Berlin / Cologne: German Chancellor Angela Merkel has become a feminist icon after 16 years in power even though the strongest woman in the world was only late accepting the label when she prepared to retreat, and admitted that gender equality was still far away.
“He was admired by women all over the world, this is his main inheritance.
That a woman shows what he can do and do this with dignity and finish,” said German Feminist activist Alice Schwarzer told Reuters.
A rare woman in echelon over conservative Christian Democrats and dominating men (CDU), Merkel, 67, long ago avoided casting herself as a feminist and only reluctant to support some policies driven by feminists such as quota for women.
“He hasn’t spent the last 16 years that carries out great feminist acts.
To be fair, he has several other things on his plate,” Schwarzer said, noting Merkel has supported policies that help women such as expanding state care funded.
“The fact of the existence is a feminist statement.” In 2017, Merkel avoided saying whether he considered himself a feminist when urged to do it at an event with the Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde and Ivanka Trump, the daughter of US President Donald Trump.
“I don’t want to decorate myself with a title that is actually not owned,” Merkel said at the time.
However, when the time in power interesting to nearby, Merkel – which grew up in the former Communist East Germany and had a doctorate in quantum chemistry – has reconsidered its position.
“I have thought of my answer through more and so I can say yes: We all have to be feminist,” said Merkel to cheer at an event with the author of Nigeria Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, who was titled “we all become viral” 2013.
German man now asks: Can a man become a chancellor? In the prime film that tells the story of the leading female politicians in West Germany after war, said Merkel last month he was disappointed that women still contributed only 31% of seats in parliament.
“We have not achieved equality between women and men in Germany.
Many still have to be done,” he said.
Schwarzer remembered that Germany was not really ready for the Chancellor of his first woman when Merkel’s Christian Democrats (CDU) narrowly won the election in 2005, with his predecessor Gerhard Schroeder told the public, he was not ready with work.
But Merkel can even overtake the former Mentor Helmut Kohl to be a chancellor that serves Germany if it takes a long time to form a coalition government after the September 26 election.
Schwarzer said he was impressed with how Merkel hugged himself among the strong men: “There are jokes in Germany: a small child asks, mother, can men also become a chancellor? One person proves it and now no one can take it now.” Apart from The fact that Merkel wore poultry clothes playing his feminity, Schwarzer said Chancellor still had a particular feminine charm that he used in dealing with world leaders such as President Emmanuel Macron.
“He has something girls about him and more than enough to tease.
You mean you see it when he meets Macron, for whom he has anything wrong,” he said.
Women and women say the impact of Merkel – which is often known as “mutti”, or mother, even though she does not have its own children, – has been deep in a country where traditional gender roles only change slowly.
“He has done a lot of things to pave the way for others, now it’s really normal to see a chancellor candidate for women.
And this doesn’t always happen,” said Maria Luisa Schill, a resident of the University of Southwest Freiburg.
Lia, a 9-year-old girl in Berlin, said she wanted to be a chancellor someday.
Asked what he would do, Lia said: “Working, I’ll just continue, and get money!” Nancy’s mother added: “(Merkel) has so much strength and influence on so many people and I think especially women.”