Sburlan Ruxandra-Maria

SASA 17

Tutorial paper no.1


This tutorial paper is meant to present the context in which the concept of women-
friendlyness was developed according to Mona Livholts article The making of Nordic
women-friendlyness and the language of emancipatory politics: a feminist genealogy and, at
the same time, show the influence that the patriarchal society had on womens lives in Norway
during the 20
th
century.
Firstly, an interesting aspect to be discussed is, from my point of view, what the author
meant by introducing the term women-friendlyness. As she explains in the beginning of her
article, this word was actually invented, in order to express the development of the relationships
that women establish within the context of the Nordic countries, with an emphasis on the
relationships between women and the welfare state, between women and men and, of course,
between themselves.
These being said, I strongly believe that Mona Livholts found so much meaning into the
topic of the Nordic welfare state being portrayed as women-friendly that she tried to trace back
its origins from the 20
th
century, analyze its development, and then she tried to merge it with her
own reflections and research, which is what led to her article in the first place.
Secondly, following my previous idea and in order to talk about the development of the
women-friendlyness in the Norwegian context I must bring into discussion Helga Maria
Hernes, one of the biggest sources of inspiration for Livholts regarding this matter.
She was the one that named the Nordic welfare states as potentially women-friendly
states or societies and made the first attempts to formulate a women-friendly theory based on
the history and culture of the Nordic welfare states.
According to her, in a women-friendly society, the state could not be a guardian one,
since it had to listen to the womens concerns and pursue a certain social change. Also, the
welfare state had to ensure equal development opportunities for both genders and not permit in
any way unjust treatment on the basis of sex.
What I found most interesting about Helga Maria Hernes approach in regard to this topic
is how she managed to connect it to her own personal experience and furthermore, even make
use of it. Since she was not Norwegian, she had encountered difficulties in being treated as a
(natural) woman. Maybe that was what inspired her to take on the posture of the stranger or
the foreigner, in order to include in her strategy the metaphor of the foreigner as the observer
and thus gain more credibility when presenting her theory.
In Norway, Hernes was actually one of the first to develop a feminist critique of the
classical political science made by men. Even though women were starting to be more active
on the political scene, until they were able to be represented in the actual decision-making, Helga
argued that the state was still a guardian one from the womens perspective.
She was also interested in debating the impact of the patriarchal society on womens lives
in a Nordic context, which is precisely why she was one of the few that brought critique towards
the matters of gender and race relations in a patriarchal society.
Helga Maria stated that it was possible for women to break out of the cultural
preconceptions of femininity (according to which the women were supposed to be sweet,
graceful etc.), and be more critical and give voice to their thoughts and opinions without fear.
From my point of view, this brave woman was more than a source of inspiration for those
around her; she was more like a role model that led the way for many other women and helped
them surpass the shell in which they were brought up. She was also a main reason why a
significant number of women were able to abandon their passive role in order to become more
active and fearless.
Another important writer that took on the problem of the development of women in such
a patriarchal society and served as a great source of inspiration for women everywhere was
Simone de Beauvoir.
She introduced in one of her texts, The second sex, the concept of the otherness, and
showed how in reality women have always been treated as the other in relation to men.
Even though it was a common fact that during those times, in the 20
th
century, women
did not have the same rights as men and they were always treated poorly, from my point of view,
the fact that Simone de Beauvoir faced this matter directly and had the courage to put it into
words made a huge difference for the womens struggle for equality.
As a result, her writing became a source of inspiration during the womens movements in
the 1960s and encouraged them to fight even more fiercely to escape the domination of a
patriarchal society.
In conclusion, through my paper I wanted to highlight some of the most important
aspects that led to the development of the Norwegian society, as it is nowadays: the active role
that some women played on the political scene and their efforts to bring into the publics
attention the crisis that women underwent during the 20
th
century, in order to shatter the
construction of the patriarchal society.