Some personal Sunday ponderings on the urgently needed feminist movement and a feminine bearing for all.

Last Friday the world celebrated International Women’s Day, a day with its roots from the suffragettes movement in the early 19th century. Women were underpaid, worked enormously long hours and were not allowed to vote. In 1921, Sweden became the final Nordic country to allow women to vote when the two-chamber parliament voted in favour of female suffrage on January 26. The first female member of Parliament to speak before Parliament was Agda Östlund, who opened her speech by saying: “Äntligen stod kvinnan i talarstolen” (Finally, the woman stood in the speaker’s chair).

*Members of Parliament walking towards the castle following the 1921 election]. Photo by Swedish Parliament (Sveriges riksdag).*

A second wave of feminism was actively taking place during the 1970s and I myself grew up in the 1980s thinking that equality was, if not fully reached, an issue debated enough and nothing to be worried about. Women had fought for their equal rights and I was the lucky generation to live within this modern equilibrium. However, the unfortunate fact is that women are still not paid equally to that of their male counterparts, women still are not present in equal numbers in business or politics, and globally women's education, health and the violence against them is worse than that of men.

During International Women’s Day last week I had a spontaneous dialogue with a dear male friend of mine. He told me that he reacts negatively to the word feminism, that it makes him think of unnecessarily obstinate women who believe men are to blame for everything that is wrong in this world. What he was trying to convey was that we might need a better and more current narrative that is inclusive of everyone who wants a free society. Our conversation made me deepen my thoughts that the modern civil rights movement needs phases and directions, that feminism and feminine bearing are two different notions, and that systemic work with gender issues is still urgently needed.

I see feminism and feminine bearing as two distinctively different approaches of being in the space for an equal future. Feminism is the movement fueled by female anger of not being treated the same as men. It is a movement that sometimes makes men feel fearful and that aggravates irritation. The unknown future of more women in powerful positions seems to stir up emotions. At the moment only 15% of our current country leaders are women (worldpopulationreview). And the Global Gender Gap Report 2023 by World Economic Forum showed that pace on gender equality progress has somewhat slowed down and that the year of expected parity is 2154. Women need to gather and fuel this movement to make sure we reach equal societies preferably faster than what the Gender Gap Report suggests. Women need to gather while simultaneously fully realise that the history of feminist movements have not been fully equal and open for all in terms of culture, race and backgrounds. Men need to join this revolution too! And here comes my very personal view on this work. Once the world is truly equal, we can carefully put feminism away. The energetic tool of pushing, supporting, caring for and building female structural systems is much needed right now but can reach a point where it’s no longer required. This is where feminine bearing becomes vital.

Feminine bearing is a way of being in the world that we all carry within us. It is a way often associated with a female appearance, one where care, nurturing and warmth is given a great amount of attention. Both men and women have feminine notions and ways of being. In a future where feminine bearing is not seen as weak, naive or useless for leadership, we could unfold some truly beautiful ways of being together. In 2015, professor Sydney Engelberg at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, was completely unfazed when the child of a mother at his lecture on organisational behaviour began to cry. The embarrassed mother tried to leave the class, but instead of letting her do that, the professor and father of four, scooped the kid up and soothed him in his arms so that the mother could continue the class and not miss anything at all. Engelberg always allows mothers to his masters lectures to bring their children and to breastfeed with the powerful message that no-one should ever have to choose between a child and an education. After this episode there has been a plethora of stories of professors who welcome students with babies into their classrooms and there are many examples of personal stories and videos showcasing how these teachers are changing lives by letting anyone be educated. This story is just one of many examples of feminine bearing, what it implies and how easy it is for everyone to let care be more important than money, pride or norms. Feminine bearing needs to be welcomed into society as a natural way of relating to each other, to the planet and to ourselves. And this bearing has no end, it’s there for eternity.