The new decade for women: Feminism in times of upheaval – a socio-political analysis

"Feminism rarely provides answers. Feminism invites us to think. And it invites us to think big, utopically. […] Understand feminism therefore as a thinking technique. As dreaming. […] Our social progress requires people who believe that other paths are possible." 

This quote comes from Teresa Bücker, a journalist and self-declared feminist.

This makes it clear that when it comes to feminism, it is above all about one thing: forward-looking progress with regard to improving the social position of women. Numerous feminist groups, such as the Femen activists, who in the past repeatedly drew attention to themselves through media-effective topless actions, are therefore now loudly demanding unconditional equality for all genders. In this context, neither origin, nor sexual orientation, religious affiliation, nor any form of physicality should play a role.

At this point, it should be particularly emphasised that there is no one single correct feminism. Feminism has many facets and therefore has no pre-fabricated or rigid framework within which it takes place. Therefore, the boundaries of where feminism begins and where it ends are just as fluid and diverse as the demands of individual activists themselves. The former struggle against oppression and indignity has primarily given way to the struggle against sexualised violence and entrenched patriarchal structures. Women around the globe are now more than ever standing up against injustice – in doing so, classical gender roles are regarded as obsolete. 

This trend is increasingly reflected in the context of political measures: In 2018

the Federal Government passed the elimination of social gender inequality in the form of the Federal Equality Act (AGG). Accordingly, a minimum gender quota of 30 per cent for newly appointed supervisory board positions is intended to give more women the opportunity to actively participate in the boards of listed companies. The compatibility of family and work is also to be significantly improved with the help of enhanced parental allowance and the nationwide expansion of childcare. However, from a feminist perspective, this is still not enough, because: on average, women earn around 21 per cent less than their male colleagues, which the annual Equal Pay Day on 18 March is meant to remind us of. However, the causes of this are largely unknown. Whilst women do work more frequently in part-time or mini-jobs and less often hold management positions, this is still not a sufficient reason for there to be a wage gap of around six per cent even when working in the same industry and in the same position.

The consideration of equality between men and women in the legal context may be one of many reasons why feminism is now increasingly entering all spheres of life. Feminist tendencies have also recently become more prevalent in the cultural sphere: platforms such as femtasy now offer erotic audio stories that primarily address women and their pleasure explicitly, by stimulating the female imagination auditorily. This makes it all the more clear that conventional pornography and sexuality in general are far too dominated by male needs and consequently neither in content nor visually meet female requirements for sexuality. Not to mention that classical pornography is today generally associated with a lack of realism.

This example confirms once again that feminism has the aspiration to be progressive across all topics and to offer women a certain sense of direction. For often the needs of women are subordinated to those of men or receive little attention in the social sphere. Many feminists therefore hold the view that whilst there are gradual improvements in individual areas of society, these represent only a beginning. Overall, the efforts so far have been insufficient. 

Particularly in the present time, which many experts also describe as a time of upheaval, social fault lines are becoming more visible than ever before. Global crises, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, can for example very effectively portray the deficits of entire national economies within a very short time, dilapidated health systems and insufficient digitalisation exact an additional high price. The climate crisis further exacerbates existing inequalities, resources are increasingly disappearing, and the struggle for global hegemony has recently begun.

In this phase of change, media acts as a social catalyst that compactly bundles developments already taking place within social coexistence and prepares social emancipation efforts for media consumption in order to make them accessible to the broad mass of the population. Feminism is becoming truly socially acceptable in these days with the help of social media, because: all matters, wishes, concerns and needs of people that otherwise find no hearing in the public sphere can now easily be disseminated widely across numerous social media platforms worldwide. 

These functional principles thus enable the influence of the current relevance of a topic in public life. For it is the media that ultimately play a decisive role in determining which social discourses receive a platform in the public sphere. A prominent example in the feminist context is provided in recent times by the short film "Männerwelten", which was produced by Joko Winterscheidt and Klaas Heufer-Umlauf for ProSieben. In just 15 minutes, the viewer is impressively shown how everyday sexism and sexualised violence against women are and above all: how disturbing, for example, the unsolicited sending of sexually charged images can be, not to mention further offensively defamatory comments mostly from male users under images, posts and videos that burden the affected women in some cases severely.

Formats like "Männerwelten" create a direct basis for discussion that enables those affected to exchange experiences, but also provides perpetrators with space for reflection. Having arrived in the middle of society, these uncovered social grievances have the opportunity to subsequently serve as inspiration for further projects and ideas and thus create a new awareness of the importance of equality for all genders. For contributions like this are what say far more about the current state of our society than many of us might like. 

Furthermore, progress automatically means change. And this can only take place if precarious issues are also included and integrated into societal discourse. Crises often open up opportunities and even more frequently possibilities to recognise such social injustices in order to recalibrate them in the societal field of tension. A better society ultimately lives from mutual tolerance, the necessary respect towards one's fellow human beings and even more from the acceptance of other ways of life far removed from one's own. Feminists agree: the motto "boys will be boys" is long since outdated and obsolete for precisely these reasons mentioned. Especially in the present, dominated by chaos and deceleration, it is particularly important to take responsibility for one's own actions and, if necessary, to bear the consequences for them. Mutual support and the strengthening of social cohesion are indispensable; movements such as "Black Lives Matter" or "#metoo" make this very clear. For only when all societal subgroups are equally considered in decisions can dialogues be improved and, as a result, the challenges of the future be sustainably addressed.

Feminism concerns us all.