On the 24th of october in 1975, approximately 90% of Icelandic women struck for equality, not attending jobs or doing any domestic work. Iceland passed an equal pay law the following year, but the strike has been repeated on its anniversary several times since, such as in the years 2005, 2010, and 2016.
The strike was planned by “The Women’s Congress”, which had met on June 20th and 21st earlier that year. Among the reasons given for going on strike were pay inequality, lack of women in union leadership, and a general lack of recognition for the value and skill of domestic labor.
During the work stoppage, also known as “Women’s Day Off”, 25,000 people gathered in Reykjavik, Iceland’s capital city, for a rally. There, women listened to speakers, sang, and talked to each other about what could be done to achieve gender equality in Iceland.
Women from many different backgrounds spoke, including a housewife, two members of parliament, and a worker. The last speech of the day was by Aðalheiður Bjarnfreðsdóttir, who “represented Sókn, the trade union for the lowest paid women in Iceland”, according to The Guardian.
In 1976, the Icelandic government passed an equal pay law, and the country elected its first female President, Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, five years later in 1980.
The 1975 Women’s Strike also helped inspire the 2016 “Black Monday” anti-abortion ban protests in Poland, as well as the “International Women’s Strike”, single day work stoppages on March 8th, 2017 and 2018.
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Idk,I see your posts often,but this is an alien mindset to me
I think it’s great you feel this strongly about making connections with others,but I personally gave up
CW:Very dark thoughts
I’m a young guy,but looking at the abyss of the future and seeing nothing but death and carnage kinda makes me think even bothering to do all this is pointless. I barely got my life,but to care about someone else in a deeply emotional way when war could break out and I could lose them and everything else seems like it’s all for nothing. I’m not suicidal,just to be clear,I like to live,but I’m kinda just living for the sake of living my life, without anyone else in it. I guess one upside to the alienation of capitalism is that I can go through this much easier than if a more communal structure existed. Of course,that isn’t to say there’s no hope,but I think the fruits of whatever work we will do this century will only be enjoyed by the next generations,and not us,so I just kinda gave up on fulfillment and I settled with comfort and routine.
(How long I’ll have this,is anyone’s guess,with tensions ratcheting up in Eastern Europe,but we’ll see)
But,I’m glad to know there are people out there who still are passionate about this stuff and are trying their best to connect with others and find happiness,so I wish you godspeed and good luck in your life!