Reykjavík Grapevine - 17.06.2011, Qupperneq 38

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38
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 7 — 2011
Life | Health & Fitness
The University of Reykjavík
(not to be confused with the
University of Iceland, locat-
ed in Reykjavík) recently pub-
lished the results of a 2010 poll about
the lifestyle and habits of 16–18 year
olds in Iceland. Similar polls were con-
ducted in 2004 and 2007. In all cases
some 11 thousand students answered
the questionnaire—the seemingly reli-
able continuum of the investigation
makes for an interesting comparison,
which has already hit the headlines. On
June 14, Vísir.is declared: "High school
students happier and healthier", quot-
ing Jón Sigfússon, manager of UR's
research division, Research and Analy-
sis: "The results are all in all positive.
The teenagers spend more quality time
with their parents, participate more in
sports and so on”.
This certainly seems to be the case.
Not only do students in the age group
exercise more than before, eat less
white sugar, spend more time outdoors
with their parents and take part in the
boy and girl scouts movement in grow-
ing numbers: the findings report their
growing trust in the police, the courts
and the church—steadily and signifi-
cantly growing. Yes, the church. Yes,
the police. Yes, the courts.
ExCESS HAM
At the same time, the figures reveal
that the youngsters read significantly
less: 40% of those asked did not read
a single extracurricular book in 2010,
as compared to 30% in 2007. They at-
tend the cinema far less than before
(while downloading a bit less too, it
seems), spend less time in cafés, are
less involved in their schools' social life
and fewer form bands and play in them
than before. They attend more parties
though. All in all the shift seems signifi-
cant, clear and rapid: less liberal arts,
more exercise and hierarchy. What is
the precise term for such a shift? Let us
start politely and use writer Andri Snær
Magnason's phrase: at the very least
our youth is being 'ham-ified'.
Now, in the same week as these
findings are revealed, the media tell
us about young Icelandic males join-
ing the Norwegian army. Those already
serving their… uncle-land get a free
trip back home if they spend some
time recruiting, and thus a young man
who already served in Afghanistan has
been travelling through Icelandic high
schools 'informing'
students about this
career option. So far,
three schools have
opened their doors to
the young man and
his mission. This went
mainly unnoticed until
the Norwegian public
broadcast company
NRK published a report on the Iceland-
ers in the army. NRK spoke with soldier
Hilmar Haraldsson, 29, who cites his
thirst for adventure as his main rea-
son for joining, the desire to experi-
ence things Icelanders normally don't.
“Are you willing to die for Norway?”,
the reporter asks. “Yes”, says Hilmar,
plain and simple. That he is willing to
kill—'for Norway'— goes without saying.
Another soldier, Bjarki Kristinsson, 21,
says he would not mind going to war
for Norway, explaining: "Icelanders and
Norwegians are not that different. We
have a lot of history in common, for ex-
ample the saga literature". But he is not
serving just for the sake of the sagas
and medieval kinship: while mentioning
his desire for adventure, as Hilmar be-
fore him, Bjarki also notes the financial
crisis as playing its part in the decision
to enlist. When asked how his fam-
ily felt about his decision he replies: "I
have always been interested in sports
and spent a lot of time in the wild, so
they knew that this would suit me".
Along with the Icelandic soldiers
themselves, NRK speaks with veteran
Stein Ørnhøj who argues that the is-
sue should have been controversial in
Iceland: "If Norwegian citizens went
to war for other countries, that would
make me really uneasy", he explains.
ExCESS SUBSERVIENCE
A positive spin was given to the decline
of reading and cultural activities among
our youth, extolling the development as
a supposedly 'healthier lifestyle'. By a
parallel lack of intellectual friction the
story of young men joining a foreign
army seemed unproblematic when re-
ported by the Icelandic media, which
at first made no mention of death or
politics, but merely quoted the part of
NRK’s interview about the young men's
thirst for adventure. A few Arabian
nights, boys will be boys, etc.
How do we interpret this? What is
this? Perhaps you already noticed this
country's 2011 phonebook. Perhaps
you didn't. On its cover a half-naked
male bodybuilder stands erect in the
foreground, decoratively surrounded
by younger female gymnasts posing
in the background. The man involved,
who goes by many names, has made a
profession out of being, not merely a
celebrity, but the symbol of a particular
attitude, expressed by his physique, his
writings and TV-appearances. The atti-
tude is a familiar mix of misogyny, anti-
intellectualism, classicist veneration of
the male physique, cleanliness and an
arbitrary exercise of power, under the
currently obligatory thin veil of humour
and mandatory liberal views. There is
nothing liberal about the imagery in-
volved, though, no more than about
his TV sketches on 'how to behave
around a Negro' or his blog posts about
feminists, most of whom are reportedly
“disgusting as well as being psycho-
paths". It’s only a joke, he will dismis-
sively explain when criticised. Literary
technique. It’s not real. Just role-play.
Don’t be sour. I’ll have my friends rape
you. Just kiddin’. Ah, what a laugh.
While most writers of my generation
have seen little reason to join the Ice-
landic writers' guild, once an important
venue for discussion and critique but in
recent years mainly an agency for sum-
mer houses and residencies, the proto-
fascist cover model of the 2011 phone-
book is 'proud to be a member' since
2010. And yes,
he is eloquent
and has among
other things
established a
rich vocabulary
denoting the
subtle variations
of tan.
P r o to -
fascist is the precise term for the im-
agery epitomised on the cover of the
phonebook. It is also the correct term
for a value-system extolling physical
exercise to the point of exterminating
book reading and cultural activities,
a value-system wherein an interest
in sports and love for the wilderness
seems a valid premise to join an army—
cultivating desire for subservience
and authority in such abundance that
young men travel abroad to enlist, to
murder at command. It is a situation in
which schools see no reason, no valid
argument, to keep recruiting officers
off their premises. This value-system,
still more loudly and clearly expressed
through imagery than words, is a direct
result of the ongoing right-wing hold
on media, on cultural institutions and
the education system from where rep-
resentatives of the barbaric tradition
continue keep distributing a scorn for
critical thought. They may or may not
know what they are doing. Regardless,
the resulting inanity is not merely irri-
tating; it is dangerous and should be
taken seriously.
HAUKUR MáR HELGASON
HAUKUR MáR HELGASON
Is It ‘A Nation Of Book-Lovers’?
Is It ‘The Future Of Music’?
No, It's A Proto-Fascist Tanning Salon
“It’s only a joke, he will dismissively explain when
criticised. Literary technique. It’s not real. Just role-
play. Don’t be sour. I’ll have my friends rape you.
Just kiddin’. Ah, what a laugh.”