Equality, health and feminism

Many Swedes know Alexandra Charles primarily as a driving and successful night club entrepreneur.

Nowadays she dedicates herself totally to women’s issues, working full-time and more for the 1.6 million club, initiated by her in 1998.

The club owes its somewhat unusual name to the fact that there are about 1.6 million women in Sweden over 45 and Alexandra and the club give their support and attention to them and all other women.

Last autumn the club celebrated having 20 000 members. "We hope to become Sweden’s greatest association. We want a society, where gender equality in medical education and research is the most important issue", says Alexandra.

Women’s health issues

What really goaded her into starting this organization seven years ago was something she heard at a dinner party. She was told that medical research generally is carried out on men. And not just any men but on well-trained boys doing their military service!

So most of our knowledge about the body, diseases and doses of medication are based on the male body and then directly transferred into being valid for the female body. Bodies and diseases differ very much between the sexes and a woman’s coronary is often quite different from that of a man.

The club has received several awards, among others the Competence Award from the National Encyclopedia, for its assiduous work in spreading objective information and encouraging a holistic view regarding women's health issues.

Alexandra knows that the strong devotion from her and the club is important when trying to put these issues on the agenda of our decision-makers.

"We want to be a body of authority for women’s issues and participate at every level where medical research, women’s situation on the labour market, medical care, geriatric care and school system are discussed".

Feminism - it goes without saying

When asked about her view on feminism Alexandra answers with a laugh.

"Feminism goes without saying, of course everybody should have the same rights and the same possibilities".

Alexandra and the 1.6 million club work primarily with women’s health issues but also with changes of attitude towards women over 45. It is obvious that women over 40 are strong on the labour market and earn a lot of money.

But this is not evident in media where 70 percent of the women in the photos are under 30. Alexandra wants women to assert themselves more and to make their voices heard. An excellent way to take an interest in women’s health issues is a membership in the 1.6 million club.

"We are happy to say that we have over 20 000 members but would like to have twice as many. Everybody over 18 is welcome, men as well".

The Queen of Night became the Leading Lady of Women’s Lib

The 1.6 million club was founded in 1998 by Alexandra Charles, known as the queen of Stockholm’s night life when she started and ran Alexandra’s, Sweden’s first night club of international standard.

The night club closed at the end of the 1980’s after 20 years.

- The work at the night club involved so much superficiality that I always needed the social engagement for my inner balance, says Alexandra, also engaged in an organization supporting and helping women with children. For a long time she has also been working with HIV-infected persons and she has been a member of the Board of Life Foundation.

What is the most important goal and mission of the 1.6 million club?

- Being a pressure group in order to improve women’s health, mentally and physically.

For all women

Hon är 1,6 miljonerklubbens styrelseordförande och kring sig har hon kärntruppen, som styrelsen kallas. Den består i dag av Gunilla Björk, Ingemo Bonnier, Ettan Bratt, Alexandra Charles, Kjerstin Dellert, Karin Falck, Lotta Insulander-Lindh, Lill Lindfors, Britt-Marie Landgren, Marie Mian, Grynet Mollvig, Gunilla Pontén, Kerstin Sandels, Karin Schenck-Gustafsson, Christina Schollin, Barbro Svensson och Solveig Ternström. Många har varit med sedan första början.

She is the Chairman of the Board of the 1.6 million club and around her she has the Core Group, as the Board is called. Members today are Gunilla Björk, Ingemo Bonnier, Ettan Bratt, Alexandra Charles, Kjerstin Dellert, Karin Falck, Lotta Insulander-Lindh, Lill Lindfors, Britt-Marie Landgren, Marie Mian, Grynet Molvig, Gunilla Pontén, Kerstin Sandels, Karin Schenck-Gustafsson, Christina Schollin, Barbro Svensson och Solveig Ternström. Many of them were there from the start.

Is the club a "club for rich and famous women"?

Alexandra laughs heartily at this question.

- On the contrary! We want ordinary people to be members which is shown in our fees. The fee for membership is SEK 150 per year and for a full-day seminar SEK 350, lunch included.

