Danish way of life

Modern Denmark
In the second half of the 20th century Denmark gained a reputation for design, open-mindedness, free spirits and equal rights. With growing prosperity, consumer patterns changed, and with full employment women began to enter the labour market. The Danish welfare state was expanded with institutions influenced by the new mindset of the times, taking a different view of the individual.

.It was a time of experimentation with the Danes organizing themselves in new ways within families, at work, in political movements, in trade unions, and in institutions including schools, kindergartens, and prisons. And debates were focused on equal rights, free abortion, and fathers’ rights. It was a time full of conflict, but also a time which set the agenda for what Danish society has become today.

Take an extraordinary tour and get a unique sense of the Danish way of life from the 1950’ies till today while visiting KØN – Gender Museum Denmark, The Old Town, The Prison Museum and Struer Museum.

Equality for everyone
The ideal of gender equality, human rights, and democracy is not a given.

Why do I play with toy cars, and not dolls? What is normal? Am I comfortable with my body? What does equal rights mean? Do we have equal rights? What’s the significance whether I am born as a boy or a girl? Is it important?

At the KØN – Gender Museum Denmark you can experience the cultural history of gender up close and experience the relationship between the sexes both historically and in a current framework.
Discover new aspects of the gender debate, and learn about the different conditions of life that exist across gender, sexual orientation, androgynity, and ethnicity.

Experience the Danish way of life through current exhibitions at KØN – Gender Museum Denmark

GENDER BLENDER

Follow the timeline showing the development of the cultural history of gender and see how The Pill helped create more gender equality, and get a sense of the open-mindedness and sexual liberation that made Denmark the first to release the image pornography in 1969. You can also see the development into a more equal society in Danish legislation. From equal pay for equal labour, to fathers gaining the right to go on maternaty leave, to legislation against discrimination based on sexual orientation.

The old city hall

The building where the museum has resided since 1984 was originally built as the city hall in 1857, long before women achieved the right to vote. The old city council hall appears as it did after the remodelling in 1909, where Dagmar Pedersen was the first female member of the city council.

Danish way of life – a cultural path that suits you

A cultural path in collaboration with  VisitAarhus and Aarhus 2017