Touting Real Bodies, Not Bombshells, Iceland Leads The Way In Women's Empowerment

Coming on the heels of last week’s Finland’s Lindex stores campaign featuring their own employees of every size and shape in a lingerie ad campaign, the recently released issue of Glamour Iceland promotes body diversity in this new editorial mixing women models of all sizes. Models include Ashley Graham (who appears in Lane Bryant’s new lingerie campaign) Marquita Pring, Julie Henderson, Inga Eiriksdottir and Danielle Redman.  

The IMG models are part of ALDA — meaning wave in Iceland — a movement to promote self esteem among young women of every size. 

We should note that Finland and Iceland lead the world in women’s rights and are far ahead of the United States. A recent Mic article reminds us that Iceland became the first country ‘in the world to grant unconditional equal inheritance rights to men and women in 1850’. Women got the right to vote in Iceland five years ahead of American women. 

In 1975 an estimated 90% of women went on strike for a day, refusing to act as housewives or professionals going to work. Instead 10% of the naitonal population protested in front of the capital of Oct. 24. In 1980 Vigdís Finnbogadóttir was elected as Iceland’s and Europe’s first female president. 

The 2014 Global Gender Gap Index ranked Iceland No. 1 out of more than 130 countries for the sixth consecutive year. The US ranks 20, driven largely by our score of #4 in Economic opportunity. Note that we score 1 in earned income but 65 in wage equality for similar work. 

In the key sectors of educational attainment, America’s women score 39 in Educational Attainment; 62 in Health and Survival; and 54 in Political Empowerment. What an embarassment! 

I can’t help wondering if the comparative emancipation of women in the Scandinavian countries prompts an embrace of real bodies and not bombshells, Victoria’s Secret style. As a body-conscious feminist who loves lingerie, I am aware that this passion is a double-edged sword. ~ Anne