Why Iceland is the best place in the world to be a woman
Since 1975, the Nordic country has blazed the trail in gender equality and now, from infancy to maternity, women and girls enjoy a progressive lifestyle. But how did they achieve it?
Rebekka is so tiny that, even on her tiptoes, arms aloft, she cannot reach. So her teacher lifts her up to the unvarnished wooden monkey bar. One, two, three, her classmates count. She hangs on, determinedly. When she reaches 10, she jumps to the ground. I am strong, she shouts proudly.
Its an ordinary morning for this single-sex class of three-year-olds at Laufsborg nursery school in Reykjavik. No dolls or cup-cake decorating on the lesson plan here. Instead, as Margrt Pla lafsdttir, the schools founder, tells me: We are training [our girls] to use their voice. We are training them in physical strength. We are training them in courage.
Its a fascinating approach to education. And a popular one. In a country of only 330,000 people, there are 19 such primary and nursery schools, empowering girls from an early age.
For the past six years, Iceland has topped the World Economic Forums gender gap index and looks likely to do so again this week. The Economist recently named Iceland the worlds best place for working women in comparison, the UK came in at No. 24. lafsdttirs philosophy seems to sit well with the nations progressive accomplishments, but her network of schools has been going for less than 20 years. So, if preschoolers trained in feminism arent the reason for this gender success story, what is?
History may provide us with clues. For centuries, this seafaring nations women stayed at home as their husbands traversed the oceans. Without men at home, women played the roles of farmer, hunter, architect, builder. They managed household finances and were crucial to the countrys ability to prosper.