Iceland review - 2014, Qupperneq 23

line. People confront each other in a dispute rather than try to
achieve consensus. When it comes to politics, there’s a total lack
of consensus.”
out oF the spotlight
ingibjörg Sólrún goes even further to describe icelandic soci-
ety as a “bullying society.” “if a public figure does something
or says something that opens him or her up to criticism, then
everyone goes at that person. they’re chased by both the media
and politicians,” she argues. as far as she’s concerned, icelandic
society’s tendency towards bullying is a product of the country
being so small. “We are so few here in iceland. common par-
liamentarians—and actually this isn’t just in politics but in other
fields too—in the U.K. or the U.S. are more sheltered. there
are so many individuals on the stage there, and so many differ-
ent media organizations, that a public figure is not the subject
of all of them—unless of course they’re the president of the
United States,” she explains, adding that the proliferation of
social media use has also contributed to the intensity of being
in the spotlight.
She mentions iceland’s small society again when discussing
her personal experience as a female politician. While admit-
ting she doesn’t have experience from other countries, she feels
it is particularly difficult to be a female politician in iceland.
“there is less tolerance towards women than men in iceland.
many women have left politics, they’ve left the stage, because
it’s a very tough world that affects your family and private life.
Politics in iceland is such a hard game. i think it’s worse here
because iceland is so small. if you are someone who plays along,
someone in a team, then everything is all right. But, if you
want to establish your presence, then it can be very difficult.
Undoubtedly, this also applies to men but women have suffered
more as a result.”
ingibjörg Sólrún, who turns 60 at the end of this year, seems
content in her new role and with life in istanbul. it’s little
wonder listening to her that she’s decided not to return to
politics. “no, i’m not going back. i was in politics for 28 years.
Sometimes i feel that i should have quit earlier. i really felt it
when i quit, how much i had sacrificed my own quality of life by
being a public persona for so long. everything has its time.” *
eqUALitY
A couple says
“i do,” in Sumgait,
Azerbaijan.
Syrian refugees play war games in the safety of lebanon. the future is uncertain for this little Syrian girl, far from the destroyed village
where she was born.