Feminists in Sweden are taking on the alphabet, specifically, the phonetic alphabet used in the military to spell out letters over the radio. Activists are calling to make the system more female inclusive and diverse.

Unlike the NATO phonetic alphabet which uses English words like ‘Alpha’ for ‘A’ and ‘Bravo’ for ‘B’, the Swedish phonetic alphabet has its own time-tested style. It’s made up of male first names that are intrinsically Swedish, such as ‘Johan’ for ‘J’ and ‘Ludvig’ for ‘L’.

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In an op-ed for Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter, women’s organization Fredrika Bremer Association and non-profit NGO Rättviseförmedlingen - which translates to ‘the Equalizers’ in English - called out the current alphabet for not being “equal” or “diverse”.

“It’s particularly strange for those of us with names that aren’t traditionally Swedish, who always have to spell out our names in different situations,” the piece argues.

“The fact that we only have access to male, Swedish names becomes a kind of symbolic elimination—we don’t even have access to a language that includes us.”

The authors of the op-ed claim that their new list of names is designed to include women and the cultural shifts experienced by Sweden since the original alphabet was introduced in 1891. They think names such as ‘Pippi’ and ‘Xena’ and even ‘Khaled’ work just as well as the old, testosterone-charged choices over a distorted or failing radio connection.

On social media, the suggestion has been called a “farce” and a “mess to implement.” Others mused that there is “no limit to raw stupidity.”

PS - P will be "Pippi":-)The new official Swedish phonetic alphabet is to be used by all the millitary.I think our government have too little to do!25 years ago I thought the EU bans on straights bananas and yellow peas were silly, but there is no limit to raw stupidity. pic.twitter.com/kCOTOekt2k — Harry Lythall (@SM0VPO) September 27, 2018

Imagine replacing the Nato phonetic alphabet with new names from demographically new groups in Swedish society 😂What a mess to implement. — SchnableApe🐸 (@Snabelapa) September 28, 2018

To be clear we recently had news coming out from an org called "Rättviseförmedlingen" that they want to change the Swedish phonetic alphabet to a new standard that would "reflect" better and represent how Sweden looks demographically in this day and age.It's a farce... — SchnableApe🐸 (@Snabelapa) September 28, 2018

Author and politician Ann Heberlein slammed the idea, claiming that “the war on Swedish men continues”, adding that such a change will only cost “both money and time”. Heberlein suggested that if change is needed, Sweden should instead use the NATO alphabet to bring them into line with the rest of the world.

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