Shape Your Own Ideology: Valuable Career Advice From Icelandic Women Innovators

It is important that Iceland maintains this approach in its effort to continue to lead as the most gender-neutral society. Going into the future, countries should implement comprehensive reforms to erase all forms of discrimination against men and women in the quest for gender equality. The next year, Iceland’s parliament passed a law guaranteeing equal rights to women and men. Although this 1976 law did little to change the disparity in wages and employment for women, it was a large political step towards true equality. The strikers had clearly achieved their goal and demonstrated the undeniable importance of women and their work in Iceland. The strike also paved the way for the election of Iceland’s, and the world’s, first democratically elected female president five years later.

The ideal body type among US women is shifting away from “thin,” with increasing numbers striving for a “toned” physique, according to 2018 research by the University of Missouri-Kansas City. This can also be seen in the “strong not skinny” movement which has been championed on social media in recent years and has been tagged 9.5 million times on Instagram. Davidsdottir told Insider she found fitness culture for women to be very different in both countries. Today, on International Women’s Day, we would like to take the opportunity to introduce you to five empowering women in Iceland.

• As well, some women could have been fired for going on strike but could not be denied a day off.
• After the law was brought in, more than 90% of fathers used their paternal leave.
• Women were also more successful in running for political office, with the proportion of women in parliament rising to a record 43%.
• Collections consist of Participedia entries that share common traits, such as association with a large-scale initiative, institution, or specific topic.

Both farming and trading were family businesses, and women were often left in charge when their husbands were away or dead. There is also evidence that women could make a living in commerce in the Viking Age. Merchants’ scales and weights found in female graves in Scandinavia suggest an association between women and trade.

The law draws out a roadmap to achieving gender equality, even including language on changing negative gender stereotypes. Within the law are 35 articles outlining specific policies on everything from https://bteh.net/apple-watch-series-8/ outlawing gender discrimination in schoolbooks and the workplace to check here https://countrywaybridalboutique.com/scandinavian-women-features/icelandic-women-features/ buying goods and services. The Act on Equal Status and Equal Rights of Women and Men is the reason gender equality is a hallmark of Icelandic culture. The law, established in 2000, was revamped in 2008 with the overarching goal of reaching equal rights through all paradigms of society. This law includes information on gender equality for government and businesses to follow. Women were not to attend work if they had paid jobs, nor do any of the housework or child-care they normally did. The women’s organizations spread word of the “day off” quickly through the small country of 220,000 people.

What is the current mood like in Iceland?

On October 24, 1975, 90% of Icelandic Women went on strike for one day to remind the country of their importance. Research suggests women in the U.S. may be reluctant to lift weights for a variety of reasons, including its association with men. In the U.S., only 23.2% of adults do the recommended amount of aerobic and strength training exercise, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is safe to say that one of the main reasons this policy was enacted was that women were well represented in Iceland’s parliament. Today we celebrate women worldwide and the tremendous—and hard-fought—impacts they have made in society, business, science, sports, arts, and politics. You know, the women’s shelter in Reykjavik was full and has been during the COVID pandemic.

FIFA Women’s World Cup

And, you know, this is also an ongoing issue that we need to be tackling and need to be dealing with. But hopefully, we’re moving forward with that a little bit more. So it’ll be really interesting to follow what happens in that case. Iceland’s first women’s organization was founded in the countryside in 1869. It’s focus was to foster more unity and cooperation among women in the region. They also collected money to buy a knitting machine that all members could use. You might have heard of some of the women I’m featuring but there are others that you have probably never learned about.

In January 2021, Iceland extended the parental leave system to 12 months from 10 months. Parents can divide the leave period equally between themselves. Each parent has an entitlement to six months each and 80% of their income if they work full-time. The parental leave legislation makes provisions for a temporary leave of up to 16 weeks up until the child turns 8 years old but without pay. The Icelandic Act on Maternity/Paternity and Parental Leave aims to ensure a child’s access to both parents and enable parents to integrate work and family life. Iceland granted Icelandic women rights to three months of parental leave in 1980.

On 24, October 1975, Icelandic women went onstrikefor the day to “demonstrate the indispensable work of women forIceland’s economy and society” and to “protest wage discrepancy and unfair employment practices”. It was then publicized domestically as Women’s Day Off (Kvennafrídagurinn). Participants, led by women’s organizations, did not go to their paid jobs and did not do any housework or child-rearing for the whole day. Ninety percent of Iceland’s female population participated in the strike.

She became founding chairperson of the women’s organisation Kvenfélagasambands Íslands in 1930. Next is the random fact of the episode and I will end off with the Icelandic word of the day. I found a lot of information on the Women’s history Archives website. The Archives was founded in January of 1975 by Anna Sigurðardóttir, Else Mia Einarsdóttir and Svanlaug Baldursdóttir. Since 1996 it has been a special entity within the National Library of Iceland. There is so much information there and I will have links to the website in the show notes if you want to check it out. Her report from Reykjavik, On Assignment, airs at 10.40pm on Tuesday on ITV.

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TheUnited Nationsannounced that 1975 was going to beInternational Women’s Year. A representative from a women’s group called theRedstockingsput forward the idea of a strike as one of the events in honor of it. The committee decided to call the strike a “day off” since they thought that this term was more pleasant and would be more effective in engaging the masses. As well, some women could have been fired for going on strike but could not be denied a day off. Women’s organizations spread the word about the Day Off throughout the country. The Day Off event organizers got radio stations, television, and newspapers to run stories about gender-based discrimination and lower wages for women. It appears that this process did contribute to policy changes.

An outpouring of women on to the streets was, by then, a well-trodden form of activism. In 1970, tens of thousands of women had protested on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. In the UK, that same year, 20,000 women marched in Leeds against discriminatory wages. But what made Iceland’s day of protest on 24 October 1975 so effective was the number of women who participated. Teachers, nurses, office workers, housewives put down tools and didn’t go to work, provide childcare or even cook in their kitchens. Iceland is arguably one of the world’s most gender-equal countries. It is listed as number one in the 2016 best places to work by The Economist’s women index.