FLOATING INTO THE AIR…

MELANCHOLIC HARMONIES OF AN ANCIENT VIKINGS SONG...

GFX 1 (simple text on vision) : THE MEN

Janice: So, Iceland has been named the best place in the world to be a woman. Is it the best place in the world to be a man?

Man 4: We have very strong women, independent and we like it.

[00:36:23] Man 2:

Man 1: Well, strong women, that means also strong men so I think that equality is the main point here.

00:38:24] Man 5 (glasses): If i'm doing the same work as a woman and a woman is doing the same working as a man, of course we should be paid exactly the same

UPSOT

Man 1:. There is no other option but equality. Agree? [00:41:55].
[00:42:00] Man 2: We very much agree when we take a bath together.
Laughter.

27.34 (wide) which could transition to epic shots

POOL EXIT SHOTS

HEARING THAT HAVING STRONG WOMAN MEANS STRONG MEN IS SOMETHING I WANT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT

Janice and Hrannar Horse sequence (nice visual of horses in wind)

THE YOUNGEST CHOIR MEMBER INVITES ME HOME TO THE FAMILY FARM

GFX 2 (simple text on vision) : THE FAMILY

2.37.09 –father and son together

FATHER AND SON LAUGHING UPSOT

HRNNAR AND HIS DAD ARE CLOSE

MORE UPSOT HERE

WHEN HE WAS YOUNG – HE SPENT A LOT OF TIME WITH HIS DAD BECAUSE IT WAS MUM THAT WENT AWAY TO WORK TO SUPPORT THE FAMILY FARM…

JANIS IN  SHOT FOR BBQ

MORE BBQ SHOTS OF DAD AND HRANNAR

00:02:23:10

When I had him I was running the farm so …

00:02:28:15

 [02:48:53] I'm the last one, so when he had me he was only working here as a farmer, so I was at home with him until I was five. So I was all alone with him. He was always taking care of me, my mum was working away. 

[02:49:11] HR yeah (laughs) that's maybe why he got sick of me.

[02:57:14] JA so gender equality women's rights, supporting women professionally, that sounds like it's been around for at least a couple of generations

Icelandic

00:05:09:10

I am not sure if it is a few generations.

00:05:11:24

00:05:11:24

Maybe starts with your generation …

00:05:14:01

00:05:14:01

Yea, I would think so; that my generation was first

00:05:15:44

00:05:16:03

And prior it had just been like …

00:05:17:44

00:05:18:13

Yes, if you just take my dad, his view was that a women was a housewife and should not leave for another job.

00:05:24:03

02:57:40 – 02:57:55

[02:57:55] ..So he says like I think, he thinks that his generation is the first one that came, that wants equality and everyone to have it the same, the same thing for everybody

 [[02:58:21] JA how does he feel about some people in Australia still believing like his father and grandfather did that women should be in the kitchen, and nothing else

00:06:07:24

I just find it … remarkable.

00:06:13:12

00:06:13:30

… remarkable. (the son)

00:06:14:00

00:06:15:01

I don’t know. I just thought these things were further ahead everywhere.

00:06:16:04

GFX 3: 1975 WHERE IT ALL BEGAN 

TEXT ON SCREEN –

SO HOW DID ICELAND GET FURTHER AHEAD?  

FOR THE PAST FOUR DECADES THEY HAVE HAD A SERIES OF WOMEN IN THE TOP JOB.

