Iceland’s First Lady Eliza Reid and author Ann Hood speaking at Reid’s live author event at the Somerville Theatre last week. — Photo by Mina Rose Morales

By Mina Rose Morales

The First Lady of Iceland, Eliza Reid, came to the Somerville Theatre on Thursday, May 26 for a signing of her book Secrets of the Sprakkar.

The event was organized by Christina Pascucci-Ciampa, the founder and owner of All She Wrote Books. Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne gave a speech about women at the event before the interview began. Reid was interviewed live during the event by author and former flight attendant Ann Hood.

Reid’s book describes how Iceland’s sprakkar women are changing the world. Sprakkar is an ancient Icelandic word meaning extraordinary or outstanding women.

“Can you think of a word in the English language that just pertains to women but that doesn’t patronize or objectify women?” asked Reid, who wanted an Icelandic word that only belongs to women and reflected the theme of her book. After researching words, she found one, which most Icelanders do not even know exists.

She immigrated to Iceland from Canada after marrying her husband, Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson, an Iceland native. He then became the President of Iceland in 2016. Reid checked with a language school to verify the existence and meaning of the word.

“Sprakkar is only for women,” said Reid. Anyone who identifies as a man cannot be a Sprakki, according to Reid.

Iceland ranks at the top along with the other Nordic countries in gender equality. They were the first country to grant equal inheritance rights to both men and women, abortion is not a hot political topic as it is in other countries, revenge porn is criminalized, and they excel in other gender equality topics.

“As a society, we passed the tipping point of debating whether or not working towards gender equality is a good goal, but instead talk about how we are going to get there,” said Reid.

Despite Iceland’s ranking in gender equality, women in Iceland are not immune from verbal and physical harassment or assault. The Nordic paradox contradicts claims of gender equality in Nordic countries. There is a coexistence between high levels of intimate partner violence against women and gender equality in Nordic countries.

“Absolutely,” said Reid when asked if there are cases of sexual harassment in Iceland. She agreed there is no ideal world for women despite the progress in Iceland.