Yaroslava Kutsai moved recently to Reykjavík from Kiev to pursue her master’s at the University of Iceland. Here she writes about Icelandic women.
It’s been 40 years now since Iceland started punching through the glass ceiling. Today it is the last place to report obstacles for women’s leadership. With ladies at the helm of the top institutions, hands-on fatherhood encouraged by paid paternity leave, and sex industry closed down, for the seventh year in succession it enjoys the title of the most feminist country (accord-ing to Global Gender Gap Index).
The road to such state of affairs, praised by numerous human rights activists, is paved with precedents. Icelandic women were among the first to try their fortune and succeed in mé-tiers previously regarded as suitable only for men. And this profound feminism had its baptism of fire long before the emancipation—when one was forced to be strong, so that she could sur-vive. At that time, there was one peasant woman who outstripped Columbus…
She discovered the New World
Guðríður Þorbjarnardóttir, also known as the Far-Traveler, anchored in America five centuries earlier than the Italian explorer. She is mentioned in The Vinland Sagas (The Saga of Eirik the Red and The Saga of the Greenlanders).
Living on Laugarbrekka, a farm on the Snæfellsnes peninsula, Guðríður could have life scarcely enriched with opportunities, if not her farther Þorbjörn, who was a particularly proud Viking. When a slave’s son Einar asked him for Guðríður’s hand, he abruptly rejected, claiming that such matrimony would stain his reputation and that he would rather leave the island than accept. He didn't waste his breath; and the journey began.
Following a famed wanderer Eirik the Red and his comrades, Þorbjörn and Guðríður embarked for the expedition to the land later named Greenland. Most of the seamen didn’t survive the harsh winter of that year, including Guðríður’s husband, a Norwegian merchant Þó-rir—but she did. She buried her first spouse and married Eirik’s younger brother Þorsteinn. The remaining crew boarded and moved to what is now known as the coastal area of Newfound-land and Labrador, Canada.
They called this land Vinland; as winy it was as green was Greenland. Þorsteinn got ill and died, but allegedly rose from dead for a while to foretell Guðríður her destiny, quite untypi-cal for a women of the Medieval age; and, of course, she would meet another man.
Sagas describe an Icelandic merchant Þorfinnur Karlsefni as in many respects a very good match. He became Guðríður’s third husband. Their son Snorri Þorfinnsson is regarded as the first European born in the Western Hemisphere.
Guðríður Þorbjarnardóttir, also known as the Far-Traveler, anchored in America five centuries earlier than the Italian explorer. She is mentioned in The Vinland Sagas (The Saga of Eirik the Red and The Saga of the Greenlanders).
Living on Laugarbrekka, a farm on the Snæfellsnes peninsula, Guðríður could have life scarcely enriched with opportunities, if not her farther Þorbjörn, who was a particularly proud Viking. When a slave’s son Einar asked him for Guðríður’s hand, he abruptly rejected, claiming that such matrimony would stain his reputation and that he would rather leave the island than accept. He didn't waste his breath; and the journey began.
Following a famed wanderer Eirik the Red and his comrades, Þorbjörn and Guðríður embarked for the expedition to the land later named Greenland. Most of the seamen didn’t survive the harsh winter of that year, including Guðríður’s husband, a Norwegian merchant Þó-rir—but she did. She buried her first spouse and married Eirik’s younger brother Þorsteinn. The remaining crew boarded and moved to what is now known as the coastal area of Newfound-land and Labrador, Canada.
They called this land Vinland; as winy it was as green was Greenland. Þorsteinn got ill and died, but allegedly rose from dead for a while to foretell Guðríður her destiny, quite untypi-cal for a women of the Medieval age; and, of course, she would meet another man.
Sagas describe an Icelandic merchant Þorfinnur Karlsefni as in many respects a very good match. He became Guðríður’s third husband. Their son Snorri Þorfinnsson is regarded as the first European born in the Western Hemisphere.
Maddame President
On October 24, 1975 every nine out of ten Icelandic women went on a strike, which they announced simply as a ‘day off.’ They abandoned their duties and joined the march of sol-idarity in the center of Reykjavík to demonstrate that what their husbands and bosses had used to take for granted has a high value and should be appreciated. In five years the nation made a leap towards establishing the environment of equal opportunities for both sexes, allow-ing one of the participants of this thriving movement to head the state.
