for the accusation of social engineering, parenting decisions can't be made independently of the environment in which the parents live. Therefore, any set of laws on parental leave you wish to construct, or even the lack of such laws altogether, will influence parents' decisions.

Kristian brings up evolution to argue that encouraging fathers to take parental leave is unnatural. I guess cavemen weren't aware of what parental benefits they were entitled to, but I'm not sure what that says about the desirability of such policies in today's society.

The post takes a turn for the bizarre when Kristian somehow - I'm not quite sure how it happens - moves from addressing the issue of parental leave for fathers to offering his opinions on sexual minorities. Apparently he was surprised to find out that there are such things as sexual minorities in the world and that they're born that way. No, I don't know what that has to do with parental leave for fathers, either.

For my money, the low point of the article comes in this entirely logic-free snippet:
Although we might surmise that those who support government initiatives to correct such perceived inequities would like to see their own gender identity issues legitimized, I won’t speculate on any possible gender identity issues concerning our Swede [sic], Mr. Wallin.
The title of the post is, naturally, "Does Stefen [sic] Wallin have gender identity issues?" But Kristian won't speculate. Good grief.

PS: The post's URL contains the string "cross-dressers-nancy-boys-stefan-wallin", which may give an idea of its working title.

4 comments:

Aapo said...

Good that you gave extra visibility to this one, Ari. I've long considered making a Kristianity All-time Top10 and this goes straight to the top.

And the most flattering part of the story is, of course, that if you're to search information about the discussed minister, Kristian's Cross Dressers, Nancy Boys & Stefan Wallin brainchild ranks this high on Google's yank version. Way to go, Krisse!

Let's hear it from Family Guy: Not this time, nancy boy!

Ari said...

I've long considered making a Kristianity All-time Top10 and this goes straight to the top.

If you ever get around to it, be sure to include his deep thoughts on the "Asian gene" and its effects of alcohol use in Finland. I also vaguely recall some comments on how he relates to women in his workplace which would merit inclusion, if only I could locate them.

Anonymous said...

He called Stefan Wallin a "Swede" again just the other day.
It seems also that Kristian is Estonian. So he carries about such Suomalaisuuden liito sounding opinions is a bit hard to understand!

Ari said...

It seems also that Kristian is Estonian.

Has he said that? (Genuine question - I easily might have missed it.)