ABSTRACT
Anu Pylkkänen In Finnish historiography, an image of women as strong and capable has survived up to the modern era (the ‘strong woman myth’), but it is now being deconstructed. This myth is visible in ancient national mythology and folklore, and it forms an integral part of our understanding of women as independent and responsible selves.1 An ethnologist has recently argued that Finnish folklore is very egalitarian in terms of power and sexuality, and that the rural gender code was less differentiated or less dichotomous than in other European cultures.2 A distinguished Finnish folklorist also discusses the myths of female (sexual) power that prevailed in early modern folklore and mythology.3 On the other hand, both of them emphasise that women’s role in productive labour was ambiguous: it was of great importance but was never to the credit of women, as it was to men. Studies of Finnish and Carelian folklore support the notion that it was the woman’s task to secure both the maintenance of the whole household as well as the authority position of the master.4 Women gained recognition for their performances only indirectly, through the success of the household and its master, never individually. However, women were never regarded as dependent either. Women’s working ethos combined with their rights to land and power seems to be a long-term pattern discernible up to the modern era.