- But there is an advantage in having well-known women in our club. When I started the club I wanted to attract strong, wise, fearless women and many of them are known for having accomplished something, they are well-informed and want to influence society. It is rewarding to be able to turn the celebrity status into something valuable because - and that is a fact - if a comment on a controversial issue is expressed by Lill Lindfors the impact is much stronger than when expressed by a doctor.

- When the club started in 1998 almost nobody talked about women’s health but during the last years these issues have had a great impact in media.

Awards

The club arranges workshops and seminars all over the country and edits a letter of information four times a year. The club has also published two books. Members write articles discussing different topics of interest.

In 2004 the 1.6 million club received the Competence Award from the National Encyclopedia for its educational work. This is a newly established prize and Alexandra Charles is extremely proud of this award as the winner is nominated by the Swedish people.

Before the election all political parties were invited to hearings but Alexandra Charles is very careful to point out that the club is politically independent.

There are no issues where you have to choose right or left?

Alexandra does not find that a problem. In theory all parties accept the demands made by the club even if they don’t do it in practice.

- We work with those who want to work with us, Alexandra says. The Social Democratic Women’s Party is the only political association to show no interest as yet.

Alexandra gives an example of their lobbying.

- Last autumn we encouraged our members to file petitions to Members of Parliament.

Would the club gain anything by starting a Women’s Party?

- A Women’s Party could probably be very useful and positive to our issues. But we would never be included in such a party, because we would lose our strength: to express opinions and to be independent at the same time.

Body and soul

That body and soul belong together is an issue that the club wants to introduce on society’s agenda.

- We want to introduce the female perspective into medical education and research, for instance the gender perspective of different medicines and drugs.

- Take alcohol for instance. Women tolerate about half as much as men, that is perhaps unfair but true all the same. The same goes for medicines and drugs, where men and women are differently affected by varying side effects.

- Women’s health, which is so much more than just the physical side, is the most important issue for the 1.6 million club, Alexandra points out. The whole society benefits from women’s good health, physically, mentally and socially. Therefore, we are also engaged in financial and law issues for women.

Experience from geriatric care

The 1.6 million club also feels strongly about the situation of older women in medical care. Several of our members, who participated from the start, are over 75 and many members have elderly and ailing parents and consequently have experience of how the geriatric care works.

- Or rather, does not work, Alexandra says.

- We have to focus on the care takers. The people they meet in the medical care are the least educated, often the nurse’s assistants, who are not supposed to make any diagnosis while the persons, capable of diagnosing, are busy filling in forms.

- But the fault does not lie with the staff but is a system and planning error.

- We don’t have the means, according to the politicians. But where does the money go? The administration is too expensive, the County Councils cost too much. Do we need them? I don’t think so.

- The doctors are tied to their desks as administrators instead of giving their time to the patients. The medical secretaries should be reinstated.

Lack of respect

Alexandra means that the system and planning error comes from the lack of respect for old people in Sweden.

- The age discrimination is terrible. We have laws against ethnical and sexual discrimination but not against old people.

She wants a change of attitude.

- There is so much talk about the rejuvenation of the Swedish Parliament but I think the Parliament should be representative and a mirror of the population. Younger people cannot imagine the situation of the elderly. Of course younger people are needed with their experience of being parents with small children for instance, where their seniors may not be so updated.

But we need women in mid-life, their experience of life and the labour market and their competence. Why not combine wisdom and insight with vitality and youth?

When the club started 1.6 million women were over 45. How many are they today?

- Today we are 1.7 million and the figure is increasing. The best possible quality of life for old people should be on the human right list.

- Most of our members are over 50 but we have many members between 30 and 50, too. Everybody over 18 is welcome, men as well. Today we have 20 000 members.

Public Opinion Creator Award to Alexandra

The 1.6 million club is a non-profit association and many lecturers don’t charge anything. The money comes primarily from sponsors.

- Here, too, our contacts have been useful.

Alexandra has also recently received the Public Opinion Creator of the Year Award, distributed by different organizations from trade and industry.