Reykjavík Grapevine - 13.07.2012, Blaðsíða 8

Reykjavík Grapevine - 13.07.2012, Blaðsíða 8
8 The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 10 — 2012 SIF ARNARSDÓTTIR marathon runner I think I'd have to say Sushi Samba since I´m planning to go there in few days. But Tapashúsið, Sjávarkjallarinn, Fiskifélagið, Grillmarkaðurinn are obvi- ously all good. What I quite like about Sushi Samba is that you can go for few bites of sushi if you don't want to spend much, but you can also go for a big meal. Things They Like About Reykjavík Special | The Locals Speak www.lavatours.is - atv4x4@atv4x4.is - +354-857-3001 ATV ADVENTURES ICELAND Caving ATV/Quad biking 4x4 Buggy3 facebook.com/atvtours Included: 1 hour Atv/Quad biking tour 1 hour buggy tour ride along Short Caving Special offer 22.000 ISK p.p two on each bike. We are located only ve minutes from the Blue Lagoon. Pick-up is 3.500 extra per person. i n 1 Many generations ago the popu- lation was struck by a plague that afflicted males solely, wiping them out and leaving only women. To avoid extinction, women developed parthenogenesis techniques, cul- minating in the ability to merge two eggs to form a foetus, ensuring the continuing existence of humanity. WHAT, ICELAND IS A COUNTRY OF ONLY WOMEN? Sorry, I thought you were asking about Whileaway, the feminist utopia cre- ated by science fiction writer Joanna Russ. Iceland may rank high on vari- ous measures of gender equality, but it is far from being a feminist Eden. For instance, the wage gap between men and women has proven very difficult to eradicate entirely. In a survey published last September by three major labour unions (VR, St.Rv. and SFR, if you must know), women made on average 24% less in wages than men. While some of that is explained by seniority, education and other factors, which lead to higher pay, that only lowers the gender gap percentage to 13%. WHAT? BUT YOU HAVE A FEMALE PRIME MINISTER! It is true that Iceland has made great progress towards equality in the last few decades. Current Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir is a perfect ex- ample. She was only the tenth woman ever to be elected to the Icelandic parliament. In 1978, when she gained her seat, there were only two others, a measly 5% of all MPs. But in the current parliament women make up about 40% of the total (the number has fluctuated depending on resignations and tempo- rary absences). SO WOMEN ARE TAKING OVER? ABOUT TIME TOO. That is not really on the horizon. While the newly elected bishop of the state church of Iceland is indeed a woman, and a woman candidate came second in this summer's election for the office of the Presidency (which has once pre- viously been held by a woman, Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, from 1980 to 1996), this may be a high-point. The leaders of the three major political parties other than Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir's Social Demo- cratic Alliance are all male and the cur- rent president has retained his office. The present level of female political power may end up being a historical anomaly. HISTORICAL ANOMALY? BUT WHAT ABOUT ALL THE STRONG VIKING WOMEN OF THE PAST? Even though the "Queen of Iceland" is a character in many works of medieval literature, notably the ‘Niebelungen- lied,’ women have not historically had much power in Iceland. Men have gov- erned single-handedly. By which I mean they ran the nation with one hand. The other being around their penis. To be fair, sometimes they took their non- governing hand off their penis to grope passing women. Which is to say that in Iceland women had it just as shitty as anywhere else throughout history. SO EVERYTHING IS JUST AS AW- FUL IN ICELAND AS ANYWHERE ELSE? No, not really. The various gender equality rankings, such as the World Economic Forum and the United Na- tions Development Programme, which Iceland scores so well on, do measure something real. Women in Iceland do have a better quality of life than women in most other countries in the world. Here is one example: In most societies, single mothers tend to have the hardest lives, and that is true of Iceland as well. However, being a single mother in Ice- land brings very low social stigma, and there are sensible programmes in place to make single motherhood manage- able. In fact, the first Icelandic female president was a single mother when elected. Good luck running for even a minor public office in the US as a single mother. SHE WOULDN'T EVEN GET ELECTED TO THE LOCAL SCHOOL BOARD. GO ICELAND! However, part of the relatively good quality of life for single mothers in Iceland is due to how close extended families tend to be, both in social and geographic terms. Most single mothers have parents, aunts, uncles and sib- lings take care of their kids, be it after school or for a week so they can go on a work trip. Single mothers without family connections, usually immigrant women, have it much worse. Other examples tell a similar story, but the gender wage gap shows no signs of disappearing and Iceland is still a while away from being Whileaway. MAN, WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE SUCH A DOWNER. JUST TELL ME MORE ABOUT WHILEAWAY. Sure! Whileaway has a number of similarities with Iceland, actually. For instance women are named for their mothers in a matronymic system, like people in Iceland are named for their fathers. Electricity is normally generat- ed with steam turbines and hydroelec- tric dams and there is only one major urban centre. That is about it, however, for similarities. Whileaway women fight each other in duels for love, and have the technology to travel to other worlds. Oh, and Iceland is not a feminist uto- pia. Idiot's Guide To | Feminism in Iceland So What's This Feminist Utopia I Keep Hearing About? “Iceland may rank high on various mea- sures of gender equal- ity, but it is far from being a feminist Eden.” Opinion | Sarah Pepin Mirror Mirror On The Wall, Who’s The Most Tanned Of Them All… I walk to the swimming pool. It’s cold and the wind blows colour into my cheeks. My blood vessels slowly dilate. As I step into the collective shower room, all I can think of is how Snow White (the Disney version based on an Icelandic woman) never went to the tanning studio. A lot of fair skinned people around me seem to spend their precious krónur on airbrush tanning booths. News f lash: UV rays are… wait for it... BAD for you! They increase the risk of skin cancer, you know. So, is it a con- scious decision to forego the sun and smear yourself orange instead? Do the Oompaloompa’s of Charlie’s Choco- late Factory have a cult following that I don’t know about? Okay, I get it… there’s not much sun here, and you want to look nice. Well, you know what, you do! You really do. Freckles are beautiful. No freckles are beautiful too. And so is pale skin. Much nicer than when you can see the tanning line between your neck and your face. That makes you look like and old worn-out shoe. An ugly shoe, that is. And it adds about 25 years to your age. Speaking of age, around two years ago, Alþingi banned under 18-year- olds from frequenting tanning booths. That’s nice. Still, word has it they’re not that strict, and for such a small city Reykjavík has its fair share of tanning booths. Naked communal showering at lo- cal swimming pools equals a positive body image, right? So I thought, until I realised how much people are spend- ing to get tangoed. At Laugar Spa, for instance, an airbrush tanning with a scrub costs 5,900 ISK! What! Think of how obese you could be with all the lovely chocolate you could buy with that money! KáRI TULINIUS LÓA HJáLMTýSDÓTTIR
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