The Icelandic Canadian - 01.05.2008, Page 28

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 61 #2
I 18
are: “The Window” by Herold (1899),
“The Messenger of Peace” by Bryhildur
(1907), and “They: A Biography in Few
Words” by Herold (1901). These particular
stories reflect her personal concerns:
human rights, women and their social
responsibilities, and poverty. These articles
advocated political, social, legal, and eco-
nomic equality for women. It appears that
Benedictsson was astute in utilizing “male
pen names” for many of her articles with
the knowledge that they would probably
receive serious consideration from male
and female readers. All three stories
appeared in issues of Freyja. Brief exerts
from each story, are included below:
The widow, who was now poor and
lonely, had no share in it, and her hus-
band’s work on “Human Rights” had in
their eyes no value. Charity for all mankind
was forgotten; at least it didn’t include the
widow in this instance. (Benedictsson,
from “The Widow” in Wolf, 1996, p. 76,
79)
She felt that he neglected the home,
because all her thoughts concerned his and
their children’s well-being . . .
How many men haven’t thought the
same?
She waited for him at home, tired and
worried, and worked and worked for him
and the children.
How many women haven’t done the
same? (Benedictsson, from
“They: A Biography in Few Words,”
in Wolf, 1996, p. 79-80)
Pale, skinny, and shivering women
suckled their babies at their breasts and fed
them the only kind of food they had so far
known, although they were almost a year
or more, because the scraps which society
gives to its outcasts are not suitable for
infants. And yet the world shouts: More
children! More children! Give us more
people. Nonetheless, mothers and children
starve. (Benedictsson, from “The
Messenger of Peace” in Wolf, 1996, p. 84)
The magazine drew attention to mar-
ried women who had no choice but to bear
children and Benedictsson urged the
province to become involved in social wel-
fare. She wanted to see a woman’s role
expanded outside the family into the public
sphere (i.e. provided opportunities for
employment outside the home in shops,
offices, and factories). She went so far as to
encourage women readers to use”the
weapon of love” to influence men to vote
for a candidate supporting equal rights for
women. This suggestion may have been
considered radical and presumptuous by
some women and not appreciated by their
spouses. Kinnear (1987) reinforces
Benedictsson’s concept of equal rights:
While never disowning a woman’s role
as wife and mother, Benedictsson wished
to see the woman in the family recognized
as an equal partner, as in a business con-
cern. But there was no doubt that she
wished to see woman’s role expand out of
the family and into public life. She was
interested in more than new opportunities
for professional and bourgeois women.
Benedictsson also emphasized the need to
improve conditions for working class
women, (p. 26)
She attempted to convert as many
women and men to the cause of equal
rights for women as possible. Kinnear
(1982) explained the political environment:
“Nineteenth-century politicians had resist-
ed moves which could serve to detach a
woman from her dependence on a family
setting. Twentieth-century feminists
worked to wean the family away from its
patriarchal tendencies, but did not them-
selves deny the central place of the mother
within the family” (p. 155). For many years
at the turn of the century, the Icelandic suf-
frage leaders, including Benedictsson, were
alone in carrying on a sustained campaign
for women’s voting rights in Manitoba
(Kristjanson, c. 1965, p. 373). But, Kinnear
(1987) clarifies the differences in
Benedictsson’s approach, Benedictsson’s
inspiration was different from that of
Manitoba “mainliners.” So was her religion
and her ethnic background....most of the
leaders of the Canadian women’s move-
ment were Methodist or Presbyterian, with
a few from Anglican or other denomina-
tions....Benedictsson shared one passion