Iceland has recently passed a law banning profit from the nudity of its employees, which may spell the end of the sex industry. The relatively small country is home to 320,000 people, where 100 immigrant women have come to work in strip clubs.  The legislation is based on feminist not religious reasons and it is argued that the rise in the number of female parliamentarians (almost 50%) and a strong womens’ movement that is united against the sex industry. Additionally, Iceland has a female prime minister who is openly lesbian, who has been a strong feminist presence in the parliament, the Alþingi {Althingi}. In the US and the UK, feminism is divided, as the sex industry is debated as being degrading or empowering.

What’s interesting is the interaction of culture and feminism in Iceland. The Nordic countries have increasingly negative attitudes towards prostitution and it appears that the feminism is Iceland is less fragmented in its values. I’m curious what the attitudes towards sex are in Iceland and the degree of openness there is towards it, which may explain how feminism is socially constructed in Iceland. I get a sense that places where sex is more taboo and a cultural hot-button topic, the more fragmented feminism will be. I’m not using fragmented pejorativelyJust a thought.

Well, as the strip clubs in Iceland fade away, perhaps they can sell the brass poles on eBay. This NYTimes article from a few years back reports that the owners of the strip club used as a location shoot for The Sopranos auctioned off the stripper poles due to an impending remodel.

Twitterversion:: Iceland banning strip clubs for feminist, not religious reasons. Intersection of culture, sex work, & feminism. #ThickCulture

Song:: Bjork-‘The Hunter’ & ‘Human Behaviour’