As Icelanders go to the polls on Saturday to decide on their next president, the sitting candidate faces a challenge from an unlikely contender – a 37-year-old mother of three, with a newborn baby…
.. It’s not Thora who is carrying the baby, but her partner of eight years, Svavar, with whom she has two other children, aged six and four..
.. Ms Arnorsdottir already had a high-profile job as a television reporter in Iceland where she is a household name, when, two months ago, while heavily pregnant, she announced she was running to be the country’s head of state.
As she criss-crosses the barren Icelandic countryside trying to reach voters outside the capital, Thora Arnorsdottir mostly breastfeeds Sky in the campaign minibus.
Ms Arnorsdottir acknowledges that some voters will think she’s trying to take on too much but she’s undaunted.
“It’s the most natural thing in the world to have a baby,” she says in fluent English.
“She comes everywhere with us. We’ve always divided duties at home: we’ve both been working in full-time jobs and Icelandic women have always worked no matter how many children they have and that won’t change. It doesn’t matter what the job is or if they’re called ‘president’.”
From here at the BBC. Thanks to Jane for the link.
It’s hard for me to express how much I love this, given I am currently standing for election in local government and I can see how my boyfriend has taken on this role of supporting partner. I remember when Tanya Plibersek had her 3rd child at age 40 (think was 40) a couple of years ago while still Minister for Status of Women. So good.
That picture put the biggest smile on my face. I find it almost as heartwarming to see a man not shut out of the caring role, as to see a woman not shut out of public life.
those big hands on that tiny baby – it makes me go unaccountably gooey.
Sounds like a cool place to live. Ha ha.
I remember that picture of a woman (was it at a meeting for the EU?) participating in voting and legislation with her infant right there with her. It was cool to see. But if we’re honest, that kind of thing seems mostly possible if you have just the right type of kid. My toddler would not have sat demurely listening to people speechify. I wonder what this couple’s kids are like. Regardless, more power to them.
Bonus Win: The icelandic name suffix -dottir is for Daughter Of, whereas so many of our surnames are -son. Also, has anyone told Elizabeth Farrelly about this?🙂
Iceland is reportedly a remarkably feminist country – certainly with a very different approach to the whole baby thing. According to a Guardian article I read many years ago (and that I sadly can’t seem to find any more, Google fu too weak), the usual thing is for women to start families young (while doing graduate studies, say), and with minimal interruption to their careers. Of course, great childcare availability is key to all this, as are completely different expectations as to what is reasonable behaviour/lifestyle for a new mother.
@helenbalcony, I believe the convention in Iceland is for girls to take their mother’s name (-dottir) and boys their father’s. Or possibly that was the origin of these names; I’m not sure if it’s still practised. Armin and I considered adopting this tactic with our own family!
I am sorry to disappoint you but actually in Iceland both sons and daughters are most commonly named after their fathers. Dóttir translates literally to “daughter” while son obviously means son. This is combined with the first name of the dad and thus creates the last name of the child. Þóra Arnórsdóttir is thus the “Daughter of Arnór.” When people marry everybody keeps their name as this would not make sense otherwise.
Þóra was actually an awesome candidate and it is a pity that she lost the election…
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