Narrowly elected as a special candidate from the Women’s Association, Vigdís Finnbo-gadóttir became the world’s first democratically elected female President. Friendly and sincere, she was admired by Icelanders even before her presidency. She served as an artistic Director of the Reykjavík Theatre Company, taught French at the University of Iceland, appeared with her amusing lectures on local television, and trained guides for the Icelandic Tourist Bureau.
During her period in the office, Frú Vigdís focused primarily on preservation and promotion of the Icelandic language and culture, supported forestry, and payed a lot of attention to problems of youth. After her first term, she became extremely popular and was one more time re-elected with the predominant majority of the vote and two more times unopposed.
When she lost the bid to chair the Social Democratic Party in 1994, she exclaimed, with her fist raised: Minn tími mun koma! (My time will come!”). It was Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir. Her declaration turned into a proverb straight away. But her finest hour reached her only 15 years later, when she had already earned recognition as the longest-serving parliamentarian in Alþingi.
Considering her expertise, Frú Jóhanna was welcomed to do her best in hoisting Ice-land out of the crisis as the country’s new Prime Minister. She became the world's first openly lesbian head of government, and was hailed like a rockstar by feminists worldwide when made efforts to ban strip clubs, explaining this as a necessary measure to bring about justice, which is impossible, as she concluded, when women are treated like commodities.
Today, after 40 years since the Day Off, Icelandic feminists insist that it’s still not the time to lay down arms. And it’s not just all about freeing nipples. There is at least one fact dis-turbing them: unequal pay. According to Eurostat, on average, women get 20% less than their male colleagues. As a reminder that the issue is not resolved, there is a diptych hanging on the wall in the University of Iceland (authored by Anna Líndal): a boy and a girl are celebrating their birthday; same place, same time; his cake is much bigger, and her smile is barely notice-able.
Read more: People will gather in front of the parliament building tomorrow to Free the Nipple
Yaroslava Kutsai is a journalist focusing on issues that have to do with identity and environmental justice and is currently writing her thesis on climate change as a media phenomenon. Back in her home country she started as a staff reporter in daily news program Time at 5 TV Channel, then contributed articles to the local edition of National Geographic and several national newspapers such as The Ukrainian Week and Mirror Weekly.
Yaroslava Kutsai moved recently to Reykjavík from Kiev to pursue her master’s at the University of Iceland. Here she writes about Icelandic women.
It’s been 40 years now since Iceland started punching through the glass ceiling. Today it is the last place to report obstacles for women’s leadership. With ladies at the helm of the top institutions, hands-on fatherhood encouraged by paid paternity leave, and sex industry closed down, for the seventh year in succession it enjoys the title of the most feminist country (accord-ing to Global Gender Gap Index).
The road to such state of affairs, praised by numerous human rights activists, is paved with precedents. Icelandic women were among the first to try their fortune and succeed in mé-tiers previously regarded as suitable only for men. And this profound feminism had its baptism of fire long before the emancipation—when one was forced to be strong, so that she could sur-vive. At that time, there was one peasant woman who outstripped Columbus…
She discovered the New World
Guðríður Þorbjarnardóttir, also known as the Far-Traveler, anchored in America five centuries earlier than the Italian explorer. She is mentioned in The Vinland Sagas (The Saga of Eirik the Red and The Saga of the Greenlanders).
Living on Laugarbrekka, a farm on the Snæfellsnes peninsula, Guðríður could have life scarcely enriched with opportunities, if not her farther Þorbjörn, who was a particularly proud Viking. When a slave’s son Einar asked him for Guðríður’s hand, he abruptly rejected, claiming that such matrimony would stain his reputation and that he would rather leave the island than accept. He didn't waste his breath; and the journey began.
Following a famed wanderer Eirik the Red and his comrades, Þorbjörn and Guðríður embarked for the expedition to the land later named Greenland. Most of the seamen didn’t survive the harsh winter of that year, including Guðríður’s husband, a Norwegian merchant Þó-rir—but she did. She buried her first spouse and married Eirik’s younger brother Þorsteinn. The remaining crew boarded and moved to what is now known as the coastal area of Newfound-land and Labrador, Canada.
They called this land Vinland; as winy it was as green was Greenland. Þorsteinn got ill and died, but allegedly rose from dead for a while to foretell Guðríður her destiny, quite untypi-cal for a women of the Medieval age; and, of course, she would meet another man.
