When 90% of Icelandic women went on strike

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https://icelandmag.is/article/1975-womens-strike-when-90-icelandic-women-went-strike-protest-gender-inequality

The 1975 Women's Strike: When 90% of Icelandic women went on strike to protest gender inequality

BY STAFF |OCT 24 2018


On October 24 1974, Icelandic women observed what was called Kvennafrídagurinn, (The Women's Day Off), known outside Iceland as the Icelandic Women's Strike. It was estimated that at least 90% of Icelandic women participated by not going to work and by doing no housework. An estimated 25,000 women gathered for mass a demonstration in downtown Reykjavík. The total population of Iceland was only 216,695 at the time. Mass meetings and demonstrations were also organized in smaller towns around Iceland.

The Redstockings
The year 1975 had been declared the International Women's Year by the United Nations. Icelandic women's rights organizations, including representatives of the Redstockings, a group of radical feminists and women's rights activists, agreed that a women's general strike would be a powerful event. By walking off their jobs and refusing to do unpaid housework women could draw attention to their contribution to the economy and society.

In an effort to blunt the radical edge of the action and make the event more appealing to the mass of the population the planning committee settled on calling it a "day off." The decision was also motivated by fear that if the action was called a strike women who participated could be accused of engaging in a wildcat strike. Since wildcat strikes are illegal in Iceland, women could be fired for participating in a "strike" but not a "day off".
A giant gender pay gap

The action succeeded in paralyzing the Icelandic economy, forcing businesses and government offices to shut down. The next days local newspapers ran stories about men who had to do the dishes for the first time, bring their children with them to work and prepare dinner. Stores ran out of simple foods which only need boiling, like sausages (bjúgu) and hot dogs.

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