ALLOW CLAPPING TO BREATHE MORE BEFORE COMING IN HERE+++++

IN 1980 THEY  VOTED IN  THE WORLD’S FIRST DEMOCRATICALLY ELECETED FEMALE PRESIDENT … A SINGLE MUM…

 IN 2007 THEY ELECTED A GAY FEMALE PRIME MINISTER,  ALSO A WORLD FIRST

THE CURRENT PM, KATRIN JAKOBSDOTTIR IS A FIERCE ADOVCATE FOR WOMEN'S RIGHTS AND A MOTHER OF THREE

BUT IT WASN’T JUST WOMEN IN POLITICS WHO BROUGHT ABOUT CHANGE

ON OCTOBER 24, 1975,  90% OF ICELAND’S WOMEN TOOK PART IN A STRIKE

AT THE TIME WOMEN EARNED 60% LESS THAN MEN…

THESE WERE THEIR COMPLAINTS

GFX TEXT: LOW PAID JOBS

NEW VO:

VO: JOB ADVERTISEMENTS FOR LOW PAID WORK USUALLY SPECIFIED THAT A WOMAN WOULD BE REQUIRED.

NEW GFX TEXT: HOUSEWORK NOT RESPECTED

NEW VO: IT WAS COMMONLY SAID THAT HOUSEWORK WASN’T REAL WORK

NEW GFX TEXT: DISCRIMINATION IN THE WORKPLACE

BECAUSE IN JOB ADS TEH GENDER OF A PERSON OFTER MATTERED NIRETHAN EDUCATION OR EXPERIENCE

WITHOUT WOMEN’S WORK THE COUNTRY STOPPED…

01.39.33

02.20.30 – heavy lifting sculpture + flags

THIS IS THE MOMENT THAT FORMED ICELAND AS A MODERN FEMINIST UTOPIA…

AND SIGRUDUR DUNA ONE OF ICELAND’S LEADING FEMINISTS WAS THERE

WOMEN’S DAY OUT

it was really a tremendous atmosphere and tremendous day

which put Icelandic women on the map for the first time. It made international news was a strike, both on the labour market and in the home.

I remember very well that in the evening there was the smell of burnt meat in the streets. The men were trying to cook and burnt meat always reminds me of this day in 1975.

02:52:54]  JA  WELL  YOU  CAN  UNDERSTAND  WHY  WE  WANTED  TO  WAIT  TO  SEE  YOU  COOKING  THE  MEAT  TONIGHT  TO  SEE  -  HAVE  YOU  BURNT  THE  MEAT!  

[02:53:02] DAD (CHECKS) (IN ICELANDIC) 

 [02:53:08] HR IT'S ALMOST COLD 

[02:53:10] ALL LAUGH

[02:53:10] HR NO IT'S NOT BURNT, IT'S LOOKING GOOD. IT'S LOOKING REALLY GOOD. 

GFX 4: TEACHING THEM YOUNG

ONE OF THEE REASONS ICELAND IS AT THE TOP OF THE GENDER EQUALITY LIST –COULD BE THEIR REVOLUTIONARY PRIVATE

KINDERGARTEN

WHAT THEY DO IS ALMOST UNUSUAL

FOR PART OF THE DAY BOYS AND GIRLS ARE SEPARATED SO

BOYS CAN DO STEREOTYPICAL GIRLS ACTIVITIES

AND GIRLS CAN  DO TRADITIONAL BOY’S ACTIVITIES

And are you strong or are you strong?

S-T-R-O-N-G

Fantastic

IT’S ALL ABOUT “UNRAVELLING” GENDER STEREOTYPES…

01:21:40] MARGRET: Oh my god they are just beautiful, they are just beautiful. Shall we continue? See some more?

MARGRET WHO RUNS THE SCHOOL SHOWS ME  HOW BOYS ARE ENCOURAGED TO DEVELOP THEIR EMOTIONS…AND GIRLS ARE ENCOURAGED TO BE STRONG AND INDEPENDENT

IT’S A HELICOPTER PARENT’S WORST NIGHTMARE.

01:41:03] MARGRET: My god they are wonderful

 [01:41:05] JP: And what about just from a safety point of view.

[01:41:15] MARGRET: So what? That is also experience. To tolerate a little pain and tolerating a little pain

We cannot put children in box.

When they are two years old the get "oh don't get dirty" don't do this, don't do that and C then

when they are twenty they will say all of a sudden "be creative!

