You probably haven’t heard about it yet…
This year marks the 40th anniversary of one of the most powerful demonstrations of women’s power ever seen in modern times, and one a lot of us have probably never even heard of.
On the 23 October 1975, 90 per cent of Icelandic women chose to stage a mass strike, refusing to do any paid or unpaid work for the entire duration of the day.
Women walked out of their jobs, they ignored the housework and washing and they made other arrangements for the children. Women of all walks of life, of all roles and responsibilities joined the movement to make a very important issue known.
Their aim was to highlight the importance of equality within society for men and women. To make the government see the need for paid maternity leave and fair pay.
So what happened?
Basically, for the duration of that day, the whole country fell apart. Airports were closed, schools were forced to shut their doors and hospitals couldn’t function. It was, in all senses of the word, complete chaos.
Destructive? Yes, but meaningful.
As a direct result of the strike, Iceland’s parliament passed laws only one year later which guaranteed equal pay for woman as well as paid maternity leave. The government took note of what was being said and took action.
Today, not only does Iceland have a parliament that sees almost half of its members as women, but it also boasts the highest gender equality in the world.
2015 marks forty years since the strike and sadly, not much has changed around the world in terms of equality.
There is now growing momentum on social media sites like Facebook to reignite the argument and once again, stage a mass walk out.
Despite only being launched a few days ago, one site has more than 9,000 women registered to take part. The aim is not only to highlight just how important women are to our society and to make governments take notice of the gender gap but to also bring focus to other issues important to women such as domestic violence, parenting and discrimination.
Organisers of the strikes are calling on all women to take the day off on 23 October 2015 both from paid employment and home duties.
That means no work, no housework, no childminding. Whatever your role as a women, be it working or stay at home mum, you are asked to participate. Basically it's tools down, feet up, in the hopes of being heard by the powers that be.
If for some reason you're unable to take the day off, you can still show your support for the movement by wearing a pair of red stockings on the day as a symbol of respect and appreciation for the Icelandic women who first took a stand back in 1975.
What do you think? Would a strike like this make a difference here in Australia?
For more information head to this Facebook page.
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Working mums are fist-pumping over this. But hold it right there.