to do with how others see us and how we can protect our families. The first is something we need to get over and the second is important, but doesn’t need to be the sole focus of our lives. We have to dare to make a difference to the future. Our world is in terrible shape. What are we waiting for?
What is your vision for the future on women-development?
I envision women changing the world by taking themselves and their concerns seriously. We can see that materialism and oil-dependence and education and war not only threaten humanity’s survival but it strips life of meaning and beauty. We worry about our children, but we are giving them a world that is increasingly dangerous. I want women to step forward, wherever they are, to express and create the world that is possible.
What are your concerns and your hopes towards women?
I worry that we are not enough interested in the future. We give birth to each generation, yet we leave the shaping of our society's future to men.
I don’t mean that men are bad or shouldn’t be doing this, but our voices are critical to creating a future that takes into account the concerns that we have.
Do you think that women, besides the identification with old biological roles, are underestimating their influence on the world?
Yes, ‘we hold up half the sky’, as that wonderful book and proverb both say. How many of us actually feel that way? One of the most harmful things about growing up in a culture that historically has been based on men’s fears and desires is that women don’t feel that we have a right to be here so we had better just fit in. Plus, the sense of threat that so many of us feel in a woman’s body makes us too often feel that we aren’t safe and that it is too dangerous to step forward and speak. These create the illusion that we are not powerful and that we are outnumbered. But when we realize that we are half of the world, then you can see that we have enormous influence—if we care to use it.
What is your view on the next step for women in Northern Europe?
Women in Northern Europe, in general, have the support and freedom to shape their lives as they want them. From the research that led to the Norway Paradox, it seems that most women want to have children and work part-time.
This is great for one’s personal convenience in the short term, but it also can make us dull and cuts us off from the decisions and experiments that will determine our future.