Frequent Grapevine contributor and generally cool person Gabrielle Motola has been working since 2013 on a passion project of hers: a “photo-story” book called ‘An Equal Difference‘, exploring Iceland’s progressiveness and gender equality.
A British-American, Gabrielle was dumbfounded with how quickly the small island-nation she now calls home was able to recover from the economic crisis, while at the same time managing to garner top scores on gender equality lists for the past seven years.
Through interviews and portraits with 70 inspiring individuals from all walks of life, she examines how progressive policies and cultural norms contribute to Iceland’s unique position.
Be sure to check out the Kickstarter page if any of this catches your interest, where you can preorder a copy of the book and show your support for as little as £1.
For a world drowning in inequality. A ‘photo storybook’ of tales and ideas from Iceland, a land of gender equality. Well, almost.
‘An Equal Difference’ is a book of portraits, stories, and wisdom. It is the result of two-and-a-half years of researching, speaking with, and photographing over 70 inspiring people living in Icelandic society today. It is my attempt to understand a culture that would call for measures like the jailing of bankers responsible for the crash, creating an energy policy based on independent, renewable sources, maintaining a socialised child care system, and making prostitution illegal by criminalising the buyers instead of sex workers. What really caught my attention was Iceland’s call to ‘feminise banking’. They examined the behavioural aspects of a problem, not the gender of it and in doing so, inferred that we are all a mixture of masculine and feminine behaviours and dynamics. This model not only feels true, it provides the framework for a greater understanding of ourselves and each other.
My process began with wondering what women’s minds would be like in comparison to those in the societies in which I had previously lived (the USA and UK) – societies that provide relatively little support for women’s biological responsibilities and tend to raise girls who struggle with self esteem issues. I wanted to know what makes gender equality work on a practical level. How does it influence the way one thinks and operates in society? How does it shape society itself?
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