Norway is mentioned in Simone de Beauvoir’s historical account as an example of the uneven pace of women’s political emancipation in northern Europe. Norwegian women obtained suffrage in 1907, before Swedish women did, despite the substantial feminist movement and organized activism in Sweden.

Suffrage in the Nordic Comparison

De Beauvoir places Norway within a comparison of feminist movements and political gains in Sweden, Norway, and Finland. Swedish women, invoking traditions of education, work, and liberty, organized in associations and won liberal support, but continued to face conservative opposition. Against this backdrop, Norwegian women’s 1907 suffrage marks a concrete electoral victory achieved before Sweden’s.

Historical Significance

The reference presents political rights as advances won at different times through distinct national struggles, not as an automatic consequence of modernization. Norway’s suffrage date helps show that women’s emancipation proceeded unevenly even among neighboring countries. The passage does not describe the campaign’s organization or the circumstances of the Norwegian vote in further detail.