Two debate articles published in DN discuss feminism from two very different angles. The first one, "Kære svenskere" (Dear Swedes) written by Danish extreme liberal and anthropologist Dennis Nørmark, who argues that Swedish feminism has gone too far and that Sweden is the feministic equivalent of muslim Saudi Arabia. This article was published yesterday and today Swedish feminist Nina Björk responded with the article "Vi tolererar inte dansk sexism" (We do not tolerate Danish sexism) asserting her view on the issue. The two articles were a collaboration between the Swedish newspaper DN and its Danish equivalent Politiken and the two authors had been invited to write them. The articles have attracted a lot of attention and initiated a heated debate. Almost racist remarks are common and the cultural divide between Sweden and Denmark is accentuated.

I think this is very, very sad and I decided to write the following:
"Quite naturally there are cultural differences between Denmark and Sweden, but the fact that DN and Politiken invite two writers who are positioned extremely far apart with regard to feminism (seemingly for the sake of debate itself) accentuates the wide gap between their political views more than their cultural origin. This gap would, most likely, also be visible between Nina Björk (and those who sympathise with her) and Swedes who sympathise with Dennis Nørmark's opinions, subsequently making it a completely Swedish issue. In general this discussion has very little to do with Sweden and Denmark as countries.

To make my own viewpoint clear: Dennis Nørmark's ideas are very far from my own, but I also think that Nina Björk is not entirely correct in everything (although I sympathise with her arguments to a far greater extent).

Ultimately, it all began with a heavily criticised Danish TV show in which two men were supposed to prove that they could discuss various topics while a naked woman was present in the studio, thus refuting any argument that men would be unable to do so. Personally I think it's a stupid idea, but I can easily avoid watching it (as many Danes have done as the number of viewers have dropped significantly over the weeks). The show was debated in Denmark, and the reactions were even stronger in Sweden (although the show wasn't aired there) when feminists heard about the concept.

In the article, Nørmark seems to take the TV show, and the Swedish reactions to it, as an excuse to trash Swedish feminism and Swedish debate, which might seem natural when considering his political affiliation. Nevertheless, I wouldn't view his article as any more than one man's annoyance with regard to feminism. A chauvinistic attitude can be found among individuals in Denmark and Sweden alike, but I have also met many men, in Sweden as well as in Denmark, who are highly sensitive to gender-based injustice and are willing to work for increased equality. In my opinion, the fault line on this issue doesn't necessarily run between women and men — or between Denmark and Sweden.

The public debate in each country rests on different foundations to some extent (since it evolves in different ways in different cultures), but in this case it seems as if DN and Politiken try to accentuate the differences (not the similarities) between Sweden and Denmark by setting up the two extremes against each other — as if to see what happens — and encourage the readers' anger and resentment towards that which seems alien. Media has a tendency to highlight that which they know will initiate a debate, and the debate itself is usually not a bad thing, but to make it seem as if every citizen of an entire country is in agreement with someone (or a few) who in fact is/are fairly extreme in a political sense, is not correct either. A parallel would be that a foreigner might believe that all Swedes have become racist just because Sverigedemokraterna (the 'Swedish democrats' — an extreme right-wing racist party) are visible in the public debate. Let the responsibility lie on those who express these idiotic views."