Ms. Reinhard, the dedication in your book “The Headquarters of Responsibilities” is simply called “No Bullshit Feminism”. Why?
Because bullshit feminism falls on us women. For me there are two specific forms: marketing feminism and Tupperware feminism, the former being more destructive. Check out how cosmetics and fashion companies have appropriated political activism, whether it’s from the Black Lives Matter or body positivity movements. The same thing happens with all feminism. The philosopher Nancy Fraser put it well in a nutshell: Feminism that is co-opted by the market and brand not only loses its authenticity, but also its teeth. Women forget why they actually wanted to be feminists. The struggle for equality has become the scene of marketing interests.
And Tupperware Feminism?
By that I mean all this feel-good feminism that you often find in company networks, for example. Then there are humorous get-togethers by women who believe they are networking with it, but who never draw a single lasting conclusion from it. It’s not enough to call yourself a feminist, to rant about “empowerment” and “rebel girls”, but ultimately just to have a modern coffee party. If you want to achieve something for women in a company, you have to sit down at the table with the men – because they usually lead them – and persistently fight through your projects.
What is a modern woman?
It always depends on what society asks of a woman. She should be a good, a “real” woman. Not too loud, not too successful, not too beautiful – but please not too ugly either. Ultimately, women are still supposed to conform to the traditional gender-specific norms of the 18th and 19th centuries. If a woman doesn’t participate, her status as a woman is called into question.
You also criticize the modern mother image.
She is the archetype woman. It is the most exploited today. She must have all-round competence. Great education, great job and great mother. She provides complete free 24/7 support because she feels she has to. It is a perfidious alliance between neoliberal pressure to perform and female self-abandonment of past centuries. And the point is: unlike in the 1960s, women are not even allowed to smoke or drink anymore.
That brings us to the topic of self-optimization.
Society’s message to women today is: You can do anything if you put your mind to it. Many women have internalized this lie. This increases the expectations of one’s own life immeasurably. Women should optimally combine the hard and the soft sphere. Be assertive professionally, but at the same time pull off the herd number. And not somehow, but optimally. One vehicle of this model is Instagram. All these pictures of the perfect women and the perfect mothers, with the perfect body and the perfect life. That takes us back to the 50s and 60s. Rushing after this supposedly good life is nothing but stress. The emancipation that women wanted in the 1970s has turned into an unparalleled perversion. And an emancipation that produces perpetually stressed conformist sheep is self-contradictory.
So what do we need instead?
Logical power, power of speech and power of decision. We women have been denied these three privileges since Homer. The man is head, he is brain. This gives him his autonomy and superiority. He thinks, he speaks, he decides. The woman, on the other hand, must inevitably form the opposite pole. A beautiful, silent, listening body – bowing in reverence when the man speaks. The principle still applies today. Even if women have something to say, the first question is: What is she wearing? Is she too skinny, is she too fat? Is she pregnant, is she still not pregnant? And over all lies the great numbness.
What does that mean?
Whenever a woman speaks in public life, whether in the office, in politics or in business, her appearance is still perceived as a massive attack on the privilege of man’s power of interpretation. Women initially fall on deaf ears. Men just don’t listen to them. What is granted to every man as a matter of course, has to be fought for again and again by women. They are still primarily body, not head.
Speaking of the body. Porn plays a big role there.
I think it’s important to define what porn is. For me, they already start on Instagram with Kylie Jenner and co. Any kind of image, any form of pop culture that objectifies women and doesn’t let them be human is porn to me. Even if women don’t look at them, they force them into identifying with a commodity. The fact that influencers, who love to market themselves as porn stars, are now selling this again as a new freedom and self-empowerment shows the perversion that today’s emancipation carries within itself.
You wrote your book as a guide. What advice would you give women to get out of this situation of feeling in charge of everything?
On the one hand, women should learn to ask the question of power and to fight for their power. Whoever has power can distribute responsibilities. And of course there is violence. Violence is always the easiest way to force women into their roles. Of course there are also physically strong women, but the majority of men are physically superior to women. That makes it so easy for men to engage in violence. At its core, it’s about starting a good life that not only makes others happy, but also yourself. It’s different for every woman. It is important that women question how they define the good life themselves – and not how it is socially fashionable. We should all ask ourselves: In which world do we want to live? Living well is a matter of attitude.
Annika Ross conducted the interview.
