German Feminist Catfight
In Germany, family minister Kristina Schröder, has sparked a fierce debate after trying to explain what it meant to be an independent woman today.
Women in France and Germany are given every imaginable benefit to make it as easy as possible to balance a career and motherhood, and feminists the world over love it. What German feminists don’t like, however, is when women accept and act upon their – gasp – womanhood.
Last week, German family minister, Kristina Schröder, sparked a national debate surrounding her comments on what it meant to be an independent woman in the 21st century. According to Mrs. Schröder, “independence” does not mean rejecting every semblance of femininity. “For [her], emancipation will only be truly reached if a woman can wear makeup and skirts without having her abilities doubted as a result.” Sound reasonable? Not according to women such as Alice Schwarzer, who believe that women should not simply reject femininity, they should reject their sexuality and men all together in an effort to achieve the “desirable” equality.
Even more unreasonable, according to these shoulder pad-wearing, bra-burning, 1970s-style feminists, was Schröder’s assertion that women should sleep with men. Yes, apparently heterosexual sex is blasphemous because it requires women to “submit” themselves to men. For marrying a man, taking his name, and sleeping with him, Schröder was criticized as being “hopeless” and “incompetent.”
In claiming that women should not have to resign all that makes them women – i.e. feminine clothes, makeup, husbands – Schröder was widely accused of subscribing to an “antiquated idea of anti-feminism.” However, according to radical feminist standards, Schröder is anything but traditional. Appointed by Angela Merkel, she is Germany’s youngest government minister, consistently prioritizing work above all else. At age 33, she has a husband (and his last name) but no children.
As a German, Schröder is even more untraditional. Although many German women such as Prime Minister Angela Merkel occupy notable, high-ranking administrative positions, the majority are incentivized to stay at home
When in France this past spring, a German history professor of mine compared French standards of work to those of Germany:
In France, it is common for new mothers to return immediately to work, often entrusting their baby with apartment concierges or state-sponsored daycares. Not only is there no stigma, working mothers’ needs are accommodated by the state. By the age of 3, an estimated 100% of French children are enrolled in France’s celebrated écoles maternelles. Germany is a different story. Children typically begin school by age 6, at which time, if a mother chooses to return to work, she is still accused of abandoning her duties as mother and homemaker.
Paradoxically, according to the 2010 Gender Gap Report, Germany ranks 33 points above France. France’s weak link? It doesn’t have as many women in parliamentary or administrative positions… but more of them are working. Apparently, Germany is unwilling to reconcile radical and more traditional conceptions of what it means to be a woman. Women can either be single and working or married with children. Either way, you’re ridiculed.