Berit Ås (née Skarpaas; 10 April 1928 – 14 September 2024) was a Norwegian politician, social psychologist, and feminist.
She is known for helping popularize the master suppression techniques originally proposed by Ingjald Nissen, and her research interests also include feminist economics and women's culture.
Following one year as a primary school teacher at Eiksmarka,[2] she worked on issues related to smoking hazards, eventually becoming a member of Statens tobakksskaderåd from its establishment in 1971,[1] consumer protection, children's safety, and housing.
[1] In 1983, she, Suzanne Stiver Lie, and Maj Birgit Rørslett, were commissioned to start an experimental project and establish Norway's first Women's University.
In Asker, this initiative was spearheaded by Berit Ås, Tove Billington Bye, Marie Borge Refsum and Kari Bjerke Andreassen.
She led efforts to establish the Feminist University in Norway in the 1980s, and formulated five Master suppression techniques which she claimed were used against women in particular, though these may be used against other disadvantaged groups as well.
[9] In 1973, she stayed with John Lennon and Yoko Ono in their Manhattan apartment for a week, while participating at the Women's Conference.
[13] Participating in a discussion forum in 2008, aged 79, she presented alternative theories for the 9/11 attacks, which drew criticism from the press and politicians.
[14][15] Born in Fredrikstad on 10 April 1928, Ås was the daughter of schoolteachers Knut Knutsen Skarpaas and Ingeborg Stokke,[1] the oldest of four siblings.