Angela Merkel was Federal Chancellor for 16 years – as a woman among men. The fact that she called herself a feminist at some point also has to do with a royal lady.
Berlin – “A woman has proven that women can do that too,” said Germany’s most famous feminist, Alice Schwarzer, about Angela Merkel’s chancellorship. “And now that is a matter of course in our country.” If Olaf Scholz (SPD) has been Chancellor since Wednesday, the U20 squad in Germany in particular have to get used to the fact that their head of government is a man.
But how did Angela Merkel (CDU) see her role as women in politics? She had made it clear from the start that she did not want to be belittled: she did not even take on the role of “Kohl’s Girl” for herself. However, she rarely gave insights into how she was doing as a woman when meeting statesmen such as Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, Recep Tayyip Erdogan or Emmanuel Macron.
Angela Merkel remembers a strange moment with Vladimir Putin
Merkel experienced a particularly strange moment at a press conference in 2007 with Waldimir Putin. “Although, I believe, the Russian President knew very well that I was not exactly eager to greet his dog, he brought it with me,” Merkel later recalled world. “But that’s the way it was. And you can see how I bravely try to look in the direction of Putin and not in the direction of the dog. “
The Chancellor had apparently quickly adopted strategies for dealing with people in power – especially men. Keeping calm always seemed to be her motto here as well. One could think that Merkel would call herself a feminist as a matter of course, as the first woman in the state. But it was not like that. For a long time she was unable to answer this question clearly for herself.
Angela Merkel (CDU): How she started to call herself a feminist
“The story of feminism is one where I would say there is something in common with me. And there are also those where I would say there are differences, ”said Angela Merkel (CDU) in August 2017 at an international panel discussion.
A few years later, however, things looked different: “For me, the word feminism is indeed very strongly linked to a certain movement that was very fought there,” said Merkel at a panel discussion in September 2021. And she wanted herself do not decorate with foreign feathers. “Then Queen Maxima from the Netherlands opened the gate for me by saying that the main thing is that men and women are equal, in the sense of equal participation in society,” she continued. And then said: “And in this sense I can say in the affirmative today, then I’ll be a feminist.”
After all: successor Olaf Scholz (SPD) has appointed as many men and women to the federal cabinet. (cat)
#Angela #Merkel #Chancellor #mens #business