Before going to Iceland, the main things I knew about it were:
1. The band "Of Monsters and Men" originated there
2. They have a TON of geothermal energy (renewable energy coming from heat produced underground)
3. It has over a hundred volcanoes and thousands of earthquakes per year
3. It was settled by vikings
4. And, of course, ICE! (glaciers, that is)
All of these things certainly proved true when I traveled there this past fall with an Environmental Science class on Climate Change.
What I learned, however, was that Iceland also had a very interesting history of feminism. This originated with the viking culture, since men and women were often given similar societal roles. Today, Iceland is considered one of the best countries to be a woman in! Seriously, you can read about it here.
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| Photo from TIME |
This is Johanna Sigurdardottir. I should probably explain her crazy-sounding last name. Icelandic last names are very different from those in the US; The first part (Sigurdar) refers to her father's first name and the second part (dottir) means "daughter of." Cool, huh?
Johanna Sigurdardottir has been serving in the Icelandic government since 1978 and was elected Prime Minister in 2009. She is Iceland's first female Prime Minister and the world's first openly lesbian head of government!
Johanna was elected during an extreme economic crisis. She has since helped the economy recover significantly and led Iceland to join the EU.
With it's stunning landscape, geological wonders, and progressive views on gender, Iceland is easily my favorite place I've ever been!
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