Reykjavík Grapevine - 19.06.2015, Blaðsíða 14

14
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 8 — 2015
Sóley sits on the City Council on behalf of
the Left Green Party, and is an outspoken
feminist. She spoke very humbly about
her role on the committee, and stressed
that it’s a group effort, with the other two
deputy chairs and many others work-
ing hard to put together the schedule of
events. “My role there is to facilitate,”
she explained, “so that as many organ-
isations and people as possible have the
opportunity to host events, work with
the city, and partake in the celebrations.”
Young revolutionaries
Sóley said the planned events vary
widely in size, scope and subject, with
some being organised by the grassroots
feminist movement, and others by civic-
minded groups. One upcoming event in
particular has caught Sóley’s interest,
as it’s being planned by the same young
feminists behind the #6dagsleikinn,
#freethenipple and #konurtala social
media campaigns (read more about them
on the following page).
“On June 19, we’ll give them free rein
to do what they want in city hall,” said
Sóley, “and I hon-
estly have no idea
what they’ll get up
to. We just wanted
to create the space
and environment
for them to realise
their ideas on their
own terms.”
Sóley was
clearly proud of
what these young people are doing, and
the new wave of feminist awareness
washing over Iceland in their wake.
“Feminism is like a force of nature,” she
said. “After a certain amount of pres-
sure has built up, it erupts onto the sur-
face and shakes everything up. It did
that when women left work on October
24, 1974, when the women’s list political
movement was made in the 80s, as well
as when Iceland’s feminist society was
made in 2003. Now it’s happening again
on social media, with renewed energy
from the new generation, and it’s prov-
ing to be very effective.”
When asked whether it’s sad that we
need such a monumental anniversary to
spur society into action and to put on a
series of events like this, Sóley shook her
head, and said it was more depressing
that society is still as misogynistic as it
is. “We need to seize every opportunity
we’re given to celebrate the milestones
we’ve reached, and to push forward,” she
suggested.
Events and female
empowerment
The committee will promote numerous
events through existing festivals and
events like RIFF and Reykjavík Pride,
as well a celebration on October 24—the
date that women in Iceland will strike to
protest the gender-based wage gap (this
has been an annual occurrence for the
past 40 years).
Sóley said that while the committee
doesn’t have much of a budget, what they
have—in spades—are resources. “There
was a self-defence course planned for
women, that was struggling to find a
venue,” she said. “We
were able to find a gym-
nasium that suited their
needs. We also have a lot
of people working for the
city that have very spe-
cific skill-sets, and they
can help organisers with
all sorts of tasks.”
As part of the celebra-
tion, on March 31, the
City Council was exclusively composed
of women, and they passed two motions
that have special significance for women.
Sóley said one had to do with establish-
ing a committee to come up with sugges-
tions for how to protect victims of abuse
and combat gender-based violence, an
area in which the United Nations Hu-
man Rights Council noted Iceland could
improve.
The other motion involves organising
a large-scale event to celebrate women’s
accomplishments this September. It will
overtake every nook and cranny of the
City Council centre for the whole month.
With daily art and music performances
planned to happen all over the build-
ing, Sóley has high hopes for it. “We’ll
celebrate famous women like [former
president] Vigdís Finnbogadóttir and
[pop icon] Björk Guðmundsdóttir,” she
said, “as well as ordinary women, who
do important things without necessar-
ily receiving credit or praise for it, like
all of our grandmas, aunts and friends.”
Sóley confessed that when the commit-
tee started their work earlier in the year,
she felt worried that 100 events was un-
realistic. But after nearly six months and
forty unique events, Sóley is getting more
and more confident about the potential.
“I’m certain we’ll get through one hun-
dred—and more,” she said, before run-
ning off to another meeting.
Words by Gabríel Benjamin
Photos by Johanna Persson
Icelandic suffragettes reaped the fruits of their labour on
June 19, 1915, one hundred years ago, when women over
the age of 40 were given the right to vote (followed by
all adult women five years later). Celebrating this momen-
tous anniversary, the Reykjavík City Council’s Forsætis-
nefnd (“Presidential Committee”) has been promoting a
hundred events this year that celebrate women’s achieve-
ments. All of the events are connected to women’s issues,
and share the aim of making women and their work more
visible in society. We met with Sóley Tómasdóttir, the
chair of said committee, at her City Hall office to find out
what Reykjavík has planned to mark the occasion.
A Hundred
Years Later
Icelanders celebrate the
100-year anniversary of
women’s suffrage
“We need to seize ev-
ery opportunity we’re
given to celebrate
the milestones we’ve
reached, and to push
forward,”
The Young
Ones Are
Running This
Show
On June 19 from 13:00 and onwards,
a number of young feminists will put
on a series of events they call ‘Engin
helvítis blóm!’ (“No fucking flowers!”)
at City Hall. This will include:
A live concert from feminist duo
Hljómsveitt, Áfram stelpur, and Un-
nur Sara Eldjárn.
Stand-up comedy with Bylgja Babýlon
and Snjólaug Lúðvíksdóttir.
Video performance from #freethe-
nipple organisers, and by artist Kitty
Von Sometime.
Speeches by Eydís Blöndal, Björk
Brynjarsdóttir, and Steinunn Ólína
Hafliðadóttir.
Sign-making workshop with members
of the SlutWalk.
Open mic.
'Igniting the flame in our fellow
women' performance.
Society | Estrogen
Those interested in participating can register their events by
sending an email to kosningar@reykjavik.is.