Ovi Magazine Issue #12: Sexuality Published: 01-03-2006

The Stronger Sex
By Asa Butcher
Since the beginning of the 20th Century, Finland has been at the forefront of advancing women’s suffrage. In 1906,
they became the first country in Europe to allow women the vote and first in the world to permit them the right to be
electoral candidates. Recently they had the unique claim of having a female President, Tarja Halonen, and female
Speaker of Parliament, Riitta Uosukainen, who are in positions of power to promote and protect equal rights, not
only in their homeland, but also on the world stage.
Over a decade ago the Population
Crisis Committee reported that Finland
was one of the very best places
for a woman to live, after taking
into account health, educational,
economic, and legal conditions
that affect them. One of President
Halonen’s first speeches following
her election victory in March 2000
stated that gender equality was one
of the four main pillars of European
employment policy. “We really do
need the participation of women in
the labour market to guarantee the
competitiveness of Europe...Women
are not a burden on the economy
- far from it! In Finland women
themselves pay more than 40% of
the social welfare budget.”
Further boundaries were broken
in 1990 when Elisabeth Rehn became
the first female Minister of
Defence in the world and she was
appointed UN Special Rapporteur
on Human Rights a few years later.
Finnish women are no strangers to
the political world stage with Helvi
Sipilä working as a U.N. representative
for over twenty years, dealing
with social and human rights. In
1961 Inkeri Anttila became the first
woman in Finland to hold a chair in
law and later work as Minister of
Justice and she has been vice chair
of a committee reforming the Finnish
criminal system since 1980.
Role models for Finnish women are
in abundance, whether historically
or culturally. During its autonomy
Finland has produced women who
have initiated trends, influencing
generations and entertaining millions,
many of which survive today.
Between the talents of Armi Ratia
and Annika Rimala they created
Marimekko, turning stripes into a
highly functional fashion that still
thrives today and was once favoured
by Jacqueline Kennedy.
Tove Jansson captured the imaginations
of millions of children
with her albino trolls, better known
as the Moomins, who are popular
the world over and even have
their own theme park. The Finnish
trolls are particularly loved in the
Orient where they have even been
immortalised upon cutlery – well,
chopsticks - and an assortment of
merchandise.
Frequently musicians and thespians
from Finland are dismissed
out of hand, considered unlikely
to triumph in the mainstream, but
there are glimmers of hope. Amidst
the many hidden jewels that the
Finns can boast about are celebrities
such as soprano Karita Mattila,
mezzo-soprano Monica Groop,
composer Kaija Anneli Saariaho,
singer Arja Saijonmaa, or star of
Finnish cinema Liisa-Maija Laaksonen.
Another of Finland’s current
female success arrives in the form
of Vuokko Hovatta, ex-Ultra Bra
singer, recent recipient of Finland
Festivals Young Artist of the Year,
vocalist and actress; this lady has
enough string for many bows.
Despite Salt Lake City producing
a respectable tally of seven Winter
Olympic medals for Finland four
years ago, none of them came from
the women’s team, which was not
indicative of their ability and failed
to match the standards set by past
competitors. During the 1980s,
Marjo Matikainen-Kallstrom won
four Olympic and seven World
Championship medals and is currently
the chairman of the World
Championships Organising Committee,
plus she represents the Conservative
National Coalition.
At the 1976 Montreal Games Pirjo
Häggman finished fourth in the
400m and later went onto become
one of the first female IOC members,
while Fatima Whitbread is
still haunted by the memory of
Tiina Lillak, who snatched gold
from her at the first IAAF World
Championships in 1983. Finally,
Nordic skier, Marja-Liisa Kirvesniemi
is one of only five athletes
to have participated in six Winter
Olympics and to have won seven
Olympic medals in the process.
It is hardly surprising that women
excel in Finland since they have
such a solid historical foundation
to build upon: pioneers such as
Edith Södergran, Sophie Mannerheim,
Aurora Karamzin and Emma
Irene Åström have given confidence
and self-belief to generations
of girls. Total equality may still be
some distance off with disproportionate
salaries and women still
undertaking more than double the
housework than men, but while
the record for the world’s largest
mitten - dimensions 271cm long,
99cm wide and weighs 3.5kg - is
held by Finn, Ann Jonasson, there
still maybe hope.
Extra:
In 2003, Anneli Jäätteenmäki became
Finland’s first female Prime
Minister but was forced to resign
after a few months in charge due
to allegations of election wrongdoing,
which were later proved unfounded.