It's time for women to run for office
-
0:01 - 0:04I feel incredibly lucky
-
0:04 - 0:05to be from a country
-
0:05 - 0:09that's generally considered
to be the best place in the world -
0:09 - 0:11to be a woman.
-
0:13 - 0:16In 1975, when I was seven years old,
-
0:16 - 0:19women in Iceland went on a strike.
-
0:20 - 0:22They did no work that day,
-
0:22 - 0:24whether they held professional jobs
-
0:24 - 0:27or had the work of the home.
-
0:27 - 0:30They marched into
the center of Reykjavík -- -
0:30 - 0:3290 percent of women participated --
-
0:32 - 0:36and peacefully and in solidarity
-
0:36 - 0:38asked for equality.
-
0:40 - 0:42Nothing worked in Iceland that day,
-
0:43 - 0:46because nothing works
when women are not at work. -
0:46 - 0:48(Applause)
-
0:54 - 0:57Five years later,
Icelanders had the courage -
0:57 - 0:59to be the first country in the world
-
1:00 - 1:04to democratically elect a woman
as their president. -
1:04 - 1:07I will never forget this day,
-
1:07 - 1:11that President Vigdís,
as we know her by her first name, -
1:11 - 1:14stepped out on the balcony
of her own home, -
1:14 - 1:19a single mom with her daughter
by her side as she had won. -
1:19 - 1:21(Applause)
-
1:25 - 1:28This woman was an incredible role model
-
1:28 - 1:32for me and everyone
growing up at that time, -
1:32 - 1:33including boys.
-
1:34 - 1:38She frequently shares the story
of how a young boy approached her -
1:38 - 1:40after a couple of terms in office
-
1:40 - 1:44and asked, "Can boys
really grow up to be president?" -
1:44 - 1:46(Laughter)
-
1:46 - 1:49Role models really matter,
-
1:49 - 1:52but even with such strong role models
-
1:52 - 1:54who I am so grateful for,
-
1:54 - 1:57when I was encouraged
to run for president, -
1:57 - 2:02my first reaction was,
"Who am I to run for president? -
2:02 - 2:05Who am I to be president?"
-
2:06 - 2:08It turns out that women
-
2:08 - 2:11are less likely
to consider running than men. -
2:12 - 2:15So a study done in the US in 2011
-
2:15 - 2:20showed that 62 percent of men
had considered running for office, -
2:21 - 2:24but 45 percent of women.
-
2:24 - 2:27That's gap of 16 percentage points,
-
2:28 - 2:31and it's the same gap
that existed a decade earlier. -
2:32 - 2:34And it really is a shame,
-
2:34 - 2:39because I am so convinced that the world
is in real need for women leaders -
2:39 - 2:41and more principle-based leadership
-
2:41 - 2:43in general.
-
2:44 - 2:47So my decision to run
-
2:48 - 2:51ultimately came down to the fact
-
2:51 - 2:52that I felt
-
2:53 - 2:56that I had to do my bit,
-
2:58 - 3:00even if I had no political experience,
-
3:01 - 3:05to step up and try to be part
of creating the world -
3:06 - 3:08that will make sense and be sustainable
-
3:08 - 3:10for our kids,
-
3:10 - 3:15and a world where we truly allow
both our boys and girls -
3:15 - 3:17to be all they can be.
-
3:19 - 3:23And it was the journey of my life.
-
3:24 - 3:26It was amazing.
-
3:27 - 3:32The journey started with potentially
as many as 20 candidates. -
3:32 - 3:35It boiled down to
nine candidates qualifying, -
3:35 - 3:38and ultimately the race
came down to four of us, -
3:39 - 3:41three men and me.
-
3:41 - 3:44(Applause)
-
3:48 - 3:50But that's not all the drama yet.
-
3:50 - 3:53You may think you have drama in the US,
-
3:53 - 3:54but I can --
-
3:54 - 3:55(Laughter)
-
3:56 - 4:00I can assure you
we had our own drama in Iceland. -
4:00 - 4:03So our sitting president of 20 years
-
4:03 - 4:06announced initially
that he was not going to run, -
4:06 - 4:07which is probably what gave rise
-
4:07 - 4:10to so many candidates considering running.
-
4:11 - 4:13Then later he changed his mind
-
4:13 - 4:17when our prime minister resigned
-
4:17 - 4:20following the infamous Panama Papers
-
4:20 - 4:23that implicated him and his family.
