From the Feminist Front: Walking the Walk of Equality

Just imagine, if you can, a political party that bills itself as The Feminist Party, with a platform addressing rape laws, the wage gap, inequality in parental leaves, and other women-centered issues. Sounds like a good feminist utopia novel, or a women’s studies classroom, but, of course, it’s Sweden.

“The former leader of the Swedish Left party, Gudrun Schyman, has initiated a new Swedish feminist party, Feministiskt Initiativ.”

Here in the Tennessee, we’re damn lucky if we can find a politician who will say the F word, let alone be it.

Thanks to Blogshrub and Feministe for the heads up on the recent New York Times story, with the grim news that Sweden has far to go before it is truly a feminist utopia. And we knew that, but over here in the U.S., where our leaders advocate prayer for birth control and mothers leave their children in the car while they’re at work cause they can’t afford childcare, well, it looks like utopia.

An Amnesty International report on Sweden’s high rates of domestic violence served as a startling wake-up call to the Swedes. Hell, they’re so far ahead of most countries in equality measures that they apparently coasted on this issue. If Sweden were a man, we’d all be raving about him, not because he wouldn't have lapses into sexist pigism, but because next to all the other men he would look perfect.

In a world dominated by the principle of male supremacy, the only path to sanity and equality is an overt pro-active one. Here in the U.S., the primary equality policy is to advise the women to pull themselves up by their bootstraps (and the boots should have high heels and pointed toes).

And there's yet more news from the part of the world where they walk the walk of equality. Norway gives big business an ultimatum: Get women on your boards (at least 40%) or face shut down!

I don’t know what’s wrong with those odd Norwegians. Why do they think women are so important? [sarcasm]


Related Post