Thoughts about Iceland’s casual sex culture

Iceland is one of the most sexually liberated societies on the planet earth according to a blog on the Rooster. The blog goes on to state that by all accounts Icelanders “are more ravenous and enthusiastic about casual sex than anyone anywhere”. Quite a big statement, although the author adds that the dating culture in Iceland is “backwards”, beginning “with drunk sex and ends in … probably not much more”.

The blog is written from the point of view of a north American, so the dating etiquettes seem wild at best to the writer who talks about a “fuck first, names later” way of meeting people, setting Iceland apart from “the rest of the developed world” when it comes to dating.

The perceived promiscuity of the islanders is in fact infamous as is covered in Grapevine, and Airline Company Iceland Air capitalized on it in the nineties by turning Iceland into “a hot destination” for so-called “dirty weekends.” and thereby certainly did its part in spreading that message, or myth, depending on the position you take, by actually using catchphrases like “Fancy a dirty Weekend in Iceland?” “One Night Stand in Reykjavík”, “Miss Iceland Awaits” and “Get lucky in Reykjavik”.

The Roster blog goes on to theorize the reasons for the absence of dating culture quoting literature like “Paradise Reclaimed”, by author Laxnes where it basically sais that love hadn’t reached the island in the 1800 and for its hard conditions, mating was for surviving therefore “love is as rare as the sun”.

After quoting a 29 year old Icelandic woman living in LA about the differences between north American and Icelandic dating methods or lack thereof, one conclusion is that women are sexually liberated in Iceland and the most advanced feminism in the world is in Iceland. The author theorizes that these two facts might be related to the enigmatic dating culture and the Icelandic (none) love life.

The author recounts the #FreeTheNipple movement “when outraged feminists across Iceland, men and women alike, took to Twitter to desexualize breasts in the fight for gender equality.” and the bill currently before congress is mentioned, that would bind equal pay into law in a bid to level the professional playing field of the genders.

Another conclusion is that women are sexually empowered on the island and the author proclaims that the speculated “national Icelandic belief that women and men are equal players in the same game has directly contributed to the country’s liberal atmosphere of casual sex. Particularly, it’s done this by dispensing with the scientifically inaccurate narrative that men are obsessed with sex, but women could take it or leave it.”

After pondering the many sides of Icelandic sexual liberties the author also speculates about the “downsides to Iceland’s sexual utopia”. Mentioning “the insane amount of casual sex Icelanders have also means they deal with an insane amount of STDs.” And then concludes that the sexual freedom leaves Icelanders lonely, again quoiting the Icelandic woman in LA who thinks that Icelander fuck to fill an emotional void and that Icelanders are “so caught up with sex that they’ve forgotten how to connect.”

Mating and sexual habits in Iceland are certainly a topics worth exploring, so is the equal right’s movement and the variety of family structures. Icelanders start having children at a young age and have an extended network of family for support. The author also touches on the Icelandic liberal family structure quoting a CNN report (below). There is no concept of a broken family; it’s normal for families to be mixed up with a large group of children and stepchildren in sibling groups. The single parent family structure is common and not at all considered to be an odd one out. It’s also normal for women to be pregnant or have babies while still in university and they are supported by the extended family, babies are most welcome into all sorts of families.