Posted
October 24, 2016
Today
is the anniversary of a huge nation-wide strike – but in the
relatively not-very-wide nation of Iceland. On this date in 1975,
about 90% of all the women in the nation took part in a strike –
which means that they refused to work. Or cook. Or do housework. Or
take care of children. Instead, they joined almost all the other
women in the country, in the streets, in a gigantic nationwide
protest for equal rights.
Women
generally comprise a bit more than half of the population of any
given region or nation. They are as important as men, and they should
be acknowledged as such.
But
it wasn't until the gigantic Women's Day Off strike that many men
realized just how important women are to society.
Many
banks, factories, and shops had to close.
Schools
and nurseries had to close.
Many
fathers couldn't do anything other than take their children to work,
and there were excited crowds of kids in many offices and other
workplaces. Some of the men had to take time away from their usual
jobs to deal with the kids – and they found themselves trying to
bribe the kids with easy-to-cook meals of sausage or with sweets and
treats. So much so that sausages sold out partway through the day!
When
people listened to the news, to find out what was happening in other
corners of Iceland, they often heard the noises of children at the
radio station! And they found out that the Women's Day Off strike had
a humungous turnout!
Five
years later, a woman named Vigdis Finnbogadottir won the presidency
of Iceland. She was not just Iceland's first female president, but
the first in all of Europe. And she was the first woman in the entire world to be elected as the head of state in a democratic election!
And Vigdis Finnbogadottir held the position as president for 16 years.
Iceland has since been called the world's most feminist country!
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