Reykjavík Grapevine - 01.07.2011, Page 41

Many Americans visiting Iceland re-
spond to this country's version of the
hamburger with a range of reactions,
from surprise to bewilderment. Raw
cucumbers? Why no tomatoes? And
what's this weird pink sauce? While
it's certainly true that when travelling
to another country, one should always
be willing to try other culinary takes on
your favourite foods, some of us expats
get homesick for cheeseburgers the
way we're used to having them.
For this reason, Hamborgarabúllan
is a godsend. Yellow mustard, dill slic-
es, relish and other condiments seldom
found in Icelandic homes let alone in a
fast food place are among the things
that set Hamborgarabúllan apart. What
does the owner think?
Tómas Andrés Tómasson—or Tom-
mi, as he is known—was very self-
deprecating when asked what makes
Hamborgarabúllan special among Ice-
land's hundreds of hamburger joints.
He says the restaurant's success has
been based on “lots of luck, struggling,
persistence, determination and hard
work”. When asked what makes Ham-
borgarabúllan different from any other
burger joint, he said, “It's like Bæjarins
bestu [famed hot dog stand]. They sell
the same hot dogs you can get any-
where else, but you go there for the ex-
perience. That's what we offer. It's the
atmosphere of the place.”
To be sure, the interior of their best-
known location, by Reykjavík harbour,
is replete with Americana ranging from
Frank Sinatra's teenage mugshot to a
poster for the Sopranos to yet another
poster, featuring E.T. None of this is
put together in a purposeful, contrived
manner – you can imagine the owner
finding one of these things and just tak-
ing it up on a free space on the wall.
Tommi also believes specialisation
has worked in their favour. “There are
plenty of places that sell burgers and
other things. We pretty much just sell
burgers. That's a benefit for us, we
feel. You could go to a fancier place,
but when you're in the mood for a fast
burger, you come here”.
Tommi's modest demeanour comes
through in the understated and per-
sonal interior of his restaurants. But
you don't need to boast when you sell
burgers that taste this good.
40
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 9 — 2011
Noodle soup with chicken IKR 930
IKR 930 Noodle soup with beef
Home of the best noodle soup!
Skólavörðustígur 21A
Opinion | Feminism
WHY I BOTHER
Part 1
For the past year or so,
my inner feminist has
been developing at a
pace I can hardly keep up
with. This is something that hap-
pens to a lot of people during
their late teens or early twenties—
and it actually happened to me at
the time too—but now I'm closing
in on thirty and since this time last
year people and the media have
been fuelling my feminism to the
point where I think I may explode.
I see perfectly outrageous examples of
chauvinism and misogyny in the me-
dia all the fucking time. The reality is
that when I try to right the wrongs of
other people, any of these oh-so-very-
obvious wrongs, someone will be there
ready, willing and able to call me bitter
or boring or a feminazi or an extremist.
I even have the privilege of dealing with
people who pretend to sort of agree
with my feminist principles but still feel
the need to point out how I'm way off
track this time, how it's perfectly nor-
mal for a news reporter to say that
Dominique Strauss-Kahn's alleged as-
sault of a maid in a NY hotel is "not the
first time he gets into trouble with his
communications with women".
So I'm here to tell you about some
of the things that have been infuriat-
ing me. Tell you a little bit about why I
bother being a militant feminist all day,
every day.
Last summer, the head of the sex
crime division of the Reykjavík police
department, Björgvin Björgvinsson,
said in an exclusive interview with
feminist reporter at newspaper/tab-
loid DV, Ingibjörg Dögg Kjartansdóttir,
that a part of the problem with sexual
violence was that people didn’t search
within themselves, they were blind to
the fact that drinking and using drugs
exposed them to certain dangers. He
said: “Most of the time these incidents
have to do with heavy alcohol con-
sumption and it’s nobody’s responsibil-
ity but one’s own, to put oneself in a po-
sition where one can get into all kinds
of trouble”. For real. He then went on to
describe how common it is for people
to point to others when problems arise
and try to make them responsible. He
told us how people should try to look
within themselves and take responsibil-
ity for their own actions. Björgvin never
claimed to have been misquoted, nor
has he tried to deny that he was indeed
referring to rape victims.
If you’re not sure what the man
meant, please let me explain: When
drunk people are raped or otherwise
sexually assaulted, they have nobody
to blame but themselves. Seriously. It’s
nobody’s responsibility but theirs. They
shouldn’t try to make other people re-
sponsible. And in case you’re wonder-
ing why this bothers me, here it is: If
I get drunk, I’m responsible for getting
drunk. If I get drunk and raped, I’m still
only responsible for getting drunk. Not.
Ever. For. Being. Raped. I’d like to live in
a world where we could just all agree
on that.
Two months after the aforemen-
tioned comments, Iceland’s district
attorney (yes, we only have one) was
interviewed by the same reporter. And,
while discussing sexual violence, ex-
plained to readers how it’s absolutely
essential if a man is to be sentenced
for rape that it’s considered proven that
during the rape, he was fully aware that
he was raping. That he in fact intended
to rape. Here are a few quotes from the
interview:
1. “A woman who’s being raped
does not ask for a condom”.
2. “People have to realise what it
means to press charges against an-
other person. These days, people press
charges for everything”.
3. “Should a man just assume that a
woman is against [having intercourse]?
How is he supposed to know that?
Should we necessarily go by how active
she is in the bed? Whether or not she
participates?”.
Again, in case you’re not sure why
this is offensive for me (i.e. a woman
or a feminist or a victim of many sorts
of sexual misconduct), here’s what’s
wrong with this:
1. If a woman asks for a condom
and is penetrated without one, why on
Earth should that not be called rape?
If a woman has made it clear that she
is willing to have intercourse AS LONG
AS certain standards are met, that does
not give a man the right to penetrate
her without first meeting those stan-
dards.
2. Pressing charges when you feel
like you’ve been sexually assaulted
should be encouraged, not discour-
aged. The district attorney should know
this, agree with this, practise this.
3. A man should not have to assume
that a woman does not want to have
sex with him, but he should always
have to be absolutely sure before he
assumes that she wants to. Really, de-
manding that a person does not have
intercourse with another person unless
they’re a 100% sure it’s welcome, is that
too much to ask?
I’ll continue this. Guys. Seriously.
HILDUR LILLIENDAHL
Special | Best Of Reykjavík - Best Burger
Hamborgarabúllan: The Modest Burger
Hamborgarabúllan
Lækjargata 4, 101 C3
PAUL FONTAINE
jULIA STAPLES