New book celebrates diversity: “We are all different, so just be yourself”

A new children’s book, Be yourself, for overcoming stereotypes and being truly you

The book dives into complex topics like gender identity, diversity, and stereotypes in an amazingly simple way.

In the queer community it’s often easy for us to say we’re being ourselves, “living our truth” or letting our “rainbow flag fly.” However, it gets a bit trickier when it comes to everyone else around us, our children, and the messages society can tell us on the whole. A new book, “Be Yourself” by Ingileif Friðriksdóttir and María Rut Kristinsdóttir of Hinseginleikinn, aims to change those conversations for the better especially with younger generations.

“The book doesn’t only focus on queer families but diversity in all forms.”

The book dives into complex topics like gender identity, diversity, and stereotypes in an amazingly simple way. The idea, Ingileif and María say, is to make these topics approachable and understandable to even a young audience.
“When you really start thinking about it, it’s so simple. We just have to talk to our kids about what reality really is, without trying to sugarcoat everything or talk around it. For example, we say in the book that some girls are born with a penis, so the doctors, their parents, and everyone around them thinks they are a boy. But they are a girl, and that’s called being a trans girl. It’s really that simple. It’s so much healthier for kids to see these things upfront, so they don’t develop the idea it’s weird. Kids are all born without prejudice, so we shouldn’t create that for them.”

Although some adults might think kids are too young to hear about these things, Ingileif and María believe it’s not dangerous at all. If anything, not talking and avoiding having these difficult conversations perpetuates the stigmas our community faces. “We have felt it ourselves how we don’t fit in the lesbian mold or the lesbian idea a lot of people have in their heads and we’ve been questioned just for being ourselves. Which, we’re pretty sure, is something straight cisgender people don’t experience a lot,” says Ingileif and laughs.

They say that their intention in writing the book is not to instill queerness into children or anyone reading the book, it’s more about awareness. After all, being lesbian, pansexual, trans, or gender non-binary is not “contagious” despite any belief it might be. For Ingileif and María, it’s about creating dialogue and opening the conversation to explore how kids and adults alike want to express themselves from the way they dress to the people they find attractive.

“We have a lot of questions for the reader where we make them reflect on themselves and how they see themselves. Like what is your family like? What are your hobbies? What color are your hair and eyes? The main idea of the book is to spark the child’s self-awareness and reflect on it. At the end of the day, our message “we are all different, so just be you,” says María.

The themes of diversity and inclusion in the book are also counteracting “mainstream culture.” Most children’s books, movies, and content online are written by and for a world that tells the same story: princess and prince charming, not prince and prince charming. Ingileif and María say it’s all about exposure and creating something to contrast that norm. “We have two sons and never watch a Disney film with our boys where two princes end up falling in love, and that’s because there are no Disney films like that.”

In a way, they never have been. Disney just added their first openly queer character in this year (2020) with Officer Specter, a cyclops lesbian step-mom in Onward. The character is a bit of a monster-sci-fi-gender-queer mash-up, but still. According to media advocacy group GLAAD, Walt Disney Studios has the weakest history of LGBT inclusion on screen out of all the major film studios. The LA Times called the character blatant tokenism, but a step in the right direction.

By Icelandic standards, representation isn’t much better. When Ingileif and María went to print their book they were actually turned away by a publisher because quote “there was no need for a book like this on the market.” As they understood it, they heard “there’s already one Icelandic book that mentions a queer family, so that’s enough. We’re not interested.”

Luckily another publisher saw that there was space for more than one queer book in the world, and it was smooth sailing from there. “That casual rejection actually gave us even more energy towards putting this book out because of course, we need more books on diversity and identity. Although the one book that is already out is very good, our book is about totally different topics. When we met with the publisher Salka they were on board 100% and we’re so thankful for that,” says Ingileif.

