By Belinda Nicholas, Coalition for Women’s Appointments Intern
Since 2009, Iceland has firmly held first place for the greatest gender equality in the world. Iceland elected the first female president; two-thirds of Iceland’s college graduates are women, elected the first openly lesbian Prime Minister, enjoys a Parliament comprised of 48% women, and leads the world in women’s empowerment. As a result, Iceland institutes policies that enable women to unlock their full potential as equal members of society. Studying Iceland’s successes and understanding the policies enacted are critical to improving gender disparities across the world.
To demonstrate the magnitude of society’s underappreciation of, yet steadfast reliance on women, 90% of Icelandic women in Reykjavik boycotted all responsibilities including child care, paid employment, and cooking obligations on October 24, 1975. This disrupted men’s routines across the country, forcing fathers to bring children to work and fend off exuberant children with crayons and candy. Sausage products were sold out in stores around the country, an Icelandic dinner staple that required little talent or culinary expertise, which suited men’s lack of domestic capabilities.
Women’s Day Off drastically changed men’s attitude toward women, as men discovered a newfound appreciation for the women in their lives. Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, the first woman to be democratically elected Head of State in the world, attributes her appointment to this landmark date in feminist history. Finnbogadóttir summoned a movement, inspiring more women to run for office. The executive manager of the Icelandic Women’s Rights Association, Brynhildur Heidar, contends that women’s representation in government unequivocally leads to gender-equal policy advancements. She claims that “‘parental leave, daycare, the gender pay gap… were [never even] seen as major issues until women ran for parliament.’” One of the most effective means to achieve gender equality is through elections and democratic processes, empowering women to enact changes to which men fail to appreciate. This begins with an understanding of womens’ daily contributions to society.
Shortly after electing women to parliament in 1980, lawmakers enacted legislation addressing gender inequalities. The Parliament began with legislation benefiting mothers by establishing three months of paid maternity leave in 2000, later extended to six months. However, lawmakers quickly realized that what began as an effort to establish greater gender equality turned into an overt reinforcement of constrictive gender norms. Laws that reinforce traditional gender roles, seemingly to assist women, actually imprison them; women are coerced into gender stereotypes, losing the flexibility and freedom to break away from their traditional, domestic role as caregivers and homemakers. It obstructs their freedom of choice. Ruth Bader Ginsberg compared such legislation as a cage, imprisoning women to restrictive gender norms, but posing as a pedestal, designed to simplify their lives; she argued laws like this confined women to their conventional role in society, oppressing them as unequal citizens. Icelandic lawmakers re-evaluated, settling on legislation that encourages both mothers and fathers to take part in child care.
In 2000, Iceland implemented a use-it-or-lose it policy allowing for nine months of leave allocated to parents, with three months delegated to the mother, three for the father, and three for the family to decide. This drastically changed Iceland’s culture, maiming a culture of toxic masculinity for one in which men embrace caretaking duties. This is advantageous for men, too, as Iceland leads the world in the highest position of fathers in the world. The policy has been so successful that Iceland extended the nine month parental leave to twelve, on January 1st of this year. Now, each parent has six months of leave and the ability to transfer one month to the other parent.
The new parental leave policy worked, as Iceland’s wage gap shrunk from 81 cents to the dollar in 2004, to 90 cents in 2015. Appreciating women’s contributions and attending to noxious cultural norms allows both men and women greater opportunities and liberty. Citizens leave rigid gender stereotypes for a more favorable lifestyle of choice, leading to greater gender equality. This ultimately emancipates citizens from suffocating cultural norms. Paternity leave laws are a salient factor affecting the pay gap in the United States, as men accepting paternity leave can be perceived as career suicide and referred to as a “Kiss of Death” on Wall Street. This begs for a cultural shift in the U.S., an issue Iceland tackled head on.
Female representatives in Iceland also implemented a universal childcare system. This undoubtedly raises women’s position in society, allowing women to take on greater professional challenges, spend extra hours at the office, and receive professional promotions. Working women are frequently obligated to fulfill both paid work and unpaid domestic responsibilities, forcing women to forfeit paid opportunities that would allow them to rise professionally; women are bypassed by male colleagues who can afford to spend extra hours at the office and are chosen for promotions. This is a substantial factor contributing to the gender gap, meaning the decision to have children impacts women’s professional success. A childcare system that lessens mothers’ burden to take care of children affords women greater freedom overall to decide whether to stay at the office or not. President Biden’s proposal for universal preschool and affordable childcare in the Build Back Better bill would be enormously beneficial to all parents, but particularly women, reducing the burden that hinders their career.
Iceland serves as an outstanding example for the rest of the world, comfortably leading the gender equality crusade for twelve consecutive years. Understanding how number one does it will allow other countries to replicate what we already know works and bring us one step closer to equality.
Iceland is not perfect and women still earn 10% less than men do, but these policies provide hope for a future of equality to women around the world. Iceland’s transformation demonstrates that gender inequality is transposable, if legislators care enough to enact policies that will address gender disparities. Iit is up to citizens around the world to vote and elect legislators who support women’s rights. Or you, my dear female reader, could run yourself.
Belinda Nicholas is a third year at the University of Colorado Boulder where she majors in Political Science and Philosophy. She has a passion for American and comparative politics and hopes to attend law school after graduating to become a civil rights attorney. In her free time, Belinda enjoys reading biographies about women in politics, cooking vegetarian recipes and traveling.
