Analyzing Societal Changes: Iceland Lifestyles in Toronto (1880-2019)

This essay provides a comparative sociological analysis of Iceland Lifestyles as they manifested in Toronto, contrasting the societal norms, family structures, and gender roles of 1880 with those of 2019. The essay begins by exploring the reactions of 1880 Toronto residents to changing lifestyles, attributing them to concerns about the impact on children and adherence to traditional regulations. It then delves into specific changes, including shifts in family structures, marriage and divorce rates, and the evolving roles of men and women in the workforce. The essay also examines the progress of women in both Iceland and Canada, highlighting changes in decision-making power, economic participation, and the persistence of gender inequality in areas such as wage gaps and unpaid work. Furthermore, it discusses the achievability of the Icelandic family model in Canada, considering variables like personality, demographics, and work-related factors, and concludes by referencing feminist theories to analyze men's and women's experiences and social roles. The author references several academic publications to support their arguments.

Running head: ICELAND LIFESTYLES 1
Iceland Lifestyles
Name
Institution

ICELAND LIFESTYLES 2
ICELAND LIFESTYLES
Question 1
The 1880 Toronto residents reacted the way they did because they thought that the
lifestyle portrays by the 2019 travelers would spoil their children. The two had different
lifestyles and they thought that the current lifestyle will mislead their children. There is also the
possibility that their traditional rules and regulations prohibit the character showed by travelers.
The current culture of the travelers has been influenced by the tradition and culture of the
European, especially French and British, and by their own indigenous cultures. The travelers also
borrowed American culture (Kaufman, 2017). The change in culture can also make the Toronto
residents behave the way they did because most of the traditional people were quite restricted to
their cultures.
Life cycle patterns, Marriage, and families, gender/sex division of labor, as well as
gender relations, have all changed. In 1880, the idea family was made up of a man and a woman.
The man and woman were to commit to each other for life. The family function in 2019 is
different as compared to 1880. During 1880, men in Toronto participated in income-generating
activities, either by working for wages or running a business. In 1880, most women performed
home duties as well as caring for their families (Hearn, Aboim & Shefer, 2018). The most
important change that the 1880 Toronto residents might find problematic includes:
Changing family structure, an aging population and lower fertility rate have led to an
increasing number of households without children. During 2019, the households in Canada are
made up of one or two children. In traditional households, there was no limit on the number of
children.
There is also a change in patterns of the partnership; both increasing divorce rates and
failing marriage rates have led to an increase in reconstituted families and sole-parent families.

ICELAND LIFESTYLES 3
In 2019, the divorce rate per families increases as compared to the rate of divorce in the year
1880. There is also a decline in the rates of marriage. This is because of living apart together, the
weekend relationships, and there are more individuals cohabiting before marriage.
Parents in work; there has been a group in the number of women in the job market and
this is linked to the increasing number of women staying in employment or re-entering the labor
market. In the year 2019, more women are in paid employment
Marriage as well as family formation; in 2019, Most of the Men and Women marry from
different ethnic or racial groups. During 1880, an Indian woman who married men who are not
Indian lost their status and they were never regarded as the Indians but the status of Indian men
remained. This rule was rampant in 1880 but was challenged in the year 1885 because it was
taken as sex discrimination. The act removed the discrimination and allowed for marriage
regardless of the race.
The responsibilities of the parents changed; in the modern world, parents share the
responsibility of taking care of their children because of work and social constraints.
Nevertheless, holidays which are not in the 1880 Toronto family, enable most of the families to
spend time with their children.
Question 2
There has been progressed for women in Iceland and Canada. Today, the daily lives of
women in both countries changed. Some of the major changes that took place in the lives of
women are decision making power and the economic role of women. For instance, many of the
women today rerun most of the TVs shows in Canada. Also, more women in both the two
countries participate in the labor force. However, women and men in both Canada and Iceland
are not provided with similar opportunity to participate socially and economically. Most of the

