FINLAND & PALESTINE Proceedings of a Joint Workshop

Wamen~ Role in Building a Society ___.._ _ __. ---_._--­
In Finland, the central issues debated by feminist movements
have been, for example, ending the formal custodianship of
the husband over his wife, which was effective until 1930, coeducation
for girls and boys, improving the status of illegitimate
children, raising the age of protection for girls, eliminating
prostitution, improving women's education and opening
new professions to women.
More recently, a minor, but highly symbolic, debate around
women's rights concerned the reform of legislation governing
family names, i.e. women's right to keep their family names in
marriage.
The Law on Marriage of 1929 had provided that a wife took her
husband's name on marriage, or combined his name with hers.
A government measure to modify this scheme in the interests
of gender equality was submitted to Parliament in 1981. The
proposition was that husband and wife would either retain
their own names, or adopt one of them as a common family
name. The family names issue attracted considerable public
attention in Finland. The government's proposal was opposed
on the grounds that all family members should have the same
name, although this was also an option in the reform. 15
The government was compelled to withdraw its proposition,
but the measure was resubmitted in 1984 with a modification ­
the possibility of combining names on marriage - and it was
passed the following year. The strong emotions around this
discussion illustrate the strength of patriarchal thinking in
Finland still present in the 1980s.
Issues currently debated by Finnish feminists include issues
like:
15 Bradlev 1998: 209.
116