While the word “feminism” can be divisive in many parts of the world, in Sweden it has been intimately paired with the country’s government since 2014. That year, Sweden’s new prime minister, Stefan Löfven, declared that the country would have the world’s first feminist government. A look at the official government website reveals statements like:

“Women and men must have the same power to shape society and their own lives. This is a human right and a matter of democracy and justice.”

Meanwhile, in the United States, the statement at the crux of the Equal Rights Amendment, “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex,” is still too much for some. Even in 2018, almost a century after the amendment was introduced by Alice Paul, it still doesn’t have enough support for ratification.

How is it that a country with a history of high-profile women’s rights movements has been outpaced in gender equality by a small Nordic country with comparatively quiet women’s rights movements?

Deputy Prime Minister Isabella Lovin (L) and other members of Sweden’s self-proclaimed feminist government in Stockholm on February 1, 2017. Photo by Johan Schiff, Regeringen/AFP/Getty

Before addressing this question, it’s important to note that characterizations of Sweden as some sort of feminist utopia are not only wide of the mark, they also make the country the target of much abuse by critics who wish to find fault with equal rights initiatives. Prime Minister Löfven himself has acknowledged that “gender equality is still a distant goal” in Sweden and the rest of the world, and this is the reason why a feminist government is necessary. It bears pointing out as well that Sweden still faces challenges in regard to other forms of equality.

Sweden, therefore, does not stand as “the” model which all other nations and governments should follow in terms of gender and other forms of equality. It is neither a utopia nor a representative example of the “right” way to create a more equal society. Still, the fact that it has consistently ranked at the top of global equality rankings for many years makes it an excellent case study for anyone concerned with gender equality.

It is also important to note that Sweden has dropped slightly in the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index since Löfven and the feminist government took power: from fourth place in 2014 to fifth place in 2017. To be fair, however, in 2014, the United States ranked 20th on the global scale. By 2017, it had plummeted to 49th place. Any backsliding is cause for concern, so the situation in the U.S. is especially alarming.

That said, the intention of this essay is not to disparage the United States and idealize Sweden, but rather to contrast the high-profile history of feminism and gender-equality reforms in the U.S. with that of Sweden, which is little known outside Europe or even Scandinavia. This juxtaposition also has the potential to provide valuable insight in the spirit of the following statement by American sociologist Diane Rothbard Margolis:

“If women around the world are to hold on to the tentative advances already made toward equality and build upon them, it will be because differing movements around the world accept, respect, and learn from their heterogeneity.” ¹

Diverging Feminist Paths

The “first wave” women’s movements of Sweden and the United States followed roughly the same trajectory from the mid-19th century to the 1920s, despite certain differences. A key driver of both movements was women’s suffrage, accompanied by other fundamental legal and political rights particular to each nation. Women in both countries successfully secured some of these rights around the same time.

Women’s suffrage, for instance, was granted to Swedish women in 1919, and to American women in 1920. Women in both countries were securing a few seats in government around this time as well. In the U.S., Jeannette Rankin of Montana became the first woman elected to Congress in 1916. In 1922, Rebecca Felton of Georgia became the first woman in the U.S. Senate. In Sweden, 1921 — the first year women were able to exercise their right to vote — saw five women elected to Parliament, including Kerstin Hesselgren, who was elected to the upper house, Elisabeth Tamm, and Nelly Thüring.

Kerstin Hesselgren, the first woman elected to the Upper House of Sweden’s Parliament, pictured circa 1925. Creative Commons/Public Domain.

But with the vote secured and political representation a possibility (if not always an attainable reality), the paths of the two countries began to diverge as their respective women’s movements continued to push for additional reforms. Notably, Swedish women gained increasing legal equality with the full support of the government while American women achieved success slowly, sparingly and, often, grudgingly.

By the time Alice Paul introduced what became known as the Equal Rights Amendment in the U.S. in 1923 (which has yet to be ratified in 2018), Swedish women had already gained legal marital equality² and the right to enter into most professions³. In 1938, Sweden legalized birth control and liberalized/legalized abortion⁴. By contrast, in the U.S., birth control wasn’t legalized until 1965, followed by abortion in 1973.

Four weeks of unpaid maternity leave had already been granted to Swedish women in 1901, and this was extended to three months of job-protected leave in 1937, and to six months in 1945. Paid maternity leave was introduced in 1955 and expanded eight years later, when it was paid at 80 percent of earnings for six months⁵. In 1974, the benefit was extended to fathers as well and became known as parental leave⁶.

Protections in the workplace also came early in Sweden compared to the U.S., with a law protecting women from losing their jobs because of engagement and marriage in 1939, and because of pregnancy in 1946. These reforms arrived in the U.S. in 1964 and 1978, respectively, although enforcement was — and still is — problematic, often coming only after legal battles⁷.