Re-Thinking Who's Behind our Society Values

Let’s start by taking you back to the year 1975. That October day when women in Iceland took a strike and showed they were not a piece of furniture; they showed they mattered! Their contributions to society mattered just as much as the traditional male role at that time. 

I was 14 years old then, and I remember that day so clearly. I remember my mum and all of her friends were ecstatic with excitement as they left their homes and/or their jobs, and all went downtown Reykjavik to sing, dance and celebrate each other.

What a joyous day.  

For the longest time, I felt this day, women proved to themselves that society would not function without them.  

I remember thinking, "Oh wow… from now on, women will have as much value as men. That means my voice will have just as much value as my dad and brother."   

I was so excited I almost farted with happiness.

"Did that mean my father and brother would be doing stuff at home that my mum was asking me to do?" "Would this mean that dad would start to cook, clean, and take care of his elderly parents, planning birthdays and Christmas times and not silently expect my mum to do so?" or "Would the outcome of this day make people listen to my voice, and voices of women? Would women be valued the same way that men were valued?"  

Well, it didn't change much. Perhaps a tiny bit! Still far from 100%! 

Silly billy me! 

And let's face it, almost 50 years later, it's still not there!

Society Value System Created by Men for Men! Truth or deception?

Alright, Iceland has been #1 in the world for gender equality for over 13 years! Although we rank as the best, it only means we are not as stinking bad as all the other countries.

P-E-R-I-O-D

For decades I've been asking myself, WHY is this change taking so long? What are we doing wrong? How can it be that all of these women who have been graduating from Universities worldwide are not visible in the leadership positions as one would expect? Well, I hope anyway.

Countless programs are directed at women's leadership, entrepreneurship, and this and that; why are we not seeing the results of equity and diversity? 

Is it really all because of the patriotic system?  Is it all to blame men for?

Then the other day, I asked myself one more time? "Is it because the world is created by the value system created by men for men?"

My answer used to be YES! And I honestly used to believe that's the root of all these problems.

This time, however, I got a whole different answer…

The Value System Was Not Created By Men Only; it was created by us all… the whole of humanity, meaning women, men, non-binary etc.  

You and I are part of society!

We are the society!  

Each and every one of us plays a role, an important role.   

The question is much more, are we taking individual responsibility and choosing to do things differently than our forefathers and mothers?

Are we all stuck in the ‘this is how we’ve always done it’ box?  

Is it really all about following peer pressure from dead people?

Or are we being blind-sighted and playing the role that we believe we are supposed to play because of the socially constructed gender box that we've been placed into?

Is this perhaps more about the question of self-leadership?
Should we focus more on being ourselves - Wholeheartedly, with no excuses? 

When I asked myself these questions, I saw how I have been blind-sighted. I have been quietly taking the 3rd shift in my life, doing things on autopilot, to mention one thing I see now, I've been doing…not because I love it, much more because I'm a woman!

And somewhere deep down in my program, I'm doing what I think I'm supposed to do, not because that is who I am.

Sounds familiar?

Giving the blame to men is a plain deception!  

What if blaming men for the value system has been an accepted way to point fingers at someone else, not at ourselves?

Just try for yourself - point your finger to the screen as you are reading this.

Notice how there is one finger at the screen and how many pointing at you? Yeah… most likely, three fingers are pointing at you!

What if we started to look at our own behaviours with kindness in our hearts and see how we can lead our own lives and focus on becoming the change we want to see in our world?

Yes, what if?