Compared to the rest of the world "women’s suffrage was introduced in Iceland as early as 1915" (Why is Iceland). Iceland was the first country in the world to elect a female Head of State, Vigdís Finnbogatóttir in and by 1980. Iceland worked towards gender equality early on and by 1908 women were able to hold office. After that law was passed that same year four women were elected to the city council in Reykjavík. In 1920 all women in Iceland were given the same rights as men in national elections. The first woman to actually take part of the Icelandic parliament Althingi was Ingibjörg H. Bjarnason in 1922. In 1957 the first woman mayor was elected and in 1970 the first woman cabinet minister was elected.
"On October 24, 1975, more than 25 thousand women in Iceland took a day off to emphasize the importance of women’s contribution to the economy, both in paid and unpaid work" (Why is Iceland). This event made a great impact on seeing the importance of women in not only jobs but even at home as some women even took the strike as far as home life- cooking, cleaning, taking care of the children. While the men fumbled to fill the women's positions and ended the day in exhaustion, the women sat and enjoyed the day or listened to women empowerment speeches. It was estimated that in Reykjavík that about 25,000 women gathered to listened to speeches and discuss the matters of the situation. While some businesses were able to scrape by, other businesses like the "schools, shops, nurseries, fish factories and other institutions had to shut down or run at half-capacity" (The day). Five years after this big strike in 1980 the first woman in Iceland as well as the world was elected as head of state and not only did she accomplish being the first woman elected but she served four terms, the last one ending in 1996. "Iceland passed a new law that obligates companies to have minimum 40% women or men in their boards in 2010. The law took effect September 1st 2013" (Why is Iceland). This was enacted on both public and private companies.
While Iceland had approved a 3-year plan on implementing gender budgeting in 2011 is still not at absolute gender equality; however it is one of the closest to gender equality. Women in Iceland are still unfortunately paid a lesser salary than men. As a woman this is completely disheartening because I feel that a woman can do absolutely anything a man can do. Its extremely interesting to see that while Iceland has made so much progress for women's rights and that in society women are seen as equals, they are still not seen as equals in the workforce. "In 2011 the overall difference in income between [the salary of] women and men was 18.0%... [while] in 2012, the gender pay gap in Iceland revealed that a female employee earned on average 18.1% less than a male employee" (The current). While the percent difference in the gender-gap pay has dropped since 2012 there is still unfortunately a difference in pay. Overall Iceland has made lots of progress in gender equality and while it is still not at one hundred percent equality I do honestly believe that one day it will be there.
APA Citations
Hurstwic: The Role of Women in Viking Society. (n.d.). Retrieved October 6, 2015, from http://www.hurstwic.org/history/articles/society/text/women.htm
The current situation of gender equality in Iceland – Country Profile. (2013). Retrieved October 6, 2015, from http://ec.europa.eu/justice/gender-equality/files/epo_campaign/131128_country_profile_iceland.pdf
The day the women went on strike. (2005, October 18). Retrieved October 6, 2015, from http://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/oct/18/gender.uk
Why is Iceland the world's global leader in gender equality? (2014, March 27). Retrieved October 6, 2015, from http://www.womens-forum.com/stories/why-is-iceland-the-world-s-global-leader-in-gender-equality/131