ICELAND LIFESTYLES 4
women encounter several challenges in terms of the kinds of work they participated in, taxation
and wages earned in the workplace. In both countries, there are cases of gender inequality. The
first issue is on wage as well as the income gap between women and men. Women in both
countries earn less as compared to their male counterparts. This lower earning power makes most
of the women especially in Canada to work extra hours than their male counterparts for them to
earn the same amount. There is also the presence of gendered paid as well as unpaid work
patterns in Iceland and Canada. Research indicates that most of the women in Canada and
Iceland perform most of the unpaid work as compared to their male counterparts. The women
provide essential service to the community by emotionally and physically developing the next
generation of employees. Despite all these inequalities, women in both countries have made
important gains more so in labor market and you find that most of the men in both countries
participate in domestic work. The economy of the two countries still depend on women to
volunteer and devote their time by cooking, mopping floors, caring for husbands, children, as
well as the elderly. The government of the two countries has tried solving the problem of unpaid
work for women. For instance, the investment of the Canada government in public companies for
example childcare, health care or education decrease the problem of unpaid work for female by
reinforcing social infrastructure of Canada. This investment in early childhood education and
childcare help most of the women to participate in the labor force.
The two countries value education and that is why some of the women in Iceland
acquired their Ph.D. outside the country. The Education system in both countries is compulsory
where each and every individual has to attend school to acquire knowledge and skills. In the two
countries, there is increasing participation of Female in higher education and this has changed
the aspirations of the female in both countries (Rennie, Jóhannesdóttir & Kristinsdottir, 2011).

ICELAND LIFESTYLES 5
For instance, we find that Svafa studied her Ph.D. at a certain school located in London. The
modern societies in both countries are faced with the issue of the divorce rate (Stewart, 2018).
Therefore, it is true that equality has not been achieved in the two countries as evidenced by
types of work, unequal wages, unequal family responsibilities, and current social policies.
Yes, the Icelandic model is achievable in Canada. This is because both Canada and
Iceland share many things in common (Iceland, 2016).
According to the researchers, Canada spends more money than Iceland in primary school
students. Most of the women employed in Canada earn more money than men with similar
education. This is not the case in Iceland as Men earn more money than women in a similar
education system (Durayappah & Dempsey, 2018). Though the rate of employment is very high,
Iceland employed more adults with relevant skills and knowledge than the one employed in
Canada.
The variables that may make it hard to maintain and construct the family model of
Iceland in Canada include personality, demographic as well as family and work-related variables.
These variables have both indirect and direct effects on well-being (Pettinicchio, 2012).
Feminist theories analyze Men’s and women’s experiences, social roles, interests, polities
and feminist chores in a variety of fields, for example, sociology and anthropology,
psychoanalysis and media studies, literature, home economics, philosophy, and education
(Hines,2015).

ICELAND LIFESTYLES 6
References
Durayappah, S., & Dempsey, C. G. (2018). Recasting Sexuality, Gender, and Family through
Contemporary Canadian Ritual Innovation. Ritual Innovation: Strategic Interventions in
South Asian Religion, 259.
Hearn, J., Aboim, S., & Shefer, T. (2018). 17. Sexualities, social justice and sexual
justice. Handbook on Global Social Justice, 228.
Hines, S. (2015). Feminist theories. Introducing gender and women’s studies. London: Palgrave,
23-39.
Iceland, S. (2016). Iceland in figures 2016. Reykjavík, dostępny on-line: http://www. statice.
is/media/49863/icelandinfigures2016. pdf (28.07. 2016).
Kaufman, G. (2017). Margaret O’Brien and Karin Wall (Eds.): Comparative Perspectives on
Work–Life Balance and Gender Equality. European Journal of Population, 33(3), 441-
443.
Pettinicchio, D. (2012). Current explanations for the variation in same-sex marriage policies in
western countries. Comparative Sociology, 11(4), 526-557.
Rennie, F., Jóhannesdóttir, S., & Kristinsdottir, S. (2011). Re-thinking sustainable education
systems in Iceland: The Net-University project. The International Review of Research in
Open and Distributed Learning, 12(4), 88-105.
Stewart, F. (2018). Grey Owl in the White Settler Wilderness:“Imaginary Indians” in Canadian
Culture and Law. Law, Culture and the Humanities, 14(1), 161-181.