-
4:23 - 4:25And there was a popular
protest in Iceland, -
4:25 - 4:30so the sitting president thought
they needed a trusted leader. -
4:31 - 4:35A few days later, relations
to his wife and her family's companies -
4:35 - 4:37were also discovered in the Panama Papers,
-
4:38 - 4:41and so he withdrew from the race again.
-
4:42 - 4:44Before doing so, he said he was doing that
-
4:44 - 4:47because now there were two qualified men
-
4:48 - 4:52who he felt could fill his shoes
running for office. -
4:53 - 4:59So on May 9, 45 days before election day,
-
4:59 - 5:02it was not looking too good for me.
-
5:03 - 5:06I did not even make the graph
in the newspaper. -
5:06 - 5:09The polls had me at 1 percent,
-
5:09 - 5:11but that was still the highest
-
5:11 - 5:14that any woman announcing
her candidacy had earned. -
5:15 - 5:20So it would be an understatement
to say that I had to work extremely hard -
5:20 - 5:22to get my seat at the table
-
5:23 - 5:25and access to television,
-
5:25 - 5:28because the network decided
that they would only include -
5:28 - 5:32those with 2.5 percent
or more in the polls -
5:32 - 5:34in the first TV debate.
-
5:35 - 5:38I found out on the afternoon
of the first TV debate -
5:38 - 5:42that I would participate
along with the three men, -
5:42 - 5:44and I found out on live TV
-
5:44 - 5:50that I came in at exactly 2.5 percent
on the day of the first TV debate. -
5:50 - 5:53(Applause)
-
5:55 - 5:57So, challenges.
-
5:59 - 6:02The foremost challenges I had to face
and overcome on this journey -
6:02 - 6:05had to do with media, muscle and money.
-
6:05 - 6:07Let's start with media.
-
6:07 - 6:09There are those who say
gender doesn't matter -
6:09 - 6:11when it comes to media and politics.
-
6:11 - 6:13I can't say that I agree.
-
6:13 - 6:17It proved harder for me
to both get access and airtime in media. -
6:18 - 6:21As a matter of fact, the leading candidate
appeared in broadcast media -
6:21 - 6:2487 times in the months
leading up to the elections, -
6:24 - 6:26whereas I appeared 31 times.
-
6:28 - 6:32And I am not saying
media is doing this consciously. -
6:32 - 6:35I think largely this has to do
with unconscious bias, -
6:35 - 6:38because in media,
much like everywhere else, -
6:38 - 6:42we have both conscious
and unconscious bias, -
6:42 - 6:47and we need to have the courage
to talk about it if we want to change it. -
6:47 - 6:49When I finally got access to TV,
-
6:49 - 6:52the first question I got was,
"Are you going to quit?" -
6:54 - 6:56And that was a hard one.
-
6:56 - 6:59But of course, with 1 percent
to 2.5 percent in the polls, -
6:59 - 7:01maybe it's understandable.
-
7:01 - 7:05But media really matters,
and every time I appeared on TV, -
7:05 - 7:08we saw and experienced
a rise in the polls, -
7:08 - 7:11so I know firsthand how much this matters
-
7:11 - 7:13and why we have to talk about it.
-
7:13 - 7:15I was the only one
out of the final four candidates -
7:16 - 7:18that never got a front page interview.
-
7:18 - 7:22I was sometimes left out of the questions
asked of all other candidates -
7:22 - 7:24and out of coverage about the elections.
-
7:25 - 7:26So I did face this,
-
7:26 - 7:29but I will say this
to compliment the Icelandic media. -
7:29 - 7:34I got few if any comments
about my hair and pantsuit. -
7:34 - 7:37(Applause)
-
7:37 - 7:38So kudos to them.
-
7:40 - 7:44But there is another experience
that's very important. -
7:44 - 7:46I ran as an independent candidate,
-
7:46 - 7:50not with any political party
or muscle behind me. -
7:50 - 7:52That lack of experience
-
7:52 - 7:54and lack of access to resources
-
7:54 - 7:57probably came at a cost to our campaign,
-
7:57 - 8:02but it also allowed us to innovate
and do politics differently. -
8:02 - 8:04We ran a positive campaign,
-
8:06 - 8:11and we probably changed the tone
of the election for others by doing that. -
8:11 - 8:14It may be the reason
why I had less airtime on TV, -
8:14 - 8:17because I wanted to show
other contenders respect. -
8:19 - 8:22When access to media
proved to be so difficult, -
8:22 - 8:24we ran our own media.
