I find Her, sitting on a chair in the photo archives of the Nordic Museum. She – who might be called the “foremother” of my generation - is a link between two very different definitions of what a woman can, should, and is expected to want.
When She was a child, and the Place still was just an idea in someone’s mind, there were not many women like Her in the City. Of course, there were capable women – independent both in thought and speech. But societal norms and legislation would set clear boundaries for how far She ever could get on determination alone.
But now She sits there – in her minimalist Swedish designer chair, wearing sturdy walking shoes and a tweed suit – after norms and laws have changed. And She has now become an archetype of all the women I ever encountered as a child. All those who, time and again, hammered in the same mantra: Don’t forget that you can get an education! Remember to find work! They knew what they were talking about. Themeselves they were the outcome of a long, muddy, collective effort throughout the 19th century to change the nation’s laws and social structures.
The construction of the Place began in 1919. By then, girls had only been allowed to attend school for 77 years. Unmarried women had only been permitted to work within a handful artisan crafts for 73 years. And it would still go another three years before women gained the right to vote – and six more before we were granted access to higher education.
On the Place itself, there is no representative image of women’s knowledge – nor of the struggle that was waged. The women we do see here, are allegorical figures from the history of the Western world – and therefore, all naked.
But at the very edge of the Place stands a single, understated female figure, placed almost directly at street level, and dressed in a simple dress. This is a portrait of a poet – Karin Boye.
She looks at you and me – at eye level.
Swedish Gender Equality Agency, Important Years in Gender Equality, accessed 2025.
www.jamstalldhetsmyndigheten.se/viktiga-artal
Image: Woman seated in the “Vilosov” armchair, Nordiska Kompaniet. Photo: Erik Holmén / Nordiska museet, DigitaltMuseum
