Merkel's failure on gender equality

Despite her leadership skills, women have no particular reason to vote for Merkel, considering her record on equal pay or rights
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The German chancellor, Angela Merkel
Not standing up for equality … the German chancellor, Angela Merkel. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

"We're voting for the chancellor," reads the latest CDU campaign poster, in which Angela Merkel poses in a green jacket against a black backdrop.

"Green is hope," as the German proverb says.

Whoever "we" are, I am not one of them, and neither are the majority of female voters in this country. Women did not opt for Merkel in 2004 when the last elections took place. Why should they now?

Without a doubt, Merkel has proven that women can possess what they are still so rarely allowed to act out in the public sphere: excellent leadership skills. She has contributed fundamentally to the recognition of women as leaders and decision-makers in Germany. We are not known for playing a leading part in the modernisation of gender roles, so the Merkel-effect is certainly appreciated.

But that's the extent of it from a feminist perspective. With regard to equality policy, Merkel's government had little more to offer or promote than promises to improve the childcare system, adjust parental leave allowances and reach out to men as fathers and carers. Such reforms were long overdue and had anyway been put into momentum by former governments rather than any initiative on Merkel's part. These reforms are only just starting to bring Germany into line with other countries with regard to gender equality.

Another consequence of Merkel's reforms were that gender politics were easily replaced by family politics. What about the gender pay gap in Germany, with women earning on average 23% less than men? What about a minimum wage? What about the abolition of an anachronistic tax system giving privileges to married couples as long as one of the two (usually the husband) has a high income and the other one (usually the wife) earns little or nothing? The "housewife-marriage", the gendered division of labour, was perpetuated by such a policy. For decades, women's organisations were not the only ones protesting against this tax system. Yet Merkel and her government did not tackle these issues.

Women from former east Germany in particular did not gain a thing from Merkel. Her east German background is as absent from her political agenda as her gender.

Even today, women from east Germany deplore the loss of the "emancipating advances" they gained in the GDR, such as the right to economic independence from a husband or partner through work and income, the right to an adequate childcare system and the right to abortion.

Oddly enough, economic statistics identify east German women as "winners" of the present crisis, because the unemployment rate among this group has decreased significantly in the last