Iceland 'best country for gender equality'

[cowcommander]

Source: BBC

Iceland remains the country that has the greatest equality between men and women, according to an annual report by the World Economic Forum (WEF).

It is the second year in succession that Iceland has topped the foundation's Global Gender Gap Report. Nordic nations dominate the top of the list of 134 countries, with Norway in second place and Finland third.

1 Iceland - no change from 2009

2 Norway - Up from 3rd

3 Finland - Down from 2nd

4 Sweden - No change

5 New Zealand - No change

6 Republic of Ireland - Up from 8th

7 Denmark - No change

8 Lesotho - Up from 10th

9 Philippines - No change

10 Switzerland - Up from 13th

11 Spain - Up from 17th

12 South Africa - Down from 6th

13 Germany - Down from 12th

14 Belgium - Up from 33rd

15 UK - No change

Source: World Economic Forum


Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11517459

[stray cat]

1. One of the hardest hit economically

[hughee99]

14. Yes, everyone is equally screwed. n/t

[SkyDaddy7]

2. Just so happens the Nordic countries are the least...

RELIGIOUS! I wonder how much that plays into the mix...My guess is quite a bit! Considering the countries lowest on the list are some of the most religious!

[rox63]

3. The US is 19th on the list

In case you were wondering.

[SkyDaddy7]

6. Thanks to President Obama!

[keopeli]

7. wtf? care to elaborate?

[SkyDaddy7]

8. Read the entire article! nt

[keopeli]

9. I did. That's elaborating?

[SkyDaddy7]

11. Let me ask you something...

If you truly were confused by me thanking the President for his contribution to helping improve America's ranking in the world when it comes to women's struggle for equality as the article implied...Then why start with "WTF?"

This is a perfect example of why there is so much animosity here on DU! Even if you are part of the small percentage of people on the left who are extremely loud & aggressive in their disdain for the President then why not save yourself & me the trouble and just ignore my comment? Instead it appeared to me you wanted a confrontation and I was not about to give you that satisfaction.

Now if you are not part of the very small percentage of loud folks on the left who aggressively seek out confrontations here on DU then what possibly could be the reason that motivated you to be so rude in response to a post that was neither negative or directed at you?

Seriously, I do not mean this in a rude way but "WTF?"

[NeoConsSuck]

13. From the article:

Meanwhile the US has risen to 19th place from 31st in 2009, because of a higher number of women in President Obama's administration and a reduction in the country's gender pay gap.

It means the US overtakes Canada to become the best-performing country in either North or South America.

[Odin2005]

4. Wow at Lesotho and South Africa!

Given the rape epidemic down there that is very surprising!

[Ian David]

5. That's just what Robbie Rotten WANTS you to think. n/t

[BolivarianHero]

10. Big surprise there...

Iceland also has the highest proportion of people who accept evolution* and the lowest mean age of first sexual experience in the world, not to mention it finishes close to the top on just about every quality of life indicator.

I wonder how a conservative would react to such an argument?

[lumberjack_jeff]

12. Interesting stuff

http://www.weforum.org/pdf/gendergap2010/UnitedStates.pdf

a) Women have better health and are better educated. According to the methodology of the study, this means "equality" (a 1.00 score).
b) I think the study overvalues how important it is to people's lives the gender of those who represent them. My county commissioner, my retiring legislator, my governor and both my senators are women. The fact that they do their jobs well is important. Their gender, not.
c) The degree to which the US is considered unequal economically is also flawed, primarily because the data source for "wage equality for similar work" is in their own words "crude". (the AAUW themselves say that men and women with the same job and equal education and experience make within 5% of one another). Men don't make 50% more at the same job.

The methodology of the study is such that the most "equal" possible society would be one in which all the elected officials are women and all the income and healthcare goes to women because boys die in infancy. Let's call it "Equalistan". If even a single country had just one indicator in which women surpassed Equalistan, they would lose their 1.00 score and be considered only 99% equal.

Equality is a hill with a slope on both sides. This study is not measuring "equality" as language generally uses the term.

[Douglas Carpenter]

15. interesting that the Philippines is in the top 10 - well above most Western countries including the

U.S. Having lived in the Philippines - I suspect that is fair. Even though the Philippines can appear way off base by Western standards - it is a given in Filipino culture that woman are considered smarter and more trustworthy when it comes to handling money and making major decisions concerning the family and the community. Even tough Filipino male thugs would readily admit that without the slightest hesitation. It is considered patently obvious. This is also reflected when one sees in the Philippines how many women in the Philippines hold senior positions in government and commerce - again well above most Western countries.

Of course one could at the cursory level completely miss this point given the strong emphasis on "traditional" male/female role playing, social and religious resistance to birth control and the legal prohibitions on abortion and even divorce - and the benign acceptance of widespread prostitution. But in spite of those factors, the Philippines is in many ways a very matriarchal society. Even among tough working class Filipino males - it is viewed as obvious that women are better decisions makers.