07/01/2022
On this day in 1975, 90 percent of Icelandic women walked off their jobs and out of their households, taking to the streets to demand equal rights with men. They refused to do any work, whether in the workplace or in the home - leaving everything from answering phones in receptions to childcare to the men. The country effectively shut down as men struggled to cope. Radio announcers read news bulletins with the sound of children playing in the background. Pylsur (Icelandic hot dogs) sold out in the entire country as men scrambled to feed themselves and their kids. Institutions were effectively paralyzed.
While this did not change things for Icelandic women overnight, some monumental events followed. Five years later, Iceland had the first democratically-elected female president in the world. Eight years later, a women's-only party, the Women's Alliance, won its first seats in parliament. And so on.
Still, even though Iceland is consistently high on the gender equality list, it is no feminist utopia, as the media would often suggest. There is still much to be done. And yet. We've come a long way. ✊
