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At the Egalia preschool, staff avoid using words like "him" or "her" and address the 33 kids as "friends" rather than girls and boys.From the color and placement of toys to the choice of books, every detail has been carefully planned to make sure the children don't fall into gender stereotypes.At Egalia, boys and girls play together with a toy kitchen. Lego bricks and other building blocks are intentionally placed next to the kitchen, to make sure the children draw no mental barriers between activities like cooking (traditionally girls’ activities) and construction (traditionally boys’ activities).Nearly all the children's books at Egalia have homosexual couples, single parents or adopted children. There are no "Snow White," "Cinderella" or other classic fairy tales seen as promoting gender stereotypes.Some parents worry things have gone too far. They think an obsession with erasing gender roles could make the children confused and ill-prepared to face the world beyond kindergarten. Some even say that Egalia's methods are mind control, but the director of the preschool says that there's a long waiting list for admission to Egalia, and that so far only one couple has pulled a child out of the school.Jay Belsky, a child psychologist at the University of California-Davis, said he's not aware of any other school like Egalia, and he questioned whether it was the right way to go. "The kind of things that boys like to do – run around and turn sticks into swords – will soon be disapproved of," he said. "So gender neutrality at its worst is emasculating maleness."Egalia doesn't deny the biological differences between boys and girls – the dolls the children play with are anatomically correct. But the preschool tries to teach children that their biological differences "don't mean boys and girls have different interests and abilities," the director says. "This is about democracy. About human equality."
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