Simple Swedish Podcast - #276 - Den svenska synden (the Swedish sin)

Episode Date: April 7, 2025

Nivå: A2-B1 I det här avsnittet pratar vi om begreppet "den svenska synden" som blev en grej på 50- och 60-talen. På grund av några kontroversiella filmer började världen se Sverige som ett land där folk var moraliskt lössläppta och gick runt nakna i naturen. Så var det såklart inte i verkligheten! Hon dansade en sommar (YouTube) Sommaren med Monika (YouTube, rätt bra kvalité) Free 6 Week Challenge har öppnat! Är du redo att verkligen börja prata svenska? Vi ger dig 30 konversationslektioner i Language Gym och om du klarar att gå på alla inom 6 veckor är det helt gratis! Gå in här och läs mer, och registrera dig så fort som möjligt - platserna är begränsade!   Transkript   Ja, men välkommen ska du vara till Simple Swedish Podcast. Och ja, Jag har inte vant mig än vid att jag också spelar in den här som video. Så det här avsnittet kan du alltså både lyssna på och titta på på YouTube. Så jag har återaktiverat min YouTube-kanal, kan man säga. Och ja, jag har ganska mycket skägg för att min sån här trimmer, batteriet, har slutat fungera.   Så jag kan inte trimma skägget, så därför bara växer det. Så jag måste köpa en ny. Men det var inte mitt skägg som vi ska prata om idag. Utan idag ska vi prata om någonting som ni kanske inte känner till. Och som vissa svenskar inte heller kanske känner till. Men det är någonting ganska intressant i Sveriges moderna historia. Och det är om den svenska synden. En synd, vad är det? Jo, det är liksom någonting som man inte ska göra. Någonting som är moraliskt dåligt, oftast enligt en religion. Så vi har till exempel i Bibeln har vi de sju dödssynderna. Och det är till exempel att du skall icke dräpa. Vilket betyder att man inte ska döda andra människor. Och det finns den här.. eller det kanske är budorden faktiskt.   Tio budord, sju dödssynder. Jag vet inte vilka som är vilka. Min bibelkunskap är inte på topp. Men jag tror det är det här med girighet, lathet eller lättja som man egentligen säger. De här beteendena som man absolut inte ska göra. Det är de sju dödssynderna.   ....för resten av transkriptet klicka här!

Welcome to Simple Swedish Podcast! I have not yet got used to the fact that I also record this video So this episode you can both listen to and watch on YouTube So I have reactiv lot of beard because my trimmer battery has stopped working so I can't trim my beard so that's why it only grows so I have to buy a new one but that was not my beard that we are going to talk about today.

Today we are going to talk about something that you may not know and that some Swedes may not know either. But it is something quite interesting in Sweden's modern history and it is about the Swedish sin. Okay, a sin, what is it? It's something that you shouldn't do, something that is morally bad, often according to a religion. So we have, for example, in the Bible kill, which means that you should not kill other people. And there are these... or maybe that is the word of prayer actually.

Ten words of prayer, seven sins. I don't know which are which. My Bible knowledge is not at the top. But I think it is this with greed, laziness or lightness, as one actually says. These behaviors that one absolutely should not do, they are the seven sins of the seven dead. So we're talking about a sin. And if you have sinned, then you must go to the priest and confess your sins and receive God's forgiveness. So now you understand what a sin is. We also have this expression to

to feel sorry for someone but that has nothing to do with a sin. Now we're talking about sin and the Swedish sin. What is then the Swedish sin? Yes, we're going to talk about that very soon, but first I want to say that now this week the doors are open for our free six week challenge. Okay? Our free six week challenge. So, that means that you can register for this challenge now.

And who is this for, first and foremost? So if you understand this podcast pretty well but feel that you don't get enough or enough chance to speak Swedish so that's something that's difficult for many that you don't get enough opportunities to speak Swedish and if you want to build more self-confidence when you speak Swedish.

Also something that is a bit difficult, often to feel self-confident and comfortable when you speak. And if you need some extra motivation, an extra push that you should talk more. So if this sounds interesting, then this six weeks challenge is probably free six week challenge for you. Okay, so how does it work? It works like this You follow the link in the description and register And then you pay a deposit of 3.990 SEK That's about 360 SEK So you pay the deposit Pay it last Friday, so last Friday, the 11th of April.

