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Historisk tidskrift 123:1 • 2003

Innehåll (Contents) 2003:1

Uppsatser (Articles)

Statsrådet och genusordningen – Ulla Lindström 1954–1966

Mikael Sjögren

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Summary

The Cabinet Minister and the Gender System. Ulla Lindström 1954–1966

 

Ulla Lindström (1909–1999), Sweden’s third female cabinet minister, was appointed cabinet minister without portfolio in 1954. Her responsibilities included matters regarding Swedish citizenship, aid to developing countries, family affairs, and consumer issues. She remained the only woman in the Swedish government until her resignation in 1966. This article examines the gender system of the time and how it affected Lindström’s work as cabinet minister, her ability to exercise political power and her general working conditions.

Ulla Lindström worked as cabinet minister in a time when the Swedish gender system was in a period of transition. Whereas the 1950s was the great “housewife decade”, the 1960s was the decade that produced a national debate on gender roles. This debate began just as the two-earner family was becoming an ideal as well as a reality; however, the Swedish Labour Movement, a traditionally patriarchal organisation, did not specifically address women’s political involvement. This is clearly demonstrated by the fact that during Lindström’s period in office, it was considered sufficient that only one woman represent all the women of the country. Clearly, these attitudes limited Lindström’s ability to exercise power.

Lindström’s male colleagues regarded some political matters more suitable for a female cabinet minister and some political matters more suitable for her male counterparts. They believed that family affairs, for example, were issues that Lindström should address because she was a woman and that male cabinet ministers should address such issues as national defence. In the press, where female politicians were often described as feeble-minded, Lindström received special treatment. The traditional labour distributions based on gender in her own household also restricted her work. Lindström wrote in her diary that her household chores greatly reduced the time she had to influence political matters. In spite of all this, she cannot be considered a cabinet minister without power. She influenced political decisions by skilfully using the press and public opinion.

By focusing on Lindström’s tenure as a cabinet minister (1954–1966), I have studied how the Swedish gender system affected women’s power and women’s conditions on the highest political level: the Swedish Government. To draw general conclusions from one person may seem delicate; however, this is the actual point. Lindström remained the only female cabinet minister between 1954 and 1966. This seems to indicate that she was considered the female representative of the time and no additional women were needed to represent the general female population. I conclude that this situation strongly restricted the influence women had on Swedish national politics during this period.

Through her own analysis of Sweden’s gender system, Lindström was able to work out strategies for exercising power. Nevertheless, despite her persistent attempts to bring in more women into the Swedish government, the prevailing gender structure prevented her from becoming anything other than an isolated female at the top political level.