The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are associated with a group that wants childhood to be seen as ‘fluid’ and aims to destroy the ‘boys will be boys’ phrase.
Prince Harry and Meghan Archewell’s organization and the Archetypes podcast now have a partnership with the Global Boyhood Initiative, a group that “advances gender equity by fostering positive masculinity in boys and men.”
A report written by the group, called ‘The State of UK Children’, suggested that families can be gender ‘factories’ by ‘acting out gender roles and identities’ and that parents can ‘genderise’ their children. even before they are born.
It says: ‘Parents can begin to assign the gender of their children even before birth based on the identification of external genitalia in scans, including through elaborate ‘gender reveal’ parties and a stream of purchases based on of the genre.
“While the family is a nurturing and supportive place for many children, it can also be where gender and sexuality are regulated and controlled.”
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex back a UK campaign group criticizing parents for gender-differentiating their children before they are born.
Global Boyhood Initiative is a group that ‘promotes gender equity by fostering positive masculinity in boys and men’
The group also says it aims to challenge the phrase ‘boys will be boys’, as it could be dangerous by imposing and accepting aggressive behavior on children.
Archewell, the organization founded by the Sussexes, said: “Tagging someone puts them in a box and then spills over to influence norms in communities, workplaces and society, including the equal treatment of genders.”
“To address this issue, Archewell partnered with The Global Boyhood Initiative on a guide to promoting gender equity by fostering positive masculinity in boys and men.”
Last year the group published a curriculum currently being tested in London schools that suggests ways primary school children should challenge “gender norms”.
The report also pointed out that schools are the scene of the “process of (re)production of gender identities, cultures of masculinity and heteronormativity, and the maintenance of gender violence.”
The group reportedly hopes its curriculum will be used in relationships and sex education classes in schools across the country.
Children between the ages of seven and 11 will be taught about “gender norms” and how they define elements of their daily lives.
They will be encouraged to ‘explore equitable, inclusive and non-violent attitudes and behaviors in a safe and comfortable space’ and ‘internalize these new gender attitudes and norms by applying them in their relationships and lives’.
It comes as Maggie Blyth, the National Council of Police Chiefs’ leader on violence against women and girls, said last week that primary schools should teach children about the limits of acceptable behavior as part of an approach to ” society as a whole” to address misogyny.
Ms Blyth, who was appointed in 2021 to address what Her Majesty’s Police Inspectorate called the “epidemic” of female violence, also said boys should learn at school about the danger of toxic masculinity and people. toxic influencers like Andrew Tate.
His comments come as women’s trust in the police has been severely damaged by a series of scandals, including the case of Wayne Couzens, who kidnapped, raped and murdered Sarah Everard in March 2021.
In January, David Carrick, who joined the Met in 2001 before becoming an armed officer with Parliamentary and Diplomatic Protection Command in 2009, was sentenced to life in prison and ordered to serve a minimum of 30 years behind bars after admitting 49 counts, including 24 counts of rape.
He said that despite measures being put in place to address misogyny and violence against women within the country’s police forces, the problem is “much bigger than policing” and needs a whole-of-society approach because forces alone cannot end misogyny and violence.
She added: ‘The biggest debate for society is around prevention. And how do we prevent men and boys from developing a (harmful) type of behavior or attitude?’
However, some experts have questioned the need for outside groups to teach children relationship and sex education classes in schools.
Tanya Carter, from Safe Schools Alliance UK, said: ‘We don’t understand why a school would need to engage an external agency to challenge gender stereotypes in a primary school.
“This is done simply by ensuring that all children have access to resources and that no activity is considered ‘for boys’ or ‘for girls,'” he said according to The Telegraph.
