Iceland is today known as one of the worlds most feminist countries.
Women take a day off on 24 October 1975.
Photo:kvenrettindafelag.is
It was a time of great inequality for women.
For the same work, they were paid almost 60 per cent less than men.
This kind of wage difference and socio-economic inequality outraged women across social and professional strata.
A committee with representatives from all major feminist organisations decided to organise a commemorative event for the same.
But to most women, this was too radical an idea.
It was finally agreed that the term strike would be replaced by day off.
The jargon made all the difference.
The widespread movement was taken in good humour and garnered national and international coverage.
Behind the scenes, women were still fighting a quiet battle by quitting their duty for a day.
Businesses shut down and the country came to a halt.
And for the lack of womens help, shops across the country ran out of sausages.
It was only one of the many tertiary effects of the strike.
Men had to take over the task of babysitting, and ended up at work with their children.
Sausages, being the most popular food, ran out.
That day, everyone heard noises of children playing while reporters read news on national television.
But the aftermath of this Womens Day Off lasted way longer than anyone had expected.
Slowly but surely, the government introduced an Act for equal pay across genders by the next year.
But five years later, the seeds of the movement bloomed into yet another flower of progress.
The closing speech was given by Adalheidur Bjarnfredsdottir.
As termed by BBC, the day was a kind of baptism by fire for men.
The revelations of the event hence lent it the name Long Friday.
Later on, Poland held its own Black Friday to follow in Icelands footsteps.
This protest was held against the ban on abortion.
Iceland had been one of the first countries to grant women the right to vote.
Universal suffrage had come way back in 1915.
Yet by 1975, only five per cent of the parliament was female.
That day in October though, a spark was ignited.
It was during those years that Iceland gained fame for its feministic stronghold.
Since 1975, women have taken a day off in Iceland every year.
Photo:Johannes Jansson/Wikimedia
Photo:Solja Virkkunen/Flickr
References:#BBC#The Guardian#Iceland Mag