Sagas describe an Icelandic merchant Þorfinnur Karlsefni as in many respects a very good match. He became Guðríður’s third husband. Their son Snorri Þorfinnsson is regarded as the first European born in the Western Hemisphere.
Guðríður Þorbjarnardóttir, also known as the Far-Traveler, anchored in America five centuries earlier than the Italian explorer. She is mentioned in The Vinland Sagas (The Saga of Eirik the Red and The Saga of the Greenlanders).
Living on Laugarbrekka, a farm on the Snæfellsnes peninsula, Guðríður could have life scarcely enriched with opportunities, if not her farther Þorbjörn, who was a particularly proud Viking. When a slave’s son Einar asked him for Guðríður’s hand, he abruptly rejected, claiming that such matrimony would stain his reputation and that he would rather leave the island than accept. He didn't waste his breath; and the journey began.
Following a famed wanderer Eirik the Red and his comrades, Þorbjörn and Guðríður embarked for the expedition to the land later named Greenland. Most of the seamen didn’t survive the harsh winter of that year, including Guðríður’s husband, a Norwegian merchant Þó-rir—but she did. She buried her first spouse and married Eirik’s younger brother Þorsteinn. The remaining crew boarded and moved to what is now known as the coastal area of Newfound-land and Labrador, Canada.
They called this land Vinland; as winy it was as green was Greenland. Þorsteinn got ill and died, but allegedly rose from dead for a while to foretell Guðríður her destiny, quite untypi-cal for a women of the Medieval age; and, of course, she would meet another man.
Sagas describe an Icelandic merchant Þorfinnur Karlsefni as in many respects a very good match. He became Guðríður’s third husband. Their son Snorri Þorfinnsson is regarded as the first European born in the Western Hemisphere.
Maddame President
On October 24, 1975 every nine out of ten Icelandic women went on a strike, which they announced simply as a ‘day off.’ They abandoned their duties and joined the march of sol-idarity in the center of Reykjavík to demonstrate that what their husbands and bosses had used to take for granted has a high value and should be appreciated. In five years the nation made a leap towards establishing the environment of equal opportunities for both sexes, allow-ing one of the participants of this thriving movement to head the state.
Narrowly elected as a special candidate from the Women’s Association, Vigdís Finnbo-gadóttir became the world’s first democratically elected female President. Friendly and sincere, she was admired by Icelanders even before her presidency. She served as an artistic Director of the Reykjavík Theatre Company, taught French at the University of Iceland, appeared with her amusing lectures on local television, and trained guides for the Icelandic Tourist Bureau.
During her period in the office, Frú Vigdís focused primarily on preservation and promotion of the Icelandic language and culture, supported forestry, and payed a lot of attention to problems of youth. After her first term, she became extremely popular and was one more time re-elected with the predominant majority of the vote and two more times unopposed.
When she lost the bid to chair the Social Democratic Party in 1994, she exclaimed, with her fist raised: Minn tími mun koma! (My time will come!”). It was Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir. Her declaration turned into a proverb straight away. But her finest hour reached her only 15 years later, when she had already earned recognition as the longest-serving parliamentarian in Alþingi.
Considering her expertise, Frú Jóhanna was welcomed to do her best in hoisting Ice-land out of the crisis as the country’s new Prime Minister. She became the world's first openly lesbian head of government, and was hailed like a rockstar by feminists worldwide when made efforts to ban strip clubs, explaining this as a necessary measure to bring about justice, which is impossible, as she concluded, when women are treated like commodities.
Today, after 40 years since the Day Off, Icelandic feminists insist that it’s still not the time to lay down arms. And it’s not just all about freeing nipples. There is at least one fact dis-turbing them: unequal pay. According to Eurostat, on average, women get 20% less than their male colleagues. As a reminder that the issue is not resolved, there is a diptych hanging on the wall in the University of Iceland (authored by Anna Líndal): a boy and a girl are celebrating their birthday; same place, same time; his cake is much bigger, and her smile is barely notice-able.
Read more: People will gather in front of the parliament building tomorrow to Free the Nipple
Yaroslava Kutsai is a journalist focusing on issues that have to do with identity and environmental justice and is currently writing her thesis on climate change as a media phenomenon. Back in her home country she started as a staff reporter in daily news program Time at 5 TV Channel, then contributed articles to the local edition of National Geographic and several national newspapers such as The Ukrainian Week and Mirror Weekly.