Go out of the box! Be daring!" [01:44:45]

AS THE  GIRLS GET DIRTY AND SMASH NAILS THE BOYS PAINT   THEIR NAILS...

 [01:24:07] JP: Hello, what's happening here Margret?

[01:24:11] MARGRET: They are training closeness. Being close, being friends and touching to just feel the emotions

 [01:24:26] JP: I think in Australian schools its quite frowned upon I think for teachers to touch the children too much 

[01:24:34] MARGRET: I mean it's all about touching them, touching their hearts

01:34:54] JP: Now apparently the boys have had their nails done last week so they just need a touch up this week. This little boy has requested a rainbow, so we'll use a few different colours. 

[01:36:41] OMAR: Yes he wants the same colour

[01:36:43] JP: Good choice

02:42:38] JP: So we saw some of the boys getting their nails painted, you're really encouraging that emotional intelligence there, but does that mean that you're also repressing their masculinity?

 [01:49:09] MARGRET: It's simply teaching them that they can be beautiful. There is nothing in this world that is only for girls or women.

Nothing.

[01:26:34] JP: But isn't the current situation world wide there's very much this momentum behind the Me Too movement right where men are being taught to be very sensitive about physical touch aren't they? Towards other people, especially women.

So it's all about starting early. I mean so they are able to touch, to show their feelings.

I HAVE TO ASK MARGRET HOW BUSTING GENDER STEREOTYPES WILL SHAPE THE KIDS…WHEN THERE’S MEN WHO STILL  FEEL THEIR  MASCULINITY IS BEING THREATENED

1:15:30

We are always saying that they are not good enough. Oh but in our single sex settings we are teaching our boys social qualities and we are supporting their self-image of being wonderful loving and caring and beautiful guys. [01:16:26]

I have often been asked. "Will your boys be gay?" That's completely different. Just experience everything in life,

CLOSE TO 10% OF PARENTS ARE CHOOSING TO EDUCATE THEIR PRE-SCHOOLERS IN MARGRET’S KINDERGARTENS

I MEET ONE OF THE DAD’S AT PICK UP TIME, AND HE INVITES ME HOME TO MEET THE FAMILY

GFX 5: PARENTAL LEAVE

BRIAN IS AN AMERICAN EXPAT AND STAY AT HOME DAY FOR ERIC AGED 4 AND THE BABY – HE’S ONE OF THE MANY STAY AT HOME DADS IN THE COUNTRY

03:37:17] JP: Have you seen changes in little Eric?

[03:37:21] NINJA: Definitely, he is quite shy and more of an introvert and it's helped him a lot, we've seen him blossom.

03:38:08] NINJA: it's good that the boys are taught more tenderness and being more sensitive and the girls are taking more space and being noisy and assertive. You can see just with the Me Too movement we need boys to...

the stereotyping of what it means to be a man is. We need to break that and that can also just show their feelings and be themselves 

JANICE QUES

You grew  up  in  the  US  and  you've  moved  to Iceland  so  you're  aware  of  different  culture res  in  that  respect.  Are  you  at  all  concerned  that  too  much  time  is  spent  teaching  boys  to 
stereotypically  feminine  characteristics  and  that might  be  at  the  expense at  some  masculine  traits 
 [03:45:09]  BRIAN:  No  I  don't  think  so  at  all.  He's  learning  a  lot  of  these  thin gs 
through  school  which  I'm  not  necessarily  teaching  him  at  home  and  he's  getting  all  of  the  other  traditionally  masculine  techniques  and  stereotypical  things. 
 

it's also exciting to see once you start combining these things what sort of little child is going to come out the other end in 10-15 years [03:45:40] 

-------------------

So it is definitely something that is changing in the culture, that these stereotypical masculine roles - for me to take the kids out no one thinks twice, it's just that's what a dad does, that's what he's supposed to do. And when the culture thinks that way it's acceptable for me to do those things then we're starting to make progress and it's not a radical idea for us.

