Tag: society

Great Swedish Women Part 7: The Leaders

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

Since March 8th, I have been republishing a series to celebrate Great Swedish Women, past and present: women with strength and passion, women who create change. Today is the final day – and a new post.

Never in the history of Swedish politics have so many women had such powerful leadership positions as today.

We have come a long way since 1919, when women won the right to vote in Parliamentary elections and in 1921 when the first five women were voted in as MP’s. It took 65 years until 1986, when Karin Söder was the first female party leader to be elected.

However, today six of the eight political parties in the Swedish Parliament have a female leader. These six politicians are, as seen in the picture below: Ebba Busch (Christian Democrats), Magdalena Andersson (Social Democrats and Sweden’s first female Prime Minister), Annie Lööf (Center Party), Märta Stenevi (The Greens), Nyamko Sabuni (Liberals) and Nooshi Dadgostar (Left Party). They stretch all across the political spectrum from left to right.

In the Swedish Parliament 46.1% of the MP’s are female, making it the highest proportion of women in any European Parliament. Only four other countries in the world have a higher female representation, with Rwanda in the number 1 position at 61%.

(Source: Worldbank Data 2020)

Great Swedish Women Part 6 – The Activist

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

Since March 8th,  I have been republishing a series to celebrate Great Swedish Women, past and present: women with strength and passion, women who create change.

aleksa

Part 7 – transactivist, journalist and actor Aleksa Lundberg.

Aleksa Lundberg was born with the wrong body. She was born with a boy’s body and at the age of 22, she underwent corrective surgery and became physically a woman. She is the first actor in Sweden to have undergone gender reorientation. She is a strong, proud Swedish woman. But her transition hasn’t necessarily been smooth sailing – as a transwoman, she has experienced hate, disgust, rejection and ridicule.

Today Aleksa is a transactivist and works hard to change society’s view about transgender men and women and to reinforce the trans perspective in society and politics. She is a vocal representative and a fierce, sometimes provocative, oponent who is frequently seen in debate programs on television and in other media.

Aleksa’s political message is actually very simple. She wants to strengthen the rights of transgender people and also change the whole of society. Everybody, regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation, handicap should feel accepted, needed and loved. In a recent interview, she says:

‘Our sexuality doesn’t choose men or women. In the end, it’s about choosing a person. For me, it’s more about politics than romance that love is the the meaning of life. I hope that we can have a world where everyone actually understands that.’

Who can argue with that? Love is the key. Long live Queen Aleksa.

 

Great Swedish Women -Part 5 – The Legend 

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

Since March 8th was International Women’s Day, I  am republishing my series on Great Swedish Women, past and present. I hope you want to join me in celebrating them.

Part 5 – the vengeful Viking Blenda.

In the county of Småland in Southern Sweden, there is a legend about a brave Viking woman named Blenda.

According to legend, the menfolk of Småland were at war in Norway, leaving the women and children alone and defenceless. The Danes learned of this and chose this moment to invade and attack the region.  Blenda was a woman of noble descent and she decided to rally the hundreds of women from Albo, Konga, Kinnevald, Norrvidinge and Uppvidinge. The women armies assembled on the Brávellir, which according to Smålandish tradition is located in Värend.

The women approached the Danes and told them how much they were impressed with Danish men. They invited the men to a banquet and provided them with food and drink. After a long evening, the Danish warriors fell asleep and the women killed every single one of them with axes and staffs.

When the king returned, he bestowed new rights on the women. They acquired equal inheritance with their brothers and husbands, the right always to wear a belt around their waists as a sign of eternal vigilance and the right to beat the drum at weddings and to wear armour.

There have been various disputes about the validity of this legend, if and when it happened. One theory is that it happened around the year 500. At this time, female soldiers existed in Sweden. Called Shieldmaidens, three hundred are known to have fought during the great Battle of Bråvalla in 750. If you’ve seen the successful series ‘Vikings’, you will be familiar with these women.

