Emily Markstrom
GWS 220 (W)
Women of the World: Sweden
As a white woman of the world from
the United States I was not aware of how many women suffer in their countries
when it comes to work, family, finances, etc. A lot of women, as we have
learned, have had to leave their families to work elsewhere to make ends meet
and support their family. Women all over the world have taken on much of the
“male” role as the provider. The women of Sweden are much like the United
States and do not seem to have to make such unfortunate decisions to find work
and provide for their family. Sweden is an advocate for female equality and
works with family-friendly policies to make working women and men sustain a
happy and healthy home life as well.
Sweden is a lot smaller than the
United States with a population of around 9,088,728 (CIA). It is comprised of
an indigenous population including Swedes with Finnish and Sami minorities and
foreign-born or first-generation immigrants (CIA). Sweden has a good health
care system similar to those of other developed nations with a low infant
mortality rate and a good average life expectancy at around 81 years (CIA). The
average household income in Sweden was 26,543 USD in 2008 and has a 73%
employment rate. Their employment rate also suggests that 76% of mothers are
employed after their children are in school and are able to juggle work and
family well (OECD).
Sweden,
comparable to the U.S., has a well established health care system. Their system
gives everyone who lives or works in Sweden equal access to heavily subsidized
healthcare. It is taxpayer funded and performs well compared to other countries
in Europe. Women of Sweden benefit greatly by having access to medications,
great pre-natal and natal care to not only make sure she is healthy but as well
as her child. Life expectancy is listed
at an average of 81 years and is continuing to rise. Smoking is not popular in
Sweden making only about 15% of their population smokers. (Sweden.se)
In
most countries, women take on the role as the care-giver to children and
keeping up with household chores. “Expectations concerning fatherhood in Sweden
do involve more active participation compared with those of other countries”
(Journal of Marriage and Family). Women often are stuck to the “norms” and the
husband/father brings home the bacon. However, Sweden, like the U.S., has had
problems in the economy which means that both parents are trying to find work. At the possibility of both parents working,
Sweden adopts “family-friendly” policies. These are programs dedicated to have
a successful combination or work and family (British Journal of Sociology). These
programs allow parents to have paid parental leave (for both mom and dad), paid
time off for when they themselves and children are sick, and care facilities
for their children (The British Journal of Sociology). The “family-friendly
policies” allows Sweden to have the opportunity to have more gender equality in
their country (The British Journal of Sociology).
Not
only does Sweden work hard for male/female equality they also work for equal
rights for Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender rights. Living in the United States
we experience unfortunate discrimination against the LGBT community and a lot
of children are brought up without knowing the equality of everyone. In Sweden,
learning about equality starts in preschool. As we have seen in the United
States, Sweden also hosts an annual Pride Fest. Pride works to make its
presence known and has hard working members advocating programs for children
and their gay parents-called “rainbow families”. A young couple in Sweden
mentioned by “Sweden’s Official Website” used artificial insemination and are
proud parents of two young daughters, although the couple says they do not
think discrimination is completely gone, they as a couple have not encountered
any discrimination and have only received love and support (Sweden.se).
As
the women of Sweden are becoming more “equal” to their male counterparts in the
family they seem to be also capable of making their own decisions when it comes
to their body and reproduction. According to the article, “An Illusion of
Power: Qualitative Perspectives on Abortion Decision-Making Among Teen Women in
Sweden, while the teens in Sweden have a high level of sexual experiences,
pregnancy remains avoided, most of the time. However, when pregnancy does
occur, abortion is a top choice. This statement suggests that they do have a
right to end an unwanted pregnancy and since teen pregnancy remains low, birth
control is used. Although the pressure of their partners and their families may
come into play, since the abortion law passed in 1975 it greatly improved the
access to birth control methods.
Although
Sweden works hard towards gender equality, all violence against women is still
very prevalent. According to Sweden.se, in 2010 about 27,000 cases of male
violence against women were recorded. With the rising numbers of sexual
violence in Sweden more women are speaking out and many ways of help are
available for women. There are approximately 130 women’s shelters in Sweden,
women can also turn to the Swedish Association of Women’s Shelters or Roks and
the National Organization for Women’s and Young Women’s Shelters.
