Why Iceland is one of the best places to be a woman

Iceland regularly tops lists of vacation spots for adventurous travelers, people looking for natural beauty and stunning sights, if not a balmy climate (the weather is famously erratic, and the hottest it gets in July is in the mid-50s). In 2019, pre-pandemic, two million people visited Iceland; the tourism sector accounts for 15% of the workforce. 

The country also tops the list in another category, namely, it is widely considered to be one of the best places in the world to be a woman. 

For the past 12 years, the small country — which boasts a population of only 366,425 — has topped the World Economic Forum’s Gender Gap Index. The Index considers issues of gender equality and measures the gaps between men and women in 4 main areas: health, education, economy and politics.

A new book, “Secrets of the Sprakkar: Iceland’s Extraordinary Women and How They Are Changing the World,” (SourceBooks) explores just what makes the country a great place for women. The author, Eliza Reid, is a Canadian-born woman who moved to Iceland in 2003, 5 years after winning a date in a raffle with the Icelandic man who would become her husband (the pair both studied at Oxford University). That man, Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson, would become Iceland’s president in 2016, making Reid its de facto First Lady (in Iceland, the role of First Lady is not a defined position). (Reid famously wrote a New York TImes oped in which she declared, “I am not my husband’s handbag.” 

Her book takes the reader on an enjoyable and informative journey through what it means to be a woman in Iceland, explaining the tradition of the “Sprakkar” (Icelandic for extraordinary and outstanding women).

This includes examples from famous women in the country’s history — women like Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, a divorced single mom who became, in 1980, the world’s first woman who was democratically elected as president.

Reid’s book also celebrates the tenacious women cited in the centuries-old tales known as the sagas and the everyday modern heroes, like the immigrant women who have carved out places for themselves in Icelandic society. 

In one chapter, Reid describes a business meeting that she once attended. The CEO was a mother who chaired the session with her baby, nursing the infant. When she was presenting, a male colleague bounced the tot on his lap.

“Almost two decades later, this snapshot stays with me,” writes Reid. “I could withstand dark winters, windy weather, and a poor selection of fresh vegetables in the shops if this interaction was considered a … completely unremarkable moment of a business meeting

“Was it possible that I had landed in a country where, with a bit of luck, women could just maybe have it all?”