Dec30

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 What happens when male statues become fathers for a day? A creative campaign in Sweden is challenging traditional norms about parenting roles.

Imagine a bronze statue of a stoic leader, now wearing a baby sling with a doll nestled inside.

In November, on International Men’s Day, male statues across Sweden were adorned with baby slings and carriers as part of a unique campaign to spotlight unequal parenting responsibilities.

Traditionally representing power, labor, or other masculine attributes, these statues were reimagined to symbolize fathers as caregivers. The campaign, organized by the think tank Arena Idé, is part of an initiative aimed at encouraging fathers to spend more time with their children and urging employers to play a larger role in enabling this.

Despite Sweden’s globally recognized parental leave policies, significant disparities remain. Swedish fathers take only 30.9% of parental leave days and 38% of sick leave to care for children.

A recent Novus survey, conducted in collaboration with Make Equal, further reveals that expectations around parental leave remain unequal in Swedish workplaces. Through this campaign, Arena Idé hopes to challenge these norms and has proposed an employer bonus for workplaces that encourage an equal division of parental leave.

The statues involved in the campaign were decorated with dolls in baby slings and carriers.This created a contrast between the statues’ traditional symbolism and the modern role of engaged fathers.

Vilgot Österlund, a statistician at Arena Idé, emphasizes the importance of changing workplace norms: “When discussing gender equality in workplaces, the focus is often on women and the negative consequences of inequality for them. But here, we see that men are also losing out on something invaluable – time with their children. Through the statue campaign, the new statistics, and our proposals, we hope to make this clearer!”

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‘it is a wise man who knows his child.’

-william shakespeare

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Source credits: Creative Street Art on Equal Parenting, Arena Ide

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54 responses »

  12. What a cool campaign! Thank you for sharing this, I hadn’t heard anything about it. Statues with babies is a startling visual and a great way to jar brains into shifting their perspective on fatherhood.

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    • I thought so as well, it really stands out. some of other sculptures are really stunning as well. I found it especially interesting that this happens even in a country that is financially supportive of this practice –

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  20. Wait…International Men’s Day? Men already have EVERYDAY. But this is a fantastic campaign and idea. I absolutely love it. I hope it brings about changes in a place where positive changes can actually exist. I wish them luck.

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    • yes, isn’t that interesting that it is a thing? the campaign is brilliant though and I found it especially interesting that it is still a challenge in a country where it is supported socially and financially-

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  24. We are friends with a couple who have adult children. Our friends were both engineers, and they decided after their kids were born (worked for the State of California) to trade off at-home responsibilities every other year. Fortunately, their employer allowed them this luxury. Now the parents are both retired, and the two young men are doing well.

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  26. Interesting initiative that I did not know about despite being from Sweden. In Sweden father’s get 240 days of paid parental leave and they have to take 90 (non transferable to woman). The woman also get 240 days of paid parental leave and they have to take 90 (non transferable to woman). However, when my wife and I went to Sweden after I had been in the US a few years we got none, because our son was not born in Sweden.

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