In addition to
violence against women, Sweden works hard at eliminating sex trafficking. The
official website about Sweden states that although the rate is low by
international standards (400-600 women per year), but by law the people of
Sweden are not allowed to purchase sex, and want to work further to eliminate
further trafficking (Sweden.se). This was said in 2007, the rates might have
gone up since they hit an economic snag in later 2008. Sweden is calling upon
other countries and communities to adopt even more effective measures to put an
end to this “violation of human rights, and of individual’s human dignity, this
barrier to social equality and gender equality,” according to the Human
Trafficking Project. Sweden was the first country in the world to introduce a
law criminalizing the purchase of sexual services, which happened in January
1999. Introducing this law was to put an end to prostitution because it is said
to “cause serious harm both to individuals and society as a whole” (Ministry of
Education and Research). In July of 2008, Sweden made a commitment to action by
developing and Action Plan against prostitution and human trafficking which
includes 5 priority areas that are: greater protection and support for people at risk and for
victims, a stronger emphasis on preventive work, higher standards and greater
efficiency in the justice system, increased national and international
cooperation, and educational and awareness campaigns (The Human Trafficking
Project).
Sweden
makes an amazing effort for women’s rights to work against sex trafficking.
However, when it comes to church they seem to be lacking. According to an
article done by Charlotte Celsing, Swedes seem less interested in the church.
Although they have an enormous church, the people of Sweden show a lesser
support when it comes to values. However, it does not mean they lack faith. It
seems that the Swedes are becoming more spiritual and are a lot more open than
some that have a strong Christian faith. Only 1 in 10 Swedes think religion is
important in everyday life, according to the Sweden.se website. Religion does
not seem to play a large role in a woman’s wife, at least not in the modern day
life we live today (Sweden.se).
We have learned about women being used and
abused while working to provide for their family and having to leave their
children behind. Fortunately, the women of Sweden can be seen as some of the
lucky ones. Although there of course are unfortunate happenings in Sweden like
there are everywhere, Sweden works hard at making their country equal by having
programs for families to have a healthy work life as well as family life. These
programs provide paid leave when they have children and sick leave for when
their children are ill. Also, more men are putting in an effort in the
household as well making it an equal partnership. This is a lot more than what
some women who can say as it has become known that women from other parts of
the world are underpaid, thousands of miles away from their families, and no
vacation at all.
Works Cited
Bernhardt, Eva M., and Frances K. Goldscheider. "Men,
Resources, and Family Living: The Determinants of Union and Parental Status in
the United States and Sweden." Journal of Marriage and Family 63.3
(2001): 793-803. Print.
Celsing, Charlotte. "Health Care - SWEDEN.SE." SWEDEN.SE
- The Official Gateway to Sweden — Features, Facts, Music, Film. Web. 06
Feb. 2012. <http://www.sweden.se/eng/Home/Society/Health-care/>.
"CIA - The World Factbook." Welcome to the CIA
Web Site — Central Intelligence Agency. Web. 06 Feb. 2012.
<https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/sw.html>.
Ekstrand, Maria, Tanja Tydén, Elisabeth Darj, and Margareta
Larsson. "An Illusion of Power: Qualitative Perspectives On Abortion
Decision-Making Among Teenage Women In Sweden." Perspectives on
Sexual and Reproductive Health 41.3 (2009): 173-80. Print.
Frame, John Christopher. "Sweden Takes Action Against Sex
Trafficking." The Human Trafficking Project. 07 Dec. 2009.
Web. 06 Feb. 2012.
<http://www.traffickingproject.org/2009/12/sweden-takes-action-against-sex.html>.
"Legislation on the Purchase of Sexual Services." Home
- Government Offices of Sweden. 04 Feb. 2009. Web. 06 Feb. 2012.
<http://www.sweden.gov.se/sb/d/4096/a/119861>.
