Feminism in Sweden – the question of equality and progress. Podcast.

We often hear about studies showing Sweden excelling in this and that… Everything from freedom of speech to renewable energy are subjects that Swedes take great care of and therefore gain international recognition. Sweden’s effort to embrace feminism has been praised world-wide, but how good is Sweden with giving equal rights and opportunities to everyone really?

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In the newest episode of our podcast “Sweden And…” we dig in some facts and history of feminism in Sweden, followed by very different kinds of opinions from young women living in Sweden. 

There are many definitions and even types of feminism. And it doesn’t come as a surprise that feminism as a concept, has caused contrasting reactions, different interpretations and attitudes towards the word across the world. With its saturated past and present, for some feminism is a word that provokes, but for others – a cornerstone of who they are.

When moving to Sweden, it came as a surprise of how many people are willing to discuss feminism issues and moreover, how many men describe themselves a feminists. Coming from a background where standing for anything in a liberal context was viewed as being “over-the-top”, it was refreshing to see how easy it was for my Swedish friends to bring the question of equality to the next level.

Nowadays, most of the political parties have internal quotas and policies on how to improve female participation in politics, the principles of gender equality are taught in schools, there’s an actual minister on gender equality and domestic violence as well as abuse laws have been undergoing changes during the recent years.

While all of this sounds nearly amazing, the other side of the coin is not as shiny – in the private sector, Sweden is still doing badly with more than 94% of top bosses being men. In other news – the gender pay gap is still a massive issue, Sweden is the only nordic country that doesn’t have laws in place against sexist advertisement.

In short – Sweden might be in the forefront in comparison to many other countries when it comes to gender equality, but has its own, difficult road to go towards inclusion at all means. Listen more on Soundcloud, iTunes or wherever else you get your podcasts.

The podcast is produced by Edite Garjane, a digital ambassador for Study In Sweden.

Edite

Written by Edite

18 Apr 2017