-
8:24 - 8:26I ran live Facebook sessions
-
8:26 - 8:31where I took questions from voters
on anything and responded on the spot. -
8:32 - 8:36And we put all the questions I got
and all the answers on an open Facebook -
8:36 - 8:39because we thought
transparency is important -
8:39 - 8:40if you want to establish trust.
-
8:41 - 8:44And when reaching young voters
proved to be challenging, -
8:44 - 8:46I became a Snapchatter.
-
8:47 - 8:50I got young people
to teach me how to do that, -
8:50 - 8:55and I used every filter on Snapchat
during the last part of the campaign. -
8:55 - 9:00And I actually had to use a lot of humor
and humility, as I was very bad at it. -
9:00 - 9:04But we grew the following
amongst young people by doing that. -
9:04 - 9:07So it's possible to run
a different type of campaign. -
9:07 - 9:12But unfortunately, one cannot talk
about politics without mentioning money. -
9:14 - 9:16I am sad that it is that way,
but it's true, -
9:16 - 9:20and we had less financial resources
than the other candidates. -
9:21 - 9:25This probably was partly due to the fact
-
9:25 - 9:29that I think I had a harder time
asking for financial support. -
9:29 - 9:34And maybe I also had the ambition
to do more with less. -
9:34 - 9:37Some would call that very womanly of me.
-
9:39 - 9:44But even with one third the media,
one third the financial resources, -
9:44 - 9:48and only an entrepreneurial team,
but an amazing team, -
9:48 - 9:52we managed to surprise everyone
on election night, -
9:52 - 9:54when the first numbers came in.
-
9:55 - 9:57I surprised myself,
as you may see in that photo. -
9:57 - 9:59(Laughter)
-
10:00 - 10:01So the first numbers,
-
10:02 - 10:05I came in neck to neck
to the leading candidate. -
10:05 - 10:08(Cheers)
-
10:13 - 10:16Well, too early,
because I didn't quite pull that, -
10:16 - 10:17but I came in second,
-
10:17 - 10:20and we went a long way
from the one percent, -
10:20 - 10:22with nearly a third of the vote,
-
10:22 - 10:25and we beat the polls
by an unprecedented margin, -
10:25 - 10:29or 10 percentage points
above what the last poll came in at. -
10:30 - 10:34Some people call me the real winner
of the election because of this, -
10:34 - 10:37and there are many people
who encouraged me to run again. -
10:38 - 10:40But what really makes me proud
-
10:40 - 10:42is to know that I earned
-
10:42 - 10:46proportionately higher percentage
support from the young people, -
10:47 - 10:52and a lot of people encouraged
my daughter to run in 2040. -
10:52 - 10:54(Applause)
-
10:58 - 11:00She is 13,
-
11:01 - 11:03and she had never been on TV before.
-
11:03 - 11:08And on election day,
I observed her on TV repeatedly, -
11:08 - 11:11and she was smart, she was self-confident,
-
11:11 - 11:14she was sincere, and she was
supportive of her mother. -
11:14 - 11:18This was probably
the highlight of my campaign. -
11:18 - 11:20(Applause)
-
11:25 - 11:26But there was another one.
-
11:26 - 11:29These are preschool girls out on a walk,
-
11:29 - 11:31and they found
a poster of me on a bus stop, -
11:31 - 11:33and they saw the need to kiss it.
-
11:33 - 11:35Audience: Aw!
-
11:35 - 11:39This picture was really
enough of a win for me. -
11:39 - 11:42What we see, we can be.
-
11:42 - 11:45So screw fear and challenges.
-
11:45 - 11:48(Applause)
-
11:48 - 11:50It matters that women run,
-
11:50 - 11:54and it's time for women to run for office,
-
11:54 - 11:58be it the office of the CEO
or the office of the president. -
11:59 - 12:03I also managed to put an impression
on your very own "New Yorker." -
12:05 - 12:09I earned a new title,
"A living emoji of sincerity." -
12:09 - 12:11(Cheers)
-
12:13 - 12:16It is possibly my proudest title yet,
-
12:18 - 12:22and the reason is
that women too often get penalized -
12:22 - 12:25for using what I call
their emotional capital, -
12:25 - 12:29but I know from experience
that we become so good -
12:29 - 12:31when we do just that.
