Iceland woman





The women of Iceland
Iceland woman ( Icelandic woman ) like to say that their independence comes from a long history of having to tame the land while their men were off at sea, but whatever the explanation, this is not a country where you will find many women staying in the house. In fact, 90 percent of Iceland woman (women) have jobs outside the home, and many of them, including former President Finnbogadottir (she retired in 1996) are single mothers. Unlike they do in most western cultures, Iceland women do not change their last names when they get married - a fact that sometimes confuses outsiders.

In North mythology, they are known as the valkyrurs - the beautiful and powerful women of Odin who escort slain warriors to the heavenly gates of Valhalla. In modern-day Iceland, the term has become interchangeable with the Iceland woman (women) themselves who, with the 1980 election of Vigdis Finnbogadottir as the world's first female head of state, have pioneered a culture where inequality between the sexes is shrinking every day.

A perfect example of the kind of no-nonsense, in-your-face feminism that takes place here occurred in 1975, when the Iceland woman (women) decided that they would mark the beginning of the United Nations Women's Decade by going on strike. For a whole day, the country essentially ceased to function.

Iceland woman (women) have been resourceful through the centuries. Since we did not have much food women of Iceland had to feed there children with what they had. We became stronger and independent as time went by. We got our rights to vote 1918 at that time Reykjavik was in it infancy and many people were moving from the country to the capital. Iceland is build on a hot spot so we have hot springs here. The Icelandic women used to do there laundry in "þvottalaugar" Laundry springs.

Laundry Springs
Þvottalaugarnar, The Laundry Springs, were located in Laugardalur, about 3 kms (2 miles) from the town centre. The women of Reykjavík used to carry the laundry there and back again. The illustration is made after 1902, which is when the guardrails were built, after a Iceland woman had fallen into the springs, and later died of her severe burns. The main street in Reykjavík for a long time was Laugavegur, Hot Spring Road.Another thing I came to realize is that the nurturing and maintenance jobs hold the world together. Their social worth is inestimable. The Iceland woman (women) of Iceland made that point dramatically one day in 1975. All the women in the country, paid and unpaid, took a day off and gathered together for a discussion of women's rights. In the words of one observer, "the wheels of society came to a screeching halt, and no one questioned the value of women's work again."

Why Iceland have so much of beautiful women
My ancestors, the Vikings, populated Iceland. These adventuresome chaps would gather the most beautiful women from the villages they raided and then take them back to Iceland. They instinctively knew that the best looking women would be good mothers (they were a bunch of horndogs). Beautiful people are treated differently in society. They are given more attention, more opportunity, and thought of with more respect. The women of Iceland are complete knockouts: Blond, Blue Eyed, Big Breasted (well, most of them anyway). With the previous statement in mind let's think about the topic of beauty. The old master painters loved plump and curvy women.

Iceland girls
In Iceland, girls have the name of their fathers with -dottir (daughter) as an addition, so it is not a matronym. I believe that inSweden into the 19th century, this was also still known in some areas.

If a girls name is Linda Kjartansdottir then her fathers name is Kjartan, and it is the same with the Icelandic boys except they get the son ending. If a boys name is Andres Magnusson his fathers name is Magnus. This have been a problem in the past when people are booking a room. For example when my parents went first time to USA they had reserved a room in advanced. When they arrived they got two separated rooms one for Oskar Nikulasson and the other for Iris Ingibergsdottir.

Return from Iceland woman to home page
Return to Hot Icelandic girls from Iceland woman