On October 24, tens of thousands of women in Iceland – including Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir – refused to work. It was a massive strike that echoed the one that occurred in 1975, when 90% of the women of that country paralyzed banks, factories, schools and stores to demonstrate for gender equality.
It was called “Women’s Day Off.” In this article, we tell you his story.
When Ronald Reagan became president of the United States, a young Icelandic man was very indignant.
“He can’t be president, he’s a man!” he exclaimed to his mother, upon hearing the news on television.
It was November 1980 and Vigdis Finnbogadottir, a divorced single mother, had won Iceland’s presidential election that summer.
The boy did not know it, but Vigdis was the first female president in Europe and the first in the world democratically elected head of state.
Many other Icelandic children surely grew up assuming that presiding over a country is a woman’s thing.
Vigdis held the position for 16 years – paving the way for Iceland to become known as “the most feminist country in the world.”
Women’s “day off”
But Vigdis insists that he would never have become president had it not been for the events that took place on a sunny October 24, 1975.
That day, 90% of the country’s women were on strike.
Instead of going to the office, doing housework or taking care of their children, they took to the streets of Iceland to demonstrate for gender equality.
It was an event that changed the perception of women in the country and helped place it at the forefront of the feminist struggle.
Vigdis assured that it was a decisive moment.
“What happened that day established the first step towards the emancipation of women in Iceland. It completely paralyzed the country and opened the eyes of many men,” she told the BBC in 2015.
A “long Friday” for parents
Banks, factories and shops had to close, as did schools and daycares, leaving many parents with no choice but to take their children to work.
It was a trial by fire for some of them, which explains why it is also known as “Long Friday.”
“We listened to the children playing while the announcers read the news on the radio. It was good to listen to them, because we knew that the men had to be in charge that day,” Vigdis recalled.
When radio hosts called homes in remote parts of the country, trying to find out how many women were taking the day off, those who answered the phone were, more often than not, the husbands who had stayed home. Taking care of the kids.
An unprecedented event
When BBC journalist Kirstie Brewer interviewed Vigdis in 2015, she was at home and on her lap she held a black and white photograph of the rally in the center of the city’s main square, the largest of the more than 20 that took place throughout the country.
Vigdis, her mother and her 3-year-old daughter were among the crowd of more than 25,000 women who gathered to sing, listen to harangues and discuss ideas.
It was a great event for an island of only 220,000 inhabitants.
At the time, she was the art director of the Reykjavík Theater Company and abandoned dress rehearsals to join the demonstration, like her female colleagues.
“There was a great feeling of solidarity and strength among all those women who were standing, in the square, under the sun,” Vigdis explained.
Women in Iceland gained the right to vote 108 years ago, in 1915 – behind only New Zealand and Finland.
However, in the 60 years that followed, only nine women held seats in Parliament.
In 1975 there were only three women MPs, 5% of Parliament.
Compared to the percentage in other Nordic countries – between 16% and 23% – Iceland’s figure caused great frustration.
The idea for the strike was a proposal by the Red Stockings, a radical women’s movement founded in 1970, which some Icelandic women considered too confrontational.
“The Red Stockings movement caused a stir because of its attacks on the traditional view of women, especially by previous generations, who always tried to be the perfect housewife,” Ragnheidur Kristjansdottir, professor, told the BBC. of History from the University of Iceland.
But when the strike was renamed “Women’s Day Off” it gained almost total support.
“The program reflected the emphasis placed on the unity of women from all political and social strata,” Ragnheidur said.
And the men?
But how did the men feel about it?
“I think they found it funny, I don’t remember any angry men,” Vigdis said.
“The men realized that if they opposed it or refused to let the women strike, they would lose their popularity.”
But there were one or two reported cases of men who did not behave as Vigdis describes.
The husband of one of the keynote speakers was reportedly asked by a co-worker: “Why do you let your wife howl like that in public places? I would never let my wife do that kind of thing.”
But the person questioned replied: “She is not the type of woman who would marry a man like you.”
Styrmir Gunnarsson was at the time the editor-in-chief of a conservative newspaper, Morgunbladid, but he had no objection to the idea.
“I don’t think I’ve ever supported a strike, but I didn’t see that action as a strike,” he told the BBC.
“It was a request for equal rights. It was a positive development.”
No women worked at the newspaper that day. And, according to Styrmir, none of them stopped getting paid or were forced to spend a day of her vacation.
They returned at midnight to help finish the next day’s issue of the newspaper, which was published with fewer pages than usual (16 instead of 24).
“Most people probably underestimated the impact of this day at the time; later, both men and women began to realize that it was a milestone,” Styrmir said.
“Many companies and institutions stopped and it showed the strength and need of women. It completely changed the way of thinking.”
Five years later, Vigdis defeated three male candidates in the presidential election.
She became so popular that she was re-elected unopposed in two of the three elections that followed.
Furthermore, in the 1983 parliamentary elections the first lists composed only of women appeared and a new party, the Women’s Alliance, gained its first female deputies.
Paid paternity leave was introduced in 2000, and in 2010 a woman, Johanna Sigurdardottir, became prime minister of Iceland – the first openly gay government leader in the world.
Iceland was rated the best country in the world for gender equality by the World Economic Forum (WEF) for 14 consecutive years. But the reality is that it is not completely equal: the WEF gives it an overall score of 91.2%.
Today, the volcanic island, which is one of the least populated countries in the world, ranks 14th in the world in women’s economic participation, below countries such as Liberia, Jamaica and Norway.
“We want to draw attention to the fact that we are called a paradise of equality, but there are still gender disparities and an urgent need to act,” Freyja Steingrimsdottir, one of the organizers of the strike that took place this Tuesday, was quoted as saying. by the Reuters news agency.
BBC-NEWS-SRC: https://www.bbc.com/mundo/articles/ce4wddg8xxdo, IMPORTING DATE: 2023-10-28 14:30:07
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