Reykjavík Grapevine - 14.03.2014, Blaðsíða 14

“I think, if the world
can be saved,
it will be by women.”
guest of foreign dignitaries, kings and
queens or prime ministers, especially
in the Nordic countries. Once I wore
it in Spain where I was the guest of
[King] Juan Carlos and the next day
the papers said that madam had been
at the dinner in her national costume
with a very funny hat.
What, with a funny hat? So it’s clear the
media was paying attention to what you
were wearing.
Yes, they definitely were.
President In
Sheepskin, Queen In
Furs
For instance, when you met Queen
Margaret on your first official visit to
Denmark there was that headline,
“President in sheepskin, Queen in
furs.” Tell me more about that.
Well, I was asked something that a
man would never have been asked—I
was asked to promote the Icelandic
wool—coats, dresses and later sweat-
ers—which Icelanders were starting
to market abroad. On all my official
visits I made a point of introducing
Icelandic products, something that
is not as well remembered today. For
instance, I often travelled with a cook,
my Hilmar—Hilmar B. Jónsson, who
is now vice chair of the World Associa-
tion of Chefs Societies—to introduce
Icelandic food exports. We often
brought a chest full of Icelandic food
to put out on an exhibition table when
we went abroad.
So [when I went to meet Queen
Margaret] I had been given this
marvellous sheepskin coat to wear
and when I got off the plane the queen
was standing there, very tall in this
long mink coat, and I had the feeling I
looked like a snowball rolling down the
stairs from the plane. It was marvel-
lous publicity because it was in all of
the papers the next day. The Danish
visit was a great success. We got along
well together, and I was in wool the
whole time for my Icelanders.
Right, and it was made by the Slá-
turfélag Suðurlands tannery [whose
best selling product is a hot dog]. Is
there any other outfit at the exhibit
that you think is particularly signifi-
cant or worth talking about?
Well, I made a point of being elegant
at dinners with my hosts in foreign
countries and of course in Iceland as
well. Most of the time I was wearing
something that had been designed for
me. For instance, on my first official
visit to Denmark I wore a long white
evening gown that was designed by
Valentino in Italy.
But behind every garment in this
exhibition is tremendous intellectual
work—the speeches I prepared and
delivered in those garments. There
were always great expectations when
I stood up to speak because I was the
first woman to be elected president. I
had to live up to those expectations to
prove that a woman could do it. I had
this gusto, this feeling that I couldn’t
fail—it was my duty not to fail on
behalf of the women of the world.
Wherever I went I was asked to do
interviews, because people saw in me
something that women had achieved.
I was so grateful to see and feel that
my election had inspired women all
around the world.
There is one thing that should
have been in this exhibition but is
actually lost. It was a small bag, like a
doctor’s bag, that we called the ‘Trea-
sure Chest.’ We called it the ‘Treasure
Chest’ because I used it to carry all my
speeches and the books I quoted from.
There was always somebody respon-
sible for keeping an eye on it. It never
got lost until now when we wanted to
put it on display, but of course it’s been
eighteen years since everything was
packed up.
There’s a quote on a wall at the
exhibition: “I’m not a man and I
never have been and my principle
has always been not to try to act like
a man.” Could you elaborate on that?
Sometimes when women get elected
to positions of power they start acting
like men. They start being tough like
men. My vision and understanding of
the world is a woman’s understand-
ing of the world, not a man’s—I have
never tried to copy a man. I think it’s
very important that a woman remem-
bers that she is a woman and not a
man. You’re a woman, so keep being
a woman and show women and men
that you are a woman. This sends the
very important message that women
are equal to men.
So how does a woman’s understand-
ing of the world compare to a man’s
understanding?
Women tend to have a greater under-
standing of the human being, which
is often considered a soft spot, but all
societies are fortunately composed of
men and women and neither one can
be without the other. Unfortunately
though, women in many societies
don’t have the same opportunities
as men. The interesting thing is that
women raise the boys and often urge
them to become tough men; they’re
not to be sissies.
I have three granddaughters and
people sometimes say, "oh, you only
have girls," and I say, "Oh yes, I’m
collecting girls because I think, if
the world can be saved, it will be by
women—with the help and friendship
of men."

Answering The
Nation’s Call
Going back to when you were
elected president, can you tell me
what was happening in Icelandic
society at the time that made it
suddenly possible for a woman to
become president?
Well, you don’t wake up one morning
and decide that you’re going to be pres-
ident. My election came in the wake of
October 24, 1975, the great Woman’s
Day Off [‘Kvennafrídagurinn’] when
women left their workplaces, with
permission from their bosses, to
meet in downtown Reykjavík and in
towns and villages around Iceland.
Icelandic women were unhappy that
they weren’t being taken seriously in
politics—there were so few women
in parliament—so they organised
this meeting. Icelandic women had
heard that this day would mark the
beginning of the United Nations’
‘International Women's Year,’ so they
wanted to do something here. It’s such
an amazing story. On that day, society
in a way shut down and it proved that
women are—like men—pillars of
society. That is all clear to us now.
What was it like to be there on that
day?
I was at work [as a theatre director]—
we were premiering a play the next
day—and all of the women came to my
door and asked, “Do you think that we
could go?” As you know with theatre,
the show must go on. “You have to
decide that for yourselves,” I told them,
“but I’m going to go.” So we all went
together and it was a lot of fun. It was
very well organised. It became world
news: “Women’s Strike in Iceland!”
And I have heard that people out there
in the wide world first thought that the
Icelandic women were striking in the
bedroom, like in Lysistrata [a Greek
comedy by Aristophanes, in which
women withhold sex to convince men
to end the Peloponnesian War].
When it came to the presidential
elections in 1980, many people in
Iceland were adamant that a woman
should be among the candidates. So
people started looking for a woman
they could ask to run and I saw my
name in the paper as a possibility. Im-
mediately I said, “No, I would never do
that.” Today I think it would be quite
natural for a woman to say, “I think I
could do that,” but in those days, good
heavens no. Many women would have
considered it too forward.
It sounds like it was important that
there simply be a female candidate.
After you decided to run, did you
dream of actually winning the elec-
tion and becoming president?
14The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 3 — 2014