Hijacking the Political Gender Discourse by Sven Schulte

Sven celebrating the success of UPMUNC 2010

The following article aims to shed light on the forms of structural violence against women within the realm of German right-wing extremism and how this is reflected in the political program of one party with the result of them hijacking the political gender discourse.

When considering female participation within the largest German right party NPD, Peter Marx accounts that the party currently prides itself with 27%, which is inter pares to the percentage in other parties. Moreover, around half of new members are girls and women, indicating the demographic change within right-wing parties.

Consequentially, more topics related to the gender discourse, such as day care centres, leave of absence for childbirth, child support etc. have permeated the rigid, male-dominated discourse of right-wing politics.

Yet the logical deduction that a higher percentage of women translated into inclusion of affiliated topics into the political discourse is a fallacy.

Rather, right-wing parties are more successful in capitalising on such themes in order to lure female support.

It is a twisted plot of male structural violence against women to ensnare them into bastardising their own cause.

That is because the underlying reasons for these political campaigns are not to advance the status of women or to contribute to equality.

Gitta Schuessler , President of the RNF (Ring of National Women) accounts that gender mainstreaming is first of all unnecessary, because in essence “all equal rights are fulfilled”, citing the right to vote, education and choice of profession.

That there are severe inequalities of payment between male and female in Germany or women significantly underrepresented in key positions in industry and science are negligible impurities in her view that are no cause for concern.

Moreover Schuessler identifies gender mainstreaming as an undesirable “re-educational project which wants to reshape innate gender identities”. This anachronistic image of distinctively separated gender identities is in turn based on nationalistic credo seeing women as mere birth-givers, rather than emancipated women.

That is because the path to female self-actualisation is becoming de-individualised and embedded in right-wing ideology.

It is postulated that true female happiness can only be achieved by producing offspring and caring about family, instead of individual pursuit of strengths to form careers of their own.

Henceforth, the political gender discourse becomes hijacked, as the underlying reason of equality becomes substituted by a bastardised right-wing dogma about female rights and responsibilities.

Yet the message that is transcended to the people is “We care about women and children” which in turn lures women and girls to support such right-wing extremist parties, recalling that half of new members of Germany’s extremist NPD party are girls and women. It is a dangerous vicious circle.

The real treason to the emancipatory cause of it is barely detected by the gullible souls that are preyed upon by the male perpetrators of structural violence and their female henchmen that steal and bastardise the political gender discourse in order to sway more women into mindless devotion to renounce themselves.

Sven left Germany at the age of 16 to study at an International School before embarking on studying International Relations and Peace & Conflict Studies in London, UK. He currently holds one MA in Environmental Security and Peace (UN-mandated University for Peace) and is a candidate for an MA in Peace, Development, Security and International Conflict Transformation. Scientifically questioning power structures and structural suppression, his methodology is influenced by the multitude of nuanced analysis that the gender paradigm offers.