Okay? And we start this challenge on go to 30 lessons in Language Gym. 30 conversation lessons. So these lessons, they build on the fact that you talk a lot. Almost the whole lesson you are in conversation with other people. And you go to 30 lessons before it has been 6 weeks. So if you manage to go to these 30 lessons within 6 weeks, then you get the entire deposition back. And that's why it's a free challenge. So it's absolutely the best offer we've ever had. And if that sounds interesting, register as soon as possible because the places are limited

Link in the description and I hope to see you in Language Gym So now we will continue with today's episode First I will thank 5 new Patrons Manuel, Conny, Sara, Maja and Sharon So, big thanks to you and my other Patrons for supporting this podcast Good, that was a long intro but now we start with the episode about the Swedish sin. So, what is this, first and foremost? It was an expression that stood up, that came in the 50s and 60s.

And it's about that there was a picture of Sweden as a country that was very sexually free. That sexuality was very free and that it was morally free, that there was not such a strong moral, maybe. Yes, it was the of some movies that came out during this time. And at that time everything was much more conservative and religious. And you started to see Sweden as some kind of radical, that it was more radical and more sexually free.

And that was maybe different factors. So, yes, partly maybe you had a more liberal view of sex and relationships and so on. and it was maybe a little more open in Sweden than in many other countries maybe especially with sexual education was actually the first country in the world that had compulsory sexual education in schools. And that started in 1955. So it was very, very early that you had this mandatory sexual education in school. There were other things that were more open about female sexuality. That it wasn't so much shame related to that.

But it was probably mostly these movies that made it an international thing. I don't know if people outside of Sweden knew that you had oblig mandatory sexual education and such things, but I think it was mostly these films. So, what films were they? Well, the first film that came out that created this concept, this expression, the Swedish sin. It was a film called Hon dansade en sommar. And it came out in 1951.

And it's a love story, and it had naked scenes. Scenes where the actors were naked. If you look at it now, it's nothing. It's not a big deal. But then it was taboo. It was very controversial to have naked in movies. And this movie actually won the award at Cannes, the film festival in Cannes. But it became a kind of scandal movie, internationally. But I think in Sweden I don't know if it was

that much scandal actually. And the second movie that also contributed a lot to this was the summer with Monica. And that was Ingmar Bergman who directed that film. Ingmar Bergman, one of Sweden's most famous people probably through history. A very, very important director. Absolutely the most famous director in Sweden, Ingmar Bergman. He directed this film, The an island, with a boat.

They are free and dear and so on. And there is some kind of sexual tension maybe. And the film shows how Monica takes off her clothes, but this is very innocent. Now it's of course nothing, okay, she's a bit naked, but then it was a big deal. And I think it seems that it wasn't a big deal in Sweden, this with the nakedness. You saw the film as artistic and socially critical But in the US, they made a different version of the film over, and cutting a film over means that you cut it in a different way. So that maybe the action becomes different or that it becomes different in some way. They cut the film and gave it the title Monica, the story of a bad girl. So it got a completely different tone. It contributed to this image of Sweden as a country where people are naked and have sex in nature and such things.

And yes, another film that also contributed a lot to that is a film called I'm curious yellow which came out in 1967 so a little later and this was maybe a little more explicit so it had maybe more naked, more sex and so than these other films so you had gone a little further in that film. And in the US, that film was actually banned.

So they banned that film in the US. At least in the beginning. So To the beginning, at least. In the beginning, for the sake of it. Then it has maybe become a bit more of a so-called cult movie. So... So these movies... Yes, they contributed a lot to that. But...

But now for the time being, I don't think that this image of Sweden exists anymore. And I don't think that Sweden is more sexually released than other countries. It feels like, for example, here in Spain, where I live, it feels a little more relaxed around these topics than in Sweden. I think that the times have changed a little. And then I also think that this picture was exaggerated. That it was a picture people had abroad. That it was like, in Sweden people walk around naked, have sex in nature and so on. But I think it was mostly just a picture that was... Maybe in reality Sweden was not that different from other European countries and so on. But it is an interesting part of Sweden's history, of Sweden's

cultural history. And also interesting that Sweden was the first country in the world with with obligatory sexual education in school. So that might also say a few things about Swedish culture. But yeah, nowadays I don't think it's much different from other countries. Yeah, but that was what I was going to say about this. I hope it was interesting. And don't forget to register for the free 6 week challenge. And I'll see you in Language Gym. Bye!