They also hope that the book can serve the next generation of parents, educators, and families, to open adults’ eyes to their own way of fitting into the picture. It goes beyond just sexuality or gender too. “We read all kinds of books to our kids and many of them are of course brilliant books with beautiful core messages. Yet, we’ve seen over and over again how they miss diversity. The majority of children’s books are with a mom and dad storyline and the characters who fall in love are always a girl and a boy. It’s almost always as non-disabled white people too. We wanted to shake it up and show the reader how different we all are. So the book doesn’t only focus on queer families but diversity in all forms,” says Ingileif.

Founded in 2016, Hinseginleikinn is an educational platform.

About Hinseginleikinn

Hinseginleikinn is an educational platform founded in 2016. At first, it was solely on Snapchat where all kinds of LGBTQIA+ people took over and told their stories. In 2018, it was adapted as a TV series with RÚV.
Today Hinseginleikinn is also a podcast and Maria and Ingileif give lectures all around the country on queer topics. They’re also on Instagram where members of the LGBTQ community take over and share their stories. It’s an ongoing project with the aim to educate and combat stereotypes and lack of role models within Icelandic society.

About the Book

Vertu Þú, Colorful Stories of Diversity is available now for ordering through Salka publishing house with first copies arriving on October 23, 2020. All presale copies are signed by the authors themselves!
Copies are also available through heimkaup.is, Hagkaup, or your favorite bookstore.
Illustrations and artwork by the fabulous Alda Lilja Hrannardóttir.

Á. Óskarsson
Á. Óskarsson

Á. Óskarsson offers a variety of products and services to sports centers, swimming pools, schools, kindergartens, and the general public. The company specializes in sport-related products, activity-focused games, and a wide range of solutions for sports facilities.

Á. Óskarsson has been involved in numerous big projects related to building sports facilities and has made it their benchmark to offer good quality products and equipment since the company was founded.

See links to social media in the upper left-hand corner

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Á. Óskarsson selur fjölbreytt vöruúrval fyrir íþróttahús, sundlaugar, skóla og leikskóla og einnig ýmsar vörur til einkaafnota. Fyrirtækið selur vörur til íþróttaiðkunnar og leikja ásamt því að bjóða upp á ýmsar lausnir fyrir íþróttamannvirki.

Á. Óskarsson hefur komið að fjölda stórra verkefna við byggingu íþróttamannvirkja og hefur frá stofnun kappkostað að bjóða vandaðar og endingargóðar vörur.

Tenglar á samfélagsmiðla eru í efra horninu vinstra megin.

Webpage/vefsetur

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      In only a few short years, we’ve grown from our 50 sq. m. petrol station space and become an award-winning chocolate maker. Now, with our headquarters in 101 Reykjavík, our chocolate is sent out around Iceland and all over the world.

      At the end of the day, our goal is to make chocolate.

       

      Nasdaq

         

        Nasdaq (Nasdaq: NDAQ) is a global technology company serving the capital markets and other industries. Our diverse offering of data, analytics, software and services enables clients to optimize and execute their business vision with confidence.

        With over 4,300 employees in 39 offices around the world, at Nasdaq we all contribute to the success of the company and its culture, and each one of us has the ability to make a difference. When it comes to our core mission and values, we embrace the role of Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging (DIB) as a fundamental driver of our corporate growth, workplace culture and market development. We strive to create a culture that embraces the power of different perspectives—a culture where people’s unique backgrounds and different experiences helps us fuel innovation and support our clients around the world.

        Our unique position at the center of the capital markets allows us to see firsthand how these values have redefined corporate culture and success, deepening and accelerating our own commitment to champion inclusive growth and prosperity, as we strive to create more equitable opportunities to help people of all backgrounds reach their full potential. Most notably, we published our diversity statistics for the first time in 2020. These metrics serve as a quantitative assessment of where we are today and help determine what strategies we need to adopt to enhance diversity in the workplace. We recognize that we have much work to do, but we are steadfast in our commitment to creating a diverse and inclusive culture—one that reflects the communities in which we live, allows all employees to be their true, authentic selves and fosters individual growth and achievement.

