Tag Archives: gender equality

Iceland is a Leading Feminist Country and Here’s Why

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Stunning Icelandic Sky

Beautiful sky in the feminist country of Iceland. Photo via Pixabay, CC0 Public Domain.

Iceland. A country, an island, and a feminist nation. I’ve never been there, but I would like to go one day to see the sun at midnight in summer and experience the society that empowers women. Iceland’s feminist-based ideology is one that I can wholeheartedly get behind.

Iceland and the Working Woman

The Economist recently chose Iceland as the best place for working women. The Nordic country got a better score on the index for women and work than Canada (11th place) and the United States (19th place). The UK was in 24th spot.

Let’s dig deeper into The Economist‘s findings. In Iceland, women have close to half (44 percent) of seats on listed-company boards. This is thanks to voluntary political-party quotas.

And, get this: Women achieved 48 percent of seats in Iceland’s parliament in 2016. This was (and is) a huge accomplishment as, according to the Huffington Post, Iceland was the first country to have that many women in a single legislative body. Wow. Compare that to the 19 percent of women in Congress in the U.S.

Furthermore, the Guide to Iceland explains that women compose 66 percent of total university graduates and that 80 percent of women in Iceland work. These numbers show that the small island is progressive, and makes noteworthy strides in gender equality largely because women have taken matters into their own hands.

A Feminist Looks Ahead in Iceland

A vision for gender equality in Iceland. Making strides as a feminist island nation. Photo via Pixabay, CC0 Public Domain.

Iceland’s Advancements in Gender Equality

By now you may be asking yourself, why is Iceland closer to achieving gender equality than Canada, the U.S., and so many other countries? Looking back at the island nation’s history helps provide insights.

For centuries, Icelandic women were at home while their husbands went to sea. The women were responsible for getting the food, creating the home and making sure everything didn’t hit the fan. They made sure money was spent reasonably and helped the country grow.

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For International Women’s Day 2017: 5 Women Reaching for Gender Equality

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Fighting Gender Equality is Hard Work, Like Exercise

Let’s Aim for Women and Men to be Equals.

The day is almost here! March 8th is International Women’s Day (IWD) 2017. I hope this special day will be full of actions that help move the world toward being gender equal. On IWD, which dates back to 1908, let’s celebrate the accomplishments of women around the globe. Here are five of the many women championing for equal rights for women:

Manal al-Sharif

As a women’s rights activist from Saudi Arabia, Manal al-Sharif inspired a campaign for women’s right to drive. She went against the ban on women driving in Saudi Arabia and was imprisoned for nine days after filming herself driving a vehicle and then posting it to YouTube.

Her 2011 Women2Drive campaign put pressure on the government to change the law, particularly when social media picked up the story of this woman who questioned why women did not have the same rights as men. She continues to speak out about female oppression in her country.

Alma Gomez

In the northern Mexican state of Chihuahua, Alma Gomez campaigns against feminicide. She co-wrote a chapter of the Terrorizing Women: Feminicide in the Americas book, as well as penning several articles on the killing of women who were involved in human rights causes.

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Science Fiction Writing: It’s Not Just a Man’s World

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Well, of course, the title makes sense, right? I mean, why shouldn’t women write sci-fi too? But the jarring truth is that men are still being spotlighted much more often than women for their science fiction stories, even though both genders are writing it.

Men Getting the Sci-Fi Spotlight

The focus on men in the science fiction genre has been going on far too long. This point applies to both the authors and the characters in the books. Yet you only have to look back to Mary Shelley to see that women have been writing sci-fi for a long time! But time and again women struggle to get the attention of men writing in the genre.

For example, last week when I was on Google.ca (I’m in Canada) I searched the term “sci fi writers.” Up came photos of 10 well-known authors in the Science Fiction genre and (wait for it) they’re all men. Here’s what I saw:

science-fiction-writers-search

There’s Isaac Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke, Ray Bradbury, Charles Stross, and more. Please understand I’m not saying these aren’t talented writers. The point, though: Where are the women? Because there certainly ARE women who in the sci-fi world.

It’s like we’re just replaying the all-male shortlist for the Arthur C. Clarke Award again and again. And it’s frustrating that sometimes people aren’t willing to look around for a more diverse pool of authors for awards.

YES, women writers in Science Fiction do exist, and they are awesome. You only have to look so far as Natacha Guyot to prove it.

Science Fiction Writers, Including Natacha Guyot

I recently purchased Natacha Guyot’s sci-fi tale Dream Crusher. She has visited my other blog Poetic Parfait a few times, where she’s blown me away with her analyses of sci-fi works and her love of spaceships. If you missed Natacha’s series at her site on #SciFi Women Interviews, I highly recommend it too. You’ll read about female writers who adore writing in this genre and the compelling story-lines they’re creating for readers.

Of course, there are many, many women writing about science fiction. It’s just that men Continue reading →