Kvennaárið 1975 - The Year of Women 1975
- Bryndís Viglundsdóttir
- 7 minutes ago
- 7 min read
By Bryndís Víglundsdóttir
The United Nations General Assembly declared that the year 1975 should be dedicated to matters pertaining to all women. Icelandic women joined forces in the beginning of 1975 planning the activities of the year. A very well attended conference was held in June where the reality of life of the women in Iceland was looked at and the question asked: What changes do we want to see? The Red stockings (a group of women advocating changes now - not just sometime in the future) proposed that women should not work for one day, thus demonstrating how society would function without the female work force, both out in the community and in the homes. The proposal was accepted.
Women from different clubs and organizations were chosen to arrange the festivities on the chosen day, which was October 24th, the official day of the United Nations. Demonstrations and festivities were planned in most villages and communities of the country, and in Reykjavík, a rally at Lækjartorg was planned. The committee formed to organize the day of the Kvennafrí, held many meetings, and the minutes from the meetings were brought to the Women's History Archives. Parts of the story will be shared in this article.
We will look at how the Icelandic women embraced the idea of “The Year of Women” as suggested by the United Nations and celebrated the first Kvennafrí, October 1975.
When the story of Kvennafrí has been presented there will be a chapter of my personal experience of the day and what it did for me. I go to my own smithy for those thoughts.
24 October 1975
The day had finally arrived when women would gather at Lækjartorg, praise womanhood and let their voices be heard.
My two sisters and I met with our daughters at our parents’ house and together with our mother we walked downtown for the celebration. There were streams of women, single or in clans like we were, all heading downtown. This looked like there would be a good turnout!
When we saw the square there was not an open spot. All the streets opening to the square were also packed. Where did all these women come from? Never did I think there were so many women in Reykjavík! It has been estimated that about 25,000 women were gathered downtown in Reykjavík that day. There was no anger, no shouts- just talking, listening and singing. We were celebrating womanhood and being visible. Some held banners that said “Equality Now”! This was going to be something. And it was something.
There were speeches, songs written for the gathering, poetry read, personal addresses given, the entire group of women singing and there was electricity in the air! Women of all ages contributed in word and song.
Women of Iceland made a vow to be heard and be seen in all corners of our society and on all plains of our country equal to the male population.
The women of Iceland met to protest strongly but peacefully the injustice so many women had to cope with, every day at home and in their workplace.
The absence of the women from work that day should shed some light on the importance of the work women delivered daily.
Kvennafrí has been held six times since 1975 in the years 1985, 2005, 2010, 2016, 2018 and 2023. All information about the Kvennafrí is kept in The Women's History Archives.
There was a refrain in one of the songs that had been written for the meeting. The song is about our situation through the ages and the need to change that situation. It said: “Well, do I dare? Do I want to? Can I ?”. These were questions aimed at the situation the song was describing, and the answer came in the refrain: “Yes, I dare, I can and I will.”
I went home with this refrain sounding in my mind.
Did this make any personal difference to me? It most certainly did.
I headed a school at that time where college graduates, mostly girls and young women were being educated to work with, train and teach children and youth with special needs. The profession was not highly regarded and the salaries were pitiful. A change was needed for the profession and consequently for their clients and their families. For that to happen more education, more courses, and more training “on the floor” was needed, and that again called for more and steadier funds to run the school.
I was often told by the authorities to forget it! There was no need to be training or trying to teach these retarded individuals, wiping their nose was surely enough.
Prior to this I had been studying special education at Boston University and then I taught a few years at the Perkins School for the Blind in Boston. The attitude and spirit at Perkins was and is that we should use our resources, material and mental, to make life for our clients as rich and good as Nature allows. I was working at building paths for that Perkins spirit into our institutions. After the meeting on Lækjartorg 1975 the refrain I mentioned was like my daily prayer: “Yes, I dare, I can and I will!” The changes were realized and are now a blessing for many.
I, like so many who participated in the meeting on Lækjartorg 1975, continued to draw strength from the spirit of the gathering.
My daughter who at that time was 6 years old came with me to the meeting at Lækjartorg. It was a long meeting with many speeches given, and I was a bit concerned that she would become tired. When we came home her young face was lit with a smile and she said, “Mamma, I love being a woman, it is so much fun!”
Did something change?
I was brought up on a different planet than we live on now. The structure of the home was very different from homes nowadays. The man was the master of the house and the breadwinner; he held the strings of the purse and in many families his word was the law. In my childhood home there were few serious rules set. We learned fairly good behavior from the dealings with our parents and spending time with them and other fine adults. The rules taught to us were about safety at home and out in the open nature. Then there were the rules about behavior towards others and what behavior to expect and even demand from others toward us.
I never managed to thank my mother well enough for instilling in me these attitudes at a young age. My mother also taught me, in her quiet manner, that my opinions mattered and were worth something. Having finished grade school I was accepted to the Kvennaskóli (School for girls) and having graduated from there I wanted to go to college (Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík).
There was, however, a problem. My father said I had no business going to college, you will “just get married and have many kids”, said he. My mother on the other hand talked privately to me and said: “If you want to go to college you should do that. I will make sure you get food here and there will be a place for you to sleep. I will manage your father.” I don't know how she “managed” my father. I went to college and no one was prouder than my father when I graduated from Menntaskólinn in Reykjavík!
I tell this story here because it is an example of women supporting each other. That is what the Kvennafrí did so very well.
Some Changes since 1975
Allow me to tell you a story that is really about changes.
I had just begun my work at the school and needed some information from a similar school in Denmark. This was in the year 1968, long before the Internet and all the easy information we draw from there, so I went to the government office where I would find the phone number.
The man who found the phone number for me was a lawyer. He asked me what I needed the number for and I told him I was looking at and evaluating teaching material for my students. Then he said: “I will make the call for you.” “Thank you” said I, “but that will not be necessary.” “Oh, yes”, said he, “you certainly cannot make a call to a foreign country”.
A lot of changes have happened in Iceland since 1975.
First of all we elected our beloved Vigdís Finnbogadóttir as our president 1980.
Today we have another female president, Halla Tómasdóttir
And we have:
The Prime Minister- Kristrún Frostadóttir
The Minister of Health- Alma Möller
The Minister of Foreign Affairs- Þorgerður Katrín Gunnarsdóttir
The Chief of Police- Sigríður Björk Guðjónsdóttir
The Bishop of Iceland- Guðrún Karls Helgudóttir
The Surgeon General – María Heimisdóttir
Chief Epidemiologist- Guðrún Aspelund
The Rector of the University of Iceland-Silja Bára Ómarsdóttir
The Rector of the University of Reykjavík- Ragnhildur Helgadóttir
The Rector of the University of Akureyri-Áslaug Ásgeirsdóttir
The Rector of the University of Bifröst – Margrét Jónsdóttir Njarðvík
You see that there have been some changes in Icelandic society since 1975! These women, and many more, are clearly trusted to make calls to “the outlands.”
It is good and safe to be a woman in Iceland. Yet, it is correct to ask if everything is as it should be. The answer is no.
We are not at all there. Equal pay to men and women for comparable work is not reliably established in the private sector. Domestic violence is still going on. Most of the incidents involve men who use their muscles on women. There are other maladies in our society even if our authorities are working hard with the citizens at keeping life good on our island.
Yes, we dare, we can, and we will do just that.