-
12:31 - 12:33(Applause)
-
12:36 - 12:37And we need more of that.
-
12:39 - 12:43We celebrated as if we had won
on election night, -
12:43 - 12:44because that's how we felt.
-
12:45 - 12:49So you don't necessarily
have to reach that office. -
12:49 - 12:51You just have to go for it,
-
12:51 - 12:54and you, your family, your friends,
everyone working with you, -
12:54 - 12:58if you do it well, you will grow beyond
anything you will experience before. -
13:00 - 13:01So we had a good time,
-
13:02 - 13:05and I learned a lot on this journey,
-
13:05 - 13:08probably more lessons
than I can share here -
13:08 - 13:10in the time we have today.
-
13:10 - 13:13But rest assured, it was hard work.
-
13:13 - 13:16I lost a lot of sleep during those months.
-
13:17 - 13:22It took resilience
and perseverance to not quit, -
13:22 - 13:27but I learned something
that I knew before on the one percent day, -
13:27 - 13:30and that is that you can only be good
-
13:30 - 13:34when you are truly, authentically
listening to your own voice -
13:34 - 13:36and working in alignment with that.
-
13:37 - 13:40As a good sister of mine sometimes says,
-
13:40 - 13:42you may cheat on your intuition,
-
13:42 - 13:45but your intuition never cheats on you.
-
13:48 - 13:51I think it's also very important,
and you all know this, -
13:51 - 13:52that on any journey you go on,
-
13:52 - 13:54it's the team you take along.
-
13:55 - 13:59It's having people around you
who share your values, your vision, -
13:59 - 14:01but are different in every other way.
-
14:02 - 14:04That's the formula for success for me,
-
14:04 - 14:07and I am blessed with an amazing husband,
-
14:07 - 14:08here today,
-
14:09 - 14:11an incredible family --
-
14:11 - 14:13(Applause)
-
14:13 - 14:14and great friends,
-
14:14 - 14:17and we came together
as entrepreneurs in the political arena, -
14:17 - 14:21and pulled something off
that everyone said would be impossible. -
14:21 - 14:24As a matter of fact,
the leading PR expert told me -
14:24 - 14:26before I made my decision
-
14:26 - 14:29that I would do well to get seven percent.
-
14:30 - 14:34I appreciated his perspective,
because he was probably right, -
14:34 - 14:36and he was basing it
on valuable experience. -
14:36 - 14:37But on the one percent day,
-
14:37 - 14:41I decided here to show him
that he was wrong. -
14:42 - 14:46It's very important to mention this,
because I did lose a lot of sleep, -
14:46 - 14:48and I worked hard,
and so did the people with me. -
14:48 - 14:53We can never go the distance
if we forget to take care of ourselves. -
14:53 - 14:55And it's two things that I think
are very important in that, -
14:55 - 14:59in surrounding yourself with people
and practices that nourish you, -
14:59 - 15:02but it's equally important,
maybe even more important, -
15:02 - 15:06to have the courage
to get rid of people and practices -
15:06 - 15:08that take away your energy,
-
15:08 - 15:11including the wonderful bloggers
and commentators. -
15:12 - 15:15I took a lot of support
from others in doing this, -
15:15 - 15:19and I made the decision to go high
when others went low, -
15:19 - 15:24and that's partly how I kept
my energy going throughout all of this. -
15:24 - 15:26And when I lost my energy for a moment --
-
15:26 - 15:30and I did from time to time,
it wasn't easy -- -
15:30 - 15:33I went back to why I decided to run,
-
15:33 - 15:36and how I had decided to run my own race.
-
15:38 - 15:40I called it a 4G campaign,
-
15:40 - 15:43the G's representing the Icelandic words.
-
15:43 - 15:45And the first one is called "Gagn."
-
15:45 - 15:47I ran to do good,
-
15:47 - 15:49to be of service,
-
15:49 - 15:51and I wanted servant leadership
-
15:51 - 15:55to be at the center of how I worked
and everybody else in the campaign. -
15:56 - 15:58Second one is "Gleði," or joy.
-
15:58 - 16:00I decided to enjoy the journey.
-
16:00 - 16:03There was a lot to be taken
out of the journey, -
16:03 - 16:05no matter if the destination
was reached or not. -
16:05 - 16:08And I tried my utmost
to inspire others to do so as well. -
16:09 - 16:11Third is "Gagnsæi."