Blenda is perhaps the first known woman in a long line of strong Swedish women who defend themselves from aggressors and contribute to better equal rights between the sexes.

Great Swedish Women Part 3 – The Creator

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

Since March 8th was International Women’s Day, I am republishing my series on Great Swedish Women. I hope you want to join me in celebrating them.

astrid lindgren

Part 3: writer Astrid Lindgren, creator of the strongest girl in the world.

When I moved to Sweden, I vaguely knew  about writer Astrid Lindgren. It wasn’t until I arrived here that I understood what impact she has had on generations of Swedish children, and not least on generations of girls. The creator of fictional character Pippi Longstocking (Långstrump in Swedish) showed girls that it is ok to be strong, to be independent, to be different and to be the best.

Astrid Lindgren grew up in Näs, Sweden, and many of her books are based on her family and childhood memories and landscapes. Her most famous character Pippi Longstocking was invented for her daughter to amuse her while she was ill in bed.

She wrote many classic stories – the most famous being  Emil in Lönnerberga, Karlsson on the Roof, the Six Bullerby Children, Mio my Mio, The Brothers Lionheart and, my personal favourite Ronja the Robber’s Daughter. Her fiction formed the backdrop of the childhood of many Swedish children and, even today for children around the globe.

She is the fourth most published childrens’ author in the world and has to date sold around 144 million books in 95 different languages. She received many awards during her life and was known for her support for  children’s and animal rights and her opposition to corporal punishment.

Astrid is a national icon in Sweden and her image currently decorates the 20 kronor note.

At her funeral in Stockholm’s Cathedral in 2002, Sweden’s King and Queen and other Royals were in attendance reflecting her importance and contribution to Swedish culture.

Astrid Lindgren gave strength to young Swedish girls and helped them to believe in themselves. In the confident words of the strongest girl in the world, Pippi Longstocking, :

‘I’ve never done that before so I’m sure I can do it’. 

 

 

 

 

 

Great Swedish Women Part 2 – The Prosecutor

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

March 8th was International Women’s Day.

I am republishing my series on Great Swedish Women, past and present: women with strength and passion, women with a voice, women who create change.

For seven days, one per day. I hope you want to join me in celebrating them.

massifritz

Part 2 – Swedish lawyer and prosecutor Elisabeth Massi Fritz.

On 24 June 1999, a 19 year old woman by the name of Pela Atroshi was murdered in a honour-related crime. The murder occured when she was visiting her family in Irak. Killed by her two uncles and her father, the crime was witnessed by Pela’s mother Fatima and sister Breen. The case was concluded with life time sentences for the two uncles. Pela’s father lives in Irak, where Pela is buried in an unmarked grave for bringing dishonour to her family.

In the court, in Sweden, Breen testified against her uncles which led to the conviction. She was represented by lawyer Elisabeth Massi Fritz.  After this case, Elisabeth Massi Fritz became known as one of Sweden’s leading lawyers and prosecutors, and Sweden’s only lawyer specialising in honour crimes. She stands up for the victims of crime, many of them women, and is an active contributor in the debate against honour crimes in Sweden.

Born in Motala, Sweden, to Christian Syrian parents, Elisabeth Massi Fritz personally gained insight into honour culture as she was not allowed to have a boyfriend or to move away to study. At the age of 19, she defied her family and moved to Stockholm to study law. 

Today, she runs a legal firm where she employs only female staff and where they specialise in defending the victims of crime and prosecuting the perpetrator. She has worked on many high profile cases, such as the rape cases against plastic surgeon Carl-Åke Troilius and the Chief of Police Göran Lindberg, both of which resulted in prison sentences for the accused.

In 2017, she was one of the front-runners in the Swedish MeToo movement and for the change of the Sexual Crime Act in 2018. (Which was changed to a law of consent).

Elisabeth Massi Fritz continues to fight injustice and is the champion of the victim of crime.

 

Great Swedish Women Part 1 – The Catalyst

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

Today, March 8th, is International Women’s Day.