Strand, Mattias, and Mikael Nordenmar. "The Interference of
Paid Work with Household Demands in Different Social Policy Contexts: Perceived
Work–household Conflict in Sweden, the UK, the Netherlands, Hungary, and the
Czech Republic." The British Journal of Sciology 57.4
(2006). EBSCOhost. Web. 06 Feb. 2012. <http://http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.mnsu.edu/ehost/detail?sid=0e8ab083-8686-4a5c-b6b7-188255c8f9b5%40sessionmgr114&vid=5&hid=110>.
"Sweden – OECD Better Life Index." OECD –
Your Better Life Index. Web. 06 Feb. 2012.
<http://oecdbetterlifeindex.org/countries/sweden/>.
I enjoyed reading about another developed country around the world instead of all the countries that women are still treated incredibly poor. The fact that they have equal opportunity for health care which in turn lowers many of the mortality rates and other health issues that are possible is great, but what I found most interesting is the tolerability they have for homosexuals. It is nice to see that there are areas around the world that are advocating for homosexuality and treating everyone equally no matter their sexual preferences. I think it is a good thing that they learn about equality in preschools to prevent discrimination in the long run, and this could also encourage these young children to come out of their shell earlier and be able to live happier lives being themselves and not having to hide who they really are behind an egotistical and judgmental society. I also liked reading about the events they host such as Pride Fest, although I’m not quite sure how I feel about the title “rainbow families” because it seems a little too stereotypical. Why do they need to have a title like that, and why can’t they just be considered another family in the country instead? We don’t slap labels on families with heterosexual parents, so I don’t see a reason why we should put names and labels on those families raised by same-sex parents either.
ReplyDeleteThe “Women of Sweden” was an interesting paper for me to read because my nationality is mainly Italian and Sweden. The paper started off with a strong introduction about not realizing how much the female populations have or still are suffering for the rights of education, work, health and equal opportunities in general when it comes to gender issues. Although Sweden is a developed country, it has many similar issues to those of underdeveloped countries such as equal opportunities when it comes to the work field. For example, the female role in most countries is looked at to be the “caregiver” of the family which does not give females a chance to work outside of performing house duties and thus, they live “private” lives. However, Sweden does have one advantage at this situation which is stated as “family-friendly” policies in this paper, which ultimately means that there is a positive and equal balance for men and women both in the work field and home life of Sweden citizens.
ReplyDeleteEmily-
ReplyDeleteYour paper was very interesting to read. I chose your paper to read due to the fact that I really don't know much about Sweden; esepically the women. Sewdin has a lot of the same issues as the other countries. Especially with the equal rights and the work place. Like stated in your paper and also mentioned by Victoria's post, Swedin has the "family-friendly" policies. Its a plus that both men and women are able to preform both in the work field and the family- home life. And that both mom and dad are paid parental leave when their child is sick or something else has came up with them.
I thought the equality topic was interesting as I did not have background knowledge on Sweden. The comparison to the United States helped set the framework for the paper and relates to course material. It highlights the idea that women around the world have commonalities in everyday life especially in terms of women's rights. I also find it ironic that all the progress with equal rights for both men and women and the sexual violence rates are rising. In my opinion, it sounds as if the men are retaliating at the women speaking out. On a proactive note, the country is supporting the shelters for the domestic violence victims. After reading this paper, I have a better understanding of women’s triumphs and struggles in their homeland of Sweden.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting to read about another country that is going or has gone through many of the same things as the United States. A changing economy has a major impact on the roles of family even though most people don’t realize it. The fact that women in Sweden are starting to change their role and become a larger part of the workforce is something that many women in the U.S. can relate too. It is also great to learn that they have paid parental leave to take care of their children when they are sick or when they have a newborn. It gives not only women, but men as well, the opportunity to take of time when they need to care for their families. This is an opportunity that so many people throughout the world get to benefit from. It is so different compared to the women in third world countries who sometimes go years without seeing their families because they must work in other countries in order to support them.
ReplyDelete