Beckermann's Berlin Brief

I don’t have a television in my apartment – so needless to say I eat a lot of meals with my latest Economist edition, a reading from class, or listening to talk radio. Sometimes though the commentators and moderators speak to quickly for me to understand what is going on, or I just don’t understand the background of an issue and so have a hard time following.  

Eating by myself has never been more confusing.  

Last week, on the radio there was a lot of fuss about a woman named Eva Herman and her appearance on a recent German television talk-show. Herman I’ve discovered made some comments, specifics of which can be found by reading this Spiegel Online article. I want to focus more on her book – which is just as controversial as her recent most recent debacle.  

In her book the " Eva Principle," Herman argues that if German feminists don't change their ways against the backdrop of a greying population, the country will die out.  

Essentially she wants women in the home, baking cookies and making babies.  Or as Spiegel goes on to say, she advocated for, “Motherhood instead of emancipation, child-rearing instead of career-climbing, devoted marriage instead of egoistic self-fulfillment”. 

Having just now read the synopsis of her book, I’m more than a little stunned.

I never thought of myself as a feminist, but she sure makes me want to start spending my time fighting harder for women’s rights, and universal childcare and a more equal mindset when it comes to men participating in child-rearing. Germany, and other countries struggling with low birth rates, could solve this problem, perhaps not by setting the women’s movement back by 50 years like Herman suggests but by changing the society’s mindset. It should be okay that woman work and have children; it should be okay for men to stay at home and take maternity leave, and there should be institutions and mechanisms that support families, financially and other ways. 

Anyone else a little stunned?