-
16:11 - 16:13I was open to any questions.
-
16:13 - 16:14I kept no secrets,
-
16:14 - 16:17and it was all open,
on Facebook and websites. -
16:17 - 16:20Because I think if you're
choosing your president, -
16:20 - 16:22you deserve answers to your questions.
-
16:23 - 16:25Last but not least,
-
16:25 - 16:28I don't need to explain that in this room,
-
16:28 - 16:30we ran on the principle of Girlpower.
-
16:30 - 16:33(Cheers)
-
16:36 - 16:38I am incredibly glad
-
16:38 - 16:40that I had the courage to run,
-
16:40 - 16:43to risk failure but receive success
-
16:44 - 16:45on so many levels.
-
16:47 - 16:50I can't tell you that it was easy,
-
16:50 - 16:52but I can tell you,
-
16:52 - 16:56and I think my entire team
will agree with me, -
16:56 - 16:58that it was worth it.
-
16:59 - 17:00Thank you.
-
17:00 - 17:02(Applause)
-
17:02 - 17:03Thank you.
-
17:05 - 17:06Thank you.
-
17:06 - 17:08(Applause)
-
17:15 - 17:17Pat Mitchell: I'm not letting you go yet.
-
17:18 - 17:20Halla Tómasdóttir: What a great crowd.
-
17:22 - 17:24PM: I can't let you go
without saying -
17:24 - 17:27that probably everybody in the room
is ready to move to Iceland -
17:27 - 17:29and vote for you.
-
17:29 - 17:31But of course we probably
can't vote there, -
17:31 - 17:33but one thing we can get from Iceland
-
17:33 - 17:36and have always gotten is inspiration.
-
17:36 - 17:39I mean, I'm old enough to remember 1975
-
17:39 - 17:41when all the Icelandic women walked out,
-
17:41 - 17:45and that really was a very big factor
in launching the women's movement. -
17:45 - 17:48You made a reference to it earlier.
I'd love to bring the picture back up -
17:48 - 17:53and just have us remember what it was like
when a country came to a standstill. -
17:53 - 17:55And then what you may not know
-
17:55 - 17:59because our American media
did not report it, -
17:59 - 18:03the Icelandic women
walked out again on Monday. Right? -
18:03 - 18:06HT: Yes, they did.
PM: Can you tell us about that? -
18:06 - 18:08HT: Yes, so 41 years
after the original strike, -
18:08 - 18:12we may be the best place
in the world to be a woman, -
18:12 - 18:14but our work isn't done.
-
18:14 - 18:17So at 2:38pm on Monday,
-
18:17 - 18:18women in Iceland left work,
-
18:18 - 18:21because that's when
they had earned their day's salary. -
18:21 - 18:23(Applause)
-
18:36 - 18:38What's really cool about this
-
18:38 - 18:42is that young women and men participated
-
18:42 - 18:44in greater numbers than before,
-
18:44 - 18:48because it is time
that we close the pay gap. -
18:51 - 18:54PM: So I'm not going to ask
Halla to commit right now -
18:54 - 18:55to what she's doing next,
-
18:55 - 18:58but I will say that you'd have
a very large volunteer army -
18:58 - 19:01should you decide to do that again.
-
19:01 - 19:02Thank you Halla.
-
19:02 - 19:03HT: Thank you all.
-
19:03 - 19:06(Applause)
- Title:
- It's time for women to run for office
- Speaker:
- Halla Tómasdóttir
- Description:
-
With warmth and wit, Halla Tómasdóttir shares how she overcame media bias, changed the tone of the political debate and surprised her entire nation when she ran for president of Iceland -- inspiring the next generation of leaders along the way. "What we see, we can be," she says. "It matters that women run. And it's time for women to run for office."
- Video Language:
- English
- Team:
- closed TED
- Project:
- TEDTalks
- Duration:
- 19:18
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for It's time for women to run for office | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for It's time for women to run for office | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for It's time for women to run for office | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for It's time for women to run for office | ||
Brian Greene approved English subtitles for It's time for women to run for office | ||
Brian Greene edited English subtitles for It's time for women to run for office | ||
Joanna Pietrulewicz accepted English subtitles for It's time for women to run for office | ||
Joanna Pietrulewicz edited English subtitles for It's time for women to run for office |