Launching the Grand Coalition by Eric Langenbacher

Author:Eric Langenbacher [Langenbacher, Eric]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Europe, Germany, Political Science, General, Political Process, International Relations, Treaties
ISBN: 9781845452834
Google: 4SKrAQAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 8184789
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Published: 2006-01-15T10:35:45+00:00

Feminism as an Implicit Asset

If Merkel’s lack of credentials as a mother were advanced as if they were a damning argument by some, other women from the western Länder argued that she lacked credentials as a feminist, as if this identity were not otherwise treated as political leprosy. Of course, in some ways her position as a woman raised in the GDR automatically disqualified her from this label, since she could hardly claim to be a 68er. In the U.S. the feminist label is not nearly as narrow or negative as it is in Germany, but it still would be implausible to expect a serious woman major party candidate (such as Hillary Clinton) to embrace it. Instead, those who would like to see a more feminist candidate look for smaller indications, noting for example that Merkel, unlike many women from the new Länder, embraced and used the grammatically feminine “in” ending.16 Comparably, in Chile, it was noticed that Michele Bachelet inverted the usual order and addressed “chileanas y chileanos.”

Another behavior that some were willing to interpret as a “hint” of Merkel’s feminist sympathies was the fact that her closest and most trusted advisors within the party are women (e.g., Beate Baumann, Eva Christiansen, Hildegard Müller, Annette Schavan). It is more than likely however that such a female-centered network represents less of a clue to her politics than an indication of just how untrustworthy as allies and confidants she has probably found her male colleagues to be. Merkel has herself chided Alice Schwarzer for claiming her as a latent feminist, noting that “she is likely to be disappointed. I am after all in the CDU.” Schwarzer, however, back in 2000, already had countered this argument, saying “no one expects her to be a true feminist, since she is a woman of the CDU. But such women, from [Elisabeth] Schwarzhaupt to [Rita] Süssmuth, have already provided sufficient evidence that a sort of feminism-lite is possible.”17 However, just this willingness to see a gender-political advance in a nonfeminist party victory was also frequently condemned by other feminists: “Forget symbols and milestones—whoever wants Merkel as a chancellor is going to get the really existing CDU/CSU. This is the consequence Frau Schwarzer is unwilling to draw.”18

But having a feminist effect on the gender norms of politics does not require a woman to actually espouse feminist policies. It may be more telling to note that Merkel is well aware of the male norms and expectations that demean and attempt to exclude her; as Alice Schwarzer pointed out, Merkel had even favorably reviewed Backlash, Susan Faludi’s bestseller about political and media attacks on women, in 1993 in the pages of Schwarzer’s feminist magazine, Emma. Merkel also began her government career with an appointment to head the Ministry of Family, Women, Seniors and Youth, where she could not possibly have avoided working with civil servants dedicated to women’s advances. While it indeed seems unlikely that Merkel is in any meaningful sense a feminist, she is clearly not allergic to contact with feminism or incapable of trusting and promoting other women around her.

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