In support, I am re publishing my series on Great Swedish Women, past and present: women with stength and passion, women with a voice, women who create change.

For seven days, I will write about these Great Swedish Women, one per day. I hope you want to join me in celebrating them.

Fredrikabremer

First out is the 1800’s writer and feminist reformer Fredrika Bremer, a kind of Swedish Jane Austen and one of the catalysts of the early feminist movement in Sweden.

Many of the women’s rights that we take for granted in Sweden today did not exist in the Fredrika Bremer’s time. For example, in 1800’s Sweden, women were not free to educate themselves as they liked, marry as they liked, live as they wanted, to have economic independence or to vote in elections. Married women were controlled in all manner by their husbands, unmarried women by their closest male relative.

Fredrika Bremer was born into this kind of society in 1801 in Åbo, Sweden, which today is part of Finland. At the age of three, her family moved to Stockholm where Fredrika and her sisters were raised to marry well.

Fredrika found the limited and passive family life of Swedish women of her time suffocating and she described her family as “under the oppression of a male iron hand’. Fredrika never was forced under the shackles of marriage, so had a certain level of independence inaccessible to married women at that time.

Throughout her adult life, she became a world traveler, an accomplished author (at first anonymously) and a political activist. She was very interested in social reform regarding gender equality and social work and she participated actively in debates around women’s rights in Sweden.

Fredrika Bremer was a catalyst of the first real feminist movement in Sweden. There is much in modern day Sweden to thank her for. In 1853, she started by co-founding the ‘Stockholm Women’s Fund for Childcare’ and the following year, the ‘Women’s Society for the Improvement of Prisoners’. 

However, it was in her novel, Hertha (1856) that she issued in most change, making it probably her most influential literary work. In the book, she wrote about the lack of freedom for women, which subsequently raised a debate in the parliament called “The Hertha debate”. This directly contributed to a new favourable law for adult unmarried women in Sweden in 1858, and was a starting point for the campaign for women’s rights in Sweden. Hertha also raised the debate of higher formal education for women and, in 1861, the University for Women Teachers was founded by the Swedish state.

In 1860, Fredrika helped to fund Tysta Skolan, a school for the deaf and mute in Stockholm. Now an established and respected citizen and patron, she supported giving women the vote in the electoral reforms of 1862. In the same year, women of legal age were granted this in municipal elections in Sweden. The first real women’s rights movement in Sweden, the ‘Fredrika Bremer Association’, founded by Sophie Adlersparre in 1884, was named after her, 19 years after her death.

Fredrika Bremer’s leaves a legacy of equality and autonomy behind her. Her legacy extends far beyond Sweden’s borders. Not only is she recognised as an influencial writer and reformer, but the town of Frederika in Bremer County Iowa, USA is named after her.

 

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Sweden and Ukraine – Yellow and Blue

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

Because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, many official buildings in Sweden are flying the Ukrainian flag in solidarity. The authorities want to show that Sweden stands side by side with Ukraine in their time of need.

The Ukrainian flag, like the Swedish flag, is yellow and blue. The Swedish flag is a yellow cross on a blue background. The Swedish flag was initiated in the early 1500’s and the yellow is said to represent gold and blue represent the sea. Sweden depicted itself as a wealthy sea-faring realm.

Psychologically, the blue represents justice, loyalty, truth, vigilance and perseverance. The yellow represents generosity.

The colours on the Ukrainian flag represent something else. The blue represents the sky, and the yellow represents the wheat fields that are so important to the country’s identity and economy. The flag was first hoisted in 1848.

On a psychological level , the yellow in the Ukrainian flag is said to represent joy and the blue represents calm.

I am sure we all hope that the people of Ukraine experience both again very soon.

Swedish Valentine – All Hearts’ Day’

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

Like many places around the world, Swedes celebrate Valentine’s Day today, on February 14th. Called ‘Alla Hjärtans Dag’ – All Hearts’ Day – it is a newish tradition that started around 50 years ago, but didn’t really gain traction until the 1990’s.

American influence and commercialization are often cited as the reasons for this. I also think that it’s a timing issue – the month of February is an otherwise boring time of year in Sweden. A little celebration is a small distraction from the tedium.

In Sweden, Valentine’s wishes are not only limited to love interests, but also extended to children, friends and even school teachers.

Romantically, the most common Valentine’s gifts are flowers, and treating your loved one to a nice dinner, in a restaurant or at home. Approximately 10 million red roses are sold around this day, which is huge considering the population is also 10 million.

Heart-shaped candy is also popular, and in Sweden the most common is ‘jelly hearts’. Sales of chocolate and candy apparently increase by 90% every year around Valentine’s Day.

So, I might not have flowers or chocolates to give you, but I’d like to wish each of you a Happy Valentine’s Day. I appreciate that you want to read my writing, and in return I send you some loving energy. I hope you have love and affection in your life and that, now most Covid restrictions are lifted, you can celebrate with a long, warm hug!

Huge Swedish demonstration against the vaccine pass

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

Yesterday, in central Stockholm and Gothenburg, a huge anti-vaccine pass demonstration took place. Thousands of people, assumed unvaccinated, crowded together in a public square and marched the streets.

One demonstrator was interviewed on tv and said ‘I want the right to my own body, I believe in freedom, I don’t want to be forced to take a vaccine’.

Last I checked, the vaccine was voluntary and nobody’s forcing anybody.

We have the freedom to do what we want: take the vaccine or don’t. I have had Covid and do not want to experience it again. So I choose to take the vaccine to protect myself from serious illness if I get re-infected. However, that is only a part of my choice. I also choose the vaccine to protect others in society, to try to reduce the spread of the virus and out of solidarity for our exhausted health care workers.

If somebody else does not want to get vaccinated, that is their liberty. They are in the minority in Sweden, at roughly 15%.

There is a confusion between pro- or anti-vaccine and supporting the existence of a vaccine pass. The demonstration seemed to mix up both issues. They are very different.

However, the ironic truth is that if more people got vaccinated, the fewer restrictions we would need. The more who are vaccinated, the less likely it is we need a vaccine pass.

Many people dismiss these demonstrators as ‘tin foil hatters’ – a pejorative term for people with paranoid, persecutory delusions. However, this diminishes an important and valid concern. The debate around vaccination really is a tricky one. There is a conflict between the right to make one’s own decisions over what happens to one’s body – versus the collective level of safety necessary to protect vulnerable people and the healthcare system. What we need to figure out is how to strike a balance between individual rights and the public good. The question is who’s rights weigh the strongest: a person denying a vaccine, or a vulnerable at-risk person who cannot take the vaccine?

I am sure most of us agree that safety is the basis of freedom. That’s why I see the vaccine pass as a temporary way to protect the public, while still enabling us as individuals to live a freer life.

It will hopefully enable us to protect ourselves and each other, and alleviate the burden carried by our health care workers. And it will hopefully lead to a quicker path out of the pandemic. For me, that is worth trading off against a small restriction on my personal rights.

Today is a Swedish squeeze day

Posted on by Neil Shipley's watching the Swedes

Today is a ‘squeeze day’ in Sweden. What, you may wonder, is a squeeze day?

– It is not a day when everybody goes around hugging each other. Especially now during the pandemic.

– Nor is it a day when people pinch each other’s cheeks or rear ends.

– It is not either a day of drinking copious amounts of fresh citrus juice.

No, a ‘squeeze day’, or ‘klämdag’ in Swedish, is a day of the week that falls between a public holiday and a weekend.

In Sweden, when a public holiday occurs on a Tuesday or a Thursday, a common custom is to take the day between the holiday and the weekend as a day off. Sometimes this is subsidized by the employer. In English, this is called a ‘bridge day’ but in Swedish it’s cutely referred to as a ‘squeeze day’.

As yesterday (Thursday) was a public holiday, many people are also off work today.