03:33:50]  JP:  And  do  you  think  that  some  of  those  women's  rights  come  at  the 
 expense  of  rights  for  men? 
[03:33:56]  BRIAN  don't  think  it's  a  competition  at  all

[03:33:28] BRIAN: There's also trickle down for men as well, I get a 3 month paternity leave to spend at home with the children which is paid for partly by the government which is not offered in other countries.

VO

BRIAN GETS PAID 80% OF HIS SALARY IN ONE OF THE MOST GENEROUS PATERNITY LEAVE SYSTEMS IN THE WORLD

AUSTRALIAN DADS ARE PLAYING CATCH UP HERE WITH JUST 14 DAYS PATERNITY LEAVE OFFERED AT THE MINIMUM WAGE.

[03:34:22] BRIAN:. Like you don't have meetings at 5 o’clock because everyone knows that at 4 o’clock you have to go and pick up the children from kindergarten.

[03:59:04] BRIAN:….. I'm getting to spend more time with my sons and learn and watch them grow. You can’t put a price on that.

WITH BRIAN AT HOME WITH THE KIDS NINJA CAN GO BACK TO WORK AFTER THREE MONTHS OFF WITH THE BABY

it's good to slowly get into the rhythm of it. Like not jump into, like into work, and then you have bad feeling that you regret leaving your kid behind, this is like slow

[00:41:24] JA Baby steps

(00:41:25] NI Exactly. Which is very good

IT’S THE KIND OF FLEXIBILITY THAT HAS HELPED ICELAND ROCKET TO THE TOP OF THE WORLD RANKINGS FOR GENDER EQUALITY.

GFX 5A: EQUAL PAY

 So  this is my office, Icelandic Lamb,   and my boss is    here, I would like to introduce you to him

 [00:41:33] JA ok.

[00:41:34] NI So this is Svavar Halldorsson

[00:41:34] JA Hello Svavar

[00:41:35] SH How are you?

[00:41:37] JA good, I'm Janice, lovely to meet you.

[00:41:39] SH Oh nice to meet you too.

IT'S NOT JUST ABOUT GETTING WOMEN BACK TO WORK BUT IT'S ALSO ABOUT PAYING THEM WHAT THEY DESERVE

ICELAND HAS RECENTLY MADE IT ILLEGAL FOR FIRMS WITH OVER 25 EMPLOYEES TO PAY MEN MORE THAN WOMEN FOR THE SAME WORK.  ANTOHER WORLD FIRST FROM THIS NATION

EVEN THOUGH NINJA’S BOSS COULD FACE HEFTY FINES IF HE DOESN’T COMPLY - HE SUPPORTS THE LAW WHICH AIMS TO ERASE THE GENDER PAY GAP

[00:12:01] SH I When they first started talking about some laws about equal pay, I thought it was a good idea, because in my opinion, it’s the thing to do. And this is how we try to run our company. And I think overall at least among younger executives, that was a very common opinion, people were happy about it.  

[00:13:00]. So I don't think laws to implement it is seen as radical to anybody. And if you think back to 2008 to the whole, big financial crisis, all the banks and the big companies were run by men. So maybe it was the absence of women that was the bad thing.

NINJA TAKES ME TO MEET ONE OF HER CO-WORKERS WHO THINKS ICELAND STILL HAS A WAY TO GO...

- OTNEY + NINJA AND JANICE JOIN IN 

Ninja (NI) 

Otney (OT)  

 [00:29:55] NI So this is Otney, my colleague.  

[00:29:57] JA Hello, Otney, I'm JANICE. Hi, lovely to meet you.

Iceland the pay gap is around about that 5% mark. In Australia the pay difference is around about 15-20% and yet you're still saying with that around 5%, still not good enough. 

[00:33:51] OT No of course, it's not good enough, until it's zero. Why should it - there be any gap.

