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    obsidian05Kate Dries
    10/28/13 10:59am

    Sure Iceland is great place to live! If you're a white Nordic woman. People tend to gloss over the fact that the Nordic countries are egalitarian because they are so racially homogeneous and have significantly smaller populations (than say, the US).

    My Afro-Caribbean cousin is currently stationed in Iceland for work, and she has lots of disposable income to spend on the local economies, but she sure isn't feeling the egalitarian love. In fact, my cousin is petitioning her company to relocate her to Germany because she can't tolerate to overt racism in Iceland any longer.

    I can't say I'm surprised Jez glossed over this issue, feminism is a white woman's game.

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      lady rainicornobsidian05
      10/28/13 11:09am

      This, thank you.

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      pollyannacowgirl 2.0obsidian05
      10/28/13 11:12am

      Huh. I was thinking about this just the other day! Although my musing was that a person of a diametrically opposite coloring would be considered beautiful and desirable for just that reason. It could veer into fetishism of the exotic, but sometimes the *other* is attractive because of its absolute 'oppositeness'.

      I'm sorry she's not being treated well there, though. That's got to to be an awfully isolating experience!

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    KristenfromMAKate Dries
    10/28/13 10:57am

    It's very, very expensive to to live there, though. Island living ain't cheap. I think I'd prefer Sweden or Denmark.

    I think about this a lot, since the US is marching slowly into fascism. Unfortunately, I don't speak the language(s), don't have a masters degree, and have a lot of debt. No way they'll let me emigrate. I doubt I could even go to Canada.

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      schuretteKristenfromMA
      10/28/13 11:12am

      Actually, ever since the crash in 2008 Iceland has become significantly cheaper. Housing is really not bad, but food is mad expensive. However, you could do beautiful hikes every day and thats priceless :P

      On a more serious note, I live in Denmark and our immigration policy is frankly border lining at least a dozen of human rights violations but Sweden is much better. You really dont need the language, especially if you want to work in an international company (which obviously you would) as really everyone speaks English and a masters degree is not a requirement. Also, if I'm not mistaken, after you've lived in Sweden or Denmark for three years you qualify to do your masters for free, as only non-EU citizens have to pay tuition fees, but that is waved after you've paid tax for a certain amount of time. Basically what Im saying is, Kristen, if you want to join our glorious socialist paradise: where there's a will, there's a way :)

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      KristenfromMAschurette
      10/28/13 11:15am

      That's the best news I've heard in a while re: emigrating. I've occasionally "talked" to people on the internet - usually in a comments section like this - and have been told that the language thing is important. I've also looked at job openings, and haven't ever seen anything that quite fits. Maybe I have to broaden my search a bit (I'm in biotech, but I'm not a scientist.)

      Thanks! :)

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    ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ : Riot GRRR is RUNNING WILDKate Dries
    10/28/13 11:08am

    their law that publicly traded companies must have boards that are 40% men and 40% women has certainly helped

    And 20% Cylon, I guess.

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      000000111233ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ : Riot GRRR is RUNNING WILD
      10/28/13 11:19am

      Yes because it's the same thing, I guess. Half the world's population that has historically been held back from positions of power, imaginary robots from a fictional world, all the same.

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      Violet Baudelaireʕ•ᴥ•ʔ : Riot GRRR is RUNNING WILD
      10/28/13 11:32am

      Possibly they're so advanced that they're also allowing room for 20% humans with ambiguous sex characteristics!

      I wonder if the numbers aren't like that though for boards that have odd numbers. For instance, if you had a board of 9 people, you couldn't very well have a rule that said it had to be 50% men and 50% women since you can't have 4.5 women and 4.5 men. (unless again, you found that one of that very useful intersex population to fill in)

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    schuretteKate Dries
    10/28/13 10:48am

    My best friend is Icelandic and for her Master thesis she wrote about Gender Inequality in the media in Iceland. She found that pretty much every woman journalist she interviewed, has suffered from some form of sexism during her career - for example the number of women that held editorial positions was ridiculously low. So knowing the issues that Iceland still has makes me so depressed when I think of the rest of the world. Cuz if that's the best there is, and the best really isn't all that, when exactly can we hope for full equality? 2075???

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      lethekkKate Dries
      10/28/13 10:50am

      I can't help but wonder how much higher Canada would be if it weren't for our current "child-care isn't necessary" government.

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        SamBargelethekk
        10/28/13 11:01am

        Well, we used to be 7th in the world for women and then we dropped as low at 31st (I think in the year that Harper removed pay equity as a human right for women in the Federal public service) and this year we're 20th.

        Of course, we have universal healthcare (which significantly improves the health and lives of mothers) and our "Head of State" has been a woman (the Queen) for the last 50 yrs. Those 2 facts probably skew the findings. Harper is unlikely to remove the Queen as the head of state but time will. And, as for healthcare, that f*cker (ie. Harper) has it in his sights now.

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        AludraSamBarge
        10/28/13 11:09am

        Dude, if Harper removed the monarchy as head of state I would a) drop dead from shock and b) actually be grateful to him for the first time in his ridiculously long tenure.

        Also, this seems like a good place to share this hilarious video from This Hour Has 22 Minutes.

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      MudbudKate Dries
      10/28/13 10:47am

      Yeah... but... SOCIALISM!

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        euterpe35Mudbud
        10/28/13 1:05pm

        well, yeah, but then: Sweaters!

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        Mudbudeuterpe35
        10/28/13 3:38pm

        Touche

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      Bears for PresidentKate Dries
      10/28/13 10:48am

      Well, unless you're a woman who stubbornly refuses to find your cousins attractive.

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        Mrs. BeetonKate Dries
        10/28/13 12:21pm

        The Iceland episode of "No Reservations" made me want to barf. Rotten shark meat y'all.

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          KeevaSegalKate Dries
          10/28/13 10:58am

          It seems that all of those "socialist" countries that Ted Cruz (R-loonyland) and company are afraid we might become by providing access to health care for all, are actually the most equal for genders.

          I cannot help but wonder if this is the far right's problem with them. Too much equality.

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            Flm3454KeevaSegal
            10/28/13 11:22am

            I guess to each his own. I'm starting to realize more and more that these right-wing extremists prefer total freedom over fairness (or so they think until they actually experience it), and if that ever happens I am jumping ship to another place in the world where I know I can live a more free life as a woman.

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            KeevaSegalFlm3454
            10/28/13 11:25am

            Agreed. What these far right extremists call total freedom, I call unregulated businesses for men only and women back in the kitchen being pregnant.

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