Reykjavík Grapevine - 23.05.2014, Blaðsíða 22

22 The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 06 — 2014
campaigns. Imagine if Kría Cycles had
as much money to spend as the car deal-
erships. They could sponsor politicians,
who would then cover Reykjavík in bike
paths. More citizens would see bicycling
as a reasonable option, and Kría would
sell more bikes.
It would be fun at first, but the con-
sequences would be horrible in the long
run. You couldn’t go out for a walk with
your dog or stroller out of fear of being
hit by a cyclist. You’d always be by or on a
bike path, and the bikes would be in full
right to run you over.
It’s like this with cars in Reykjavík
and a lot of other cities. They seem more
designed for cars than humans.
Have you experienced direct political
pressure from car dealers? Did they
request a meeting?
[Laughs] No. But that’s part of the prob-
lem. That kind of political pressure is
usually not out in the open. Such inter-
est groups often use politicians they’ve
sponsored to get their message across, to
promote their interests.
This is perhaps best visible in US
politics, where the campaign finance
laws have been made so liberal that can-
didates and politicians can use lobbyist
donations to fund their lifestyles. Need-
less to say, they are the same people who
create the legislation. Lester Freamon
summarizes this nicely in The Wire:
“When you follow the drugs, you get
drug addicts and drug dealers. But if
you start to follow the money, you don’t
know where the fuck it’s going to take
you.”
Because you mentioned Pussy Riot
earlier, I wanted to bring them up in
the context of what you’ve been say-
ing. About the need for a shift in at-
titude, of friendly cooperation; that
idea that you are powerless, and that
you can operate sans ideology. And
then you have Pussy Riot, who are
fighting a very ideologically-inspired
battle, employing methods that are
far from pleasant or friendly. You
support their battle, yet their ap-
proach seems far removed from what
you yourself claim to represent. How
does this go together?
While I can’t support anyone that
resorts to violence, I can and do support
those who act in self-defence against
violence. It’s like Judo. I studied Judo—
in fact I hold a blue belt—and this is the
methodology it teaches. You never use
Judo against someone for fun. You only
ever employ Judo in self-defence. And
Pussy Riot are clearly acting in self-de-
fence. To me, it’s all Kung Fu.
Young Women
If you and your ideas are what the
city needed four years ago, what does
the city need today?
More young women. We need more
young women to enter politics, because
this will create a balance. And this is
indeed one of the reasons I am stepping
aside. To create room. If I were a young
woman, I would have probably stuck
around a bit longer. But I’m not, so I
won’t.
What qualities do young women pos-
sess, that you find lacking in politics?
It has to do with a certain energy, cer-
tain values. Ehrm. It would be more fun.
And more fair. Because, half of the popu-
lation is female, yet this isn’t reflected in
our political system. My main role mod-
els have all been female. From my mother
and her sisters up to my wife and beyond.
What we need to do is seek a balance.
The best government would equally rep-
resent young men and old men, young
women and old women. That would
make for the best results, the best har-
mony. And it would be the most demo-
cratic pattern.
This also has to do with the childlike
and innocent qualities, and my struggle
to further them. Young women often
have a harder time of proving them-
selves than young men. And they often
represent views or methods that are
considered childlike. The type or ten-
dency I refer to as “the aggressive male”
or “the bully” likes to say women engage
in Barbie doll politics And I think that’s
lacking. I want more Barbie doll poli-
tics. More warmth and beauty. That we
consider not just practicalities, but also
other aspects.
Women are also less likely to revert
to violence than men. If women had
more control of our affairs, the world
would be a better place. And yet, they’re
continually denied positions of power.
Take the Independence Party Reykjavík
preliminaries for the upcoming elec-
tions. I followed them with excitement,
rooting for the young women I’ve been
working with over the past four years,
like Þorbjörg Helga, Áslaug Friðriksdót-
tir and Hildur Sverrisdóttir. Not that
they’re a gang of superhumans or
anything, but I have enjoyed working
with them—they are smart and rea-
sonable. Then they lost to the middle
aged man, the party didn’t trust them
to run in the city even after all their
years of service.
It’s very evident that the prospect
of entering politics isn’t very attrac-
tive for young women. It’s a difficult
path, much more demanding than
what their male contemporaries are
faced with. And that’s just wrong.
Antiquated Biceps
Why do you think it’s different?
Our political culture. But more
generally, it is due to our attitudes
towards women. Changing those atti-
tudes is what Iceland currently needs
the most. We are transitioning from an
incredibly masculine society of farmers
and fishermen, into something new and
modern. And as we move forward, so
must our attitudes. Because holding on
to the old ones is proving costly. It’s for
instance evident that one of the main
reasons Iceland got itself in all that fi-
nancial trouble is the nation’s culture of
masculinity and the attitudes it fosters.
Do you think it’s a contradiction
that you, a male leader of a political
party—the mayor of Reykjavík—is
preaching the importance of getting
more women into politics, the impor-
tance of feminine values?
Not at all. I don’t see any difference
in being a man and a woman. Beyond
men being physically stronger, there’s
no difference. There’s no intellectual
difference, there’s nothing men can do
that women can’t. That is all a myth.
Meanwhile, we’ve been holding
women down for some 40,000 years.
Just on the strength of our biceps. And
now, the biceps’ time has passed [laughs
hard].
The time for biceps is over, and
now we are at a place where people are
judged by their qualities and character
rather than their race, nationality, gen-
der or sexual orientation... those things
are no longer an issue. And they won’t
be an issue. That mode of thinking is a
thing of the past.
I’ve thought a lot about the people
I’ve met throughout my life. I’ve raised
four adults of both genders. And I’ve
kept looking for a difference. And I can’t
say I’ve found one. All the differences
are strictly on an individual basis. Well,
men are maybe generally hornier than
women. You could maybe say that. Very
few women have had to seek help for
their porn addiction.
So there are maybe differences like
that, but with regards to communica-
tion and behaviour and conduct—there’s
no difference save for on the individual
level. My daughter is a weightlifter. She
has a black belt in Tae Kwon Do. And she
could easily beat me at armwrestling.
So when you talk about the need for
female values and qualities, you’re
more referring to a female culture or
what?
Yes, well. Young women for instance
have a better sense for beauty than old-
er men. That’s not without exception
though. Some young women are abso-
lutely tasteless, and then we have old
men that display great taste.
It’s harder for young women to get a
chance. And I feel we often have these
reservations about young women, that
they’re demanding or “bitchy” or that
they’ve succeeded through trickery.
Those attitudes are never far removed
from our discourse, and I think that’s
unfair. I just want a society that values
people for their worth, and nothing
else. The only thing that matters is what
people have to offer. If you’re drunk
downtown, yelling at people and caus-
ing problems, you will be judged by that,
and if you try to take care and present
your opinion in a polite manner, you will
judged by that.
There’s definitely a character or per-
sonality type that tends to succeed in
politics.
That’s why I think we should culti-
vate a system that notices this, that says,
“hey, this assembly is full of old men! We
need to get to get some young women in
here!” Then again, there are plenty of
old men that have a lot to offer.
But getting a wrinkly old man to
participate in politics is much easier
than convincing a young woman who
just graduated from university. If you
were to establish a political party, you
could very easily fill it with wrinkly old
men. But you would have to make a lot
of effort to attract young women to work
with you.
And you can’t really blame them for
being reluctant to participate in politics,
with the environment they face when
entering the field. And that is the prob-
lem. And that’s what we need to fix.
By bringing more young women into
politics.
Hey guess what! You can read a slightly
elongated version of this interview at
www.grapevine.is!