Reykjavík Grapevine - 19.05.2017, Page 6

A Real Deli

NEWS Singer Þórunn Antonía, with
the support of President Guðni Th.
Jóhannesson, recently launched
a campaign against sexual as-
sault with a sticker she designed.
This sticker is meant to be placed over
a glass, leaving only a hole for a straw,
with the intent of preventing some-
one from being able to surreptitiously
drug someone’s drink. Þórunn Antonía
told reporters the inspi-
ration behind the sticker
came in part from when
a friend of hers was sexu-
ally assaulted after being
drugged, and sees the
sticker as a practical tactic.
“Just as we shouldn’t
have to lock our cars
or homes out of fear
that someone will break
in, we still need to do it,” she ex-
plained to Vísir. “There are people
who steal, and there are people who
drug and rape. It’s tragic but true.”
Not everyone was on board with
the idea, however. Numerous people,
including feminists Hildur Lillien-
dahl and Maria Lilja Thrastarsdót-
tir, contended that the sticker ef-
fectively shifts responsibility from
the perpetrator and onto the target.
“Do you honestly think rapists will
stop raping when they see a sticker on a
glass?” Maria Lilja asked rhetorically on
Facebook. “No, they’ll turn
their attention to a woman
who doesn’t have a sticker.
Unlucky! She should’ve
been more careful .”
Another Ice -
lander, Ósk Gunnlaugs-
dóttir, took matters a
step further by produc-
ing a series of satirical
stickers—for potential
rapists. These stickers are “rewards”
that men can affix to their cloth-
ing when they refrain from raping.
Ultimately, the question of who’s
responsible for rape should be in-
controvertible: it’s the rapists them-
selves. But Þórunn Antonía’s project,
whatever her intent, if nothing else
reveals that the question of respon-
sibility is anything but resolved.
Don’t listen to what
anyone tells you:
there are no delis in
Iceland.
Oh, you can find
pizza shops or the
occasional high-end
grocery store calling
itself a “deli.” But what
you’re not going to
find is a sandwich
shop where you
can choose from a
variety of meats and
cheeses for said
sandwich, or buy said
meats and cheeses
by specific weight.
Nor will you find such
deli mainstays as
corned beef, “Swiss”
cheese, or marble rye.
The fact is, Iceland
doesn’t really have
much of a sandwich
tradition. The
traditional Icelandic
sandwich is toasted
ham and cheese, and
more recently, subs.
The concept of a shop
where you can buy
meats and cheese
by specific weight,
and build sandwiches
from your choice
of bread, meats
and cheese is fairly
alien to the culture.
And when it comes
to getting meat or
cheese by specific
weights, you’ll also
have your luck cut
out for you, at least
in comparison to
the variety of your
typical deli. As such,
you will need to
search here and
there for things like
pastrami, marble rye
or Swiss cheese, and
construct your own
high end sandwiches
at home. If you do
happen to find such
individual items here
and there, good for
you. Tell everyone. And
then pool your money
together to open an
actual, real and true
deli—one other thing
that is, to our culinary
detriment, missing in
Iceland. PF
“Anti-Rape
Sticker” Sparks
Controversy And
Discussion
A campaign against sexual assault puts
the focus on responsibility—but whose?
We here in the northern hemi-
sphere have long tradition of
ghost stories, scaring each other
with tales from the dark side. Our
heritage as a book nation is also
strong so it should not come as
a surprise we are drawn to well
written crime novels.
Crime and deviance is a popu-
lar topic because it tends to be
shocking. Someone acting out
of the norm, breaking the rules
we live by and hold dearly. Rule
breakers are a threat to “us” the
“normal” people and raise feel-
ings such as disapproval, anger
and even horror.
But are Icelanders more emo-
tional or more interested in crime
compared to other nations? Some
would say that is not the case as
crime exists in almost all societ-
ies and raises the same negative
feelings. But others would argue
differently and point out that Ice-
landers have a different mental-
ity.
Historically we were an iso-
lated homogeneous nation with
a small population scattered
around the coastline and coun-
tryside. One could go on and ar-
gue that informal social control,
views of family, friends and the
community, needs to be strong in
societies of this type.
Each deviance from the norm
is therefore viewed as a threat
to the social order, discussed in
more detail, frowned upon and
condemned by the public.

Ágúst Mogensen
Lecturer in Sociology
University of Iceland
ASK AN…
Expert
Q: “ Why in a country
with so little crime are
Icelanders obsessed
with crime literature?”
Words:
Paul Fontaine
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“Do you honestly
think rapists
will stop raping
when they see a
sticker on
a glass?"
WHAT'S MISSING IN ICELAND
6The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 08 — 2017
Presenting the stickers alongside Jón Viðar and Gunnar Nelson from Mjölnir Þórunn Antonía
First
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