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        Blue Lagoon
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        From its humble beginnings in the shadows of a geothermal power plant, Blue Lagoon has evolved into a world of wonder, now encompassing two hotels, three restaurants, three
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        Achieving harmony with the volcanic landscape, the lagoon and its surrounding architecture embody the unification of the man-made and the natural, and adhere to the highest principles of sustainability.

        The Blue Lagoon. A wonder of the world. A world of wonder.

        Landsbankinn
        - leading financial institution
        Landsbankinn

        Landsbankinn is a leading Icelandic financial institution. It offers a full range of financial services and is the market leader in the Icelandic financial service sector with the largest branch network.

        The present bank was established on 7 October 2008 but the history of its predecessor dates back to 1886. The bank is owned by the National Treasury of Iceland, which holds 98.2% of its share capital, and other shareholders who own 1.8%.

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        It intends to achieve this aim by building solid infrastructure and a strong team of 1.100 employees, by listening to its customers and by respecting and encouraging its employees to actively participate in their community. Landsbankinn was a founding member of Festa, a Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility, and is a member of the UN Global Compact.

        Landsbankinn has been a proud sponsor of the Reykjavik Pride since it was first celebrated in Iceland.

        Dohop
        - get inspired
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        Dohop allows people to find the cheapest flights available with just one click. Founded in Reykjavik in 2004, it is the only Icelandic company of its kind and quickly became the go-to tool for finding cheap flights among the locals. Dohop finds the best deals among hundreds of different airlines and online travel agencies, to make sure that the user is getting the cheapest price. Dohop also offers hotel and car rental search engines, so users can make all of their travel bookings from a single website.

        Dohop‘s specialty is finding so-called “self-connect” flight options, which can save travelers money by booking a ticket through two or more different airlines. The ability to look for these self-connect option is what sets Dohop apart from its competition, as it can save people hundreds of dollars on certain routes.

        More recently, Dohop has developed a unique product called Dohop Go!, which allows users to check for the cheapest available flights from their home airport. This tool is perfect for those who are looking for travel inspiration but are not willing to overpay for their flight ticket. Dohop Go! is now available in the Dohop Flights App, both for Android and iOS, along with its traditional flight, hotel, and car search engines. “

        VSÓ Ráðgjöf

           

          VSÓ Ráðgjöf er alhliða ráðgjafar- og verkfræðifyrirtæki sem leggur áherslu á trausta og faglega þjónustu sem tryggir viðskiptavinum hagkvæmustu lausnir hverju sinni, skilar raunverulegum árangri og stuðlar að samkeppnisforskoti.  Á skrifstofum VSÓ í Reykjavík og í Noregi starfar yfir 80 manna samhentur hópur verkfræðinga og annarra tæknimenntaðra starfsmanna.

          Macland
          - for all your Apple needs
          Macland

          From starting out as a proper startup with only a good idea and the need to change things, to becoming an established company with 6 employees. Starting from scratch and expanding organically has allowed us to love our expansion and take our customers on the ride with us.

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          For all your Apple needs. We are here.

          Ísey skyr
          - once tasted never forgotten

          Our Story
          Once upon a time, 1,100 years ago in fact, Nordic settlers began arriving in Iceland. They brought with them the skills and knowledge for producing skyr. As time passed, the know-how and recipe for this nutritious food slowly faded out elsewhere in the Nordic region. Luckily, the Icelandic skyr-making tradition continued.

          For centuries, Icelandic skyr formed a cornerstone of the national diet, helping to keep people strong in living conditions that were often harsh. On family farms countrywide, it was the women who nurtured this dairy and passing on both the recipe and the original Icelandic skyr cultures from mother to daughter.

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          This is our secret and you are in on it

          You can read more about Ísey skyr on our website.

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