Association 9 and the Radical Sex Role Ideology of the 1960s in Finland

Arja Turunen, University of Jyväskylä

In the Nordic countries, the second-wave feminist movement of the 1960s and 1970s was preceded by the so-called sex role movement. It called for the abolishment of gender-based segregation of the labor market and all prejudice that labeled the social roles of women and men as opposite to and separate from each other. The movement demanded that every individual should have an equal opportunity to fulfill themselves both in working life and in the family regardless of their biological sex. The sex role movement had critical significance for the relatively early institutionalization of gender equality policies, particularly in Finland. The movement has, however, not generated much academic interest, and most of the studies have been very critical towards it. Feminist scholars have criticized the movement for seeing gender equality on male terms, focusing on women’s status in the labor market and promoting a male norm of behavior. In my proposed paper, I discuss Association 9 (1965–1970), which was the leading figure of the sex role movement in Finland. I demonstrate that the agenda and ideology of Assocation 9 were significantly broader than previously assumed, and I argue that it was a forerunner in many questions that were later brought up by the feminist movement. Association 9 criticized the strict gender-based division of the private and public spheres, for example, and pointed out that sexuality and other questions of private and personal life are also political questions. The aim of my paper is to give a new interpretation of the history of feminism in Finland and include Association 9 in the history of the transnational feminist movement.

No extended abstract or paper available

 Presented in Session 169. From Rebel-Girls to Radical Girlhood: Re-Thinking Repertoires of Control and Resistance from the Late-18th to 21st Century