[00:34:13] JA Well, the government wants there to be pay parity by 2022. Is that achievable or is that a little too close for that to happen, is there enough time? 

[00:34:34] NI It's good to have like a strong goal, and then we can push it a little further,

 [00:35:32] [00:36:16] I mean I have three boys, and, and we should not favour one of the other, and sometimes for short period of time, we may need to support man in this area and women in this area, to reach equality.

BUT DOES GENDER EQUALITY COME AT A COST?

CAN A FEMINIST UTOPIA PRODUCE A DARK SIDE?

GFX 6: THE NORDIC PARADOX

ICELAND MAY TOP THE WORLD ECONOMIC FORUM’S LIST AS BEST PLACE TO BE A WOMAN BUT IT ALSO HAS ONE OF THE HIGHEST RATES OF VIOLENCE TOWARDS WOMEN PER CAPITA OF ANY COUNTRY IN EUROPE

02:14:56]  domestic violence is something that's always been there. And one of the reasons why it seems to be growing is maybe the anxiety that men are feeling. 

2.30.00

Janice reversal

Reversal – we hear a lot about the powerful viking heritage that Iceland has and the strength of its women while the Viking men were away but the picture is a lot more complicated than that isn’t it?

men in Iceland are experiencing like they are watching a football game and they are relatively confident that their team would win. Now the position is 3-4 and it's not quite sure if their team wins of the women's team so they are very scared and very anxious and that is where some of them fit in. [02:13:59

01:42:33] SIGRIDUR: we are quite clear that we still have quite a way to go.

ICELAND KNOWS IT HAS A DARK SIDE…

 BUT IT’S DOING SOMETHING ABOUT IT

GFX 7: CUTTING EDGE SEX EDUCATION

THIS VIDEO IS ABOUT SEXUAL CONSENT

IN ANOTHER ICELAND FIRST…

THEY’VE FLIPPED THE LAWS HERE.  INSTEAD OF THE VICTIM HAVING TO PROVE THEY SAID NO – IT’S THE ACCUSED WHO HAS TO PROVE THEY RECEIVED A YES.  AND WITHOUT A YES  IT COULD BE CONSIDERED RAPE

THESE CLASSES ARE REALLY ABOUT UNDERSTANDING POWER DYYMAMICS IN SEX AND RELATIONSHIPS.

I HAVE A CHAT WITH FOUR STUDENTS  FROM THE CLASS WHAT THEY THINK OF THE NEW CONSENT LAWS

BLONDE GIRL Like if you're gonna have sex and stuff you have to talk about it and know what the other person wants.., because it's of course very awkward and like people don't want to do it, but we have to do it and it's good to know that's what a good sex life is

[00:50:15] BLONDE GIRL:... It's actually the exact same thing. You have to get a yes you know?

[00:50:26] JP: And a very firm yes

00:52:38] JP: A tiny bit of the session talked about pornography and we know that some of the statistics for boys at least, they might be watching porn about once a week so probably sometimes more for some guys, but how much is that putting pressure on young people

00:52:57] BOY ON RIGHT: yeah well as long as there's education about it not being real which I think we're fortunate to have had that education beforehand, but with that lens if you look at it with a filter. But if it's not there then it's very damaging I think

BOY ON LEFT: You know pornography and sex and like real life and fuckin Spiderman you know

 [00:56:54] JP: So Iceland is known around the world for being the best place to be a woman but I'm just wondering for you young men, where does that leave you?

GUY ON RIGHT:. Equality just elevates the other side, it doesn't push us down.

[01:00:57] One thing that's apparent here in Iceland is that you're constantly at the mercy of the elements.

The environment here is incredibly hostile and yet the people are anything but. The men, women and children that I've spoken to have a very strong sense of resilience. [01:01:14] They all pitch in and get things done. There's been a strong history of female leadership making it to the highest office and the relatively small population means it's easier to galvanize people behind the strongest gender equality laws anywhere on earth. And that's good news for women and men. [01:01:37].