A meeting with Eliza Reid, the First Lady of Iceland

“Secrets of the Sprakkar” is the title of the book written by Eliza Reid, the First Lady of Iceland. In her book, through stories about a number of Icelandic women, she presents what makes Iceland so special that it takes the title of the world’s best country for women year after year. On a sunny Sunday morning, a group of interesting Slovenian women, guests of Dr. Metka Tekavčič, Dean of the School of Economics and Business, and Sonja Šmuc, Honorary Consul to Iceland, discussed with the Canadian-born First Lady of Iceland the peculiarities of Iceland and Slovenia, which also ranks high on the gender equality index.

Although over the last century relations between the genders have changed enormously, women still do not have opportunities equal to those of men anywhere in the world – they earn less on average, do the bulk of managing household and family tasks, are more exposed to domestic violence and rarely advance to top positions in their field, particularly if these are reputable and well-paid. Despite the exemplary policies with which Iceland builds gender equality, Ms Reid pointed out that Iceland is not the world’s best country in this respect because it has already have achieved the desired balance between opportunities for men and women, but because no other country in the world has done more in this area. Most Icelandic women, from teenagers to pensioners, take part in a special “strike” – a day when women do not show up to work or perform any housework. Ms Reid gave the Slovenian female entrepreneurs, managers, professors, musicians and journalists a good laugh by describing the experience: “On this day the shops run out of frankfurters. They are all bought by fathers who have to make dinner for the children.” Gender equality in Iceland is a social value of which not only women are proud, highlighted Iceland’s First Lady, who was amazed about the stories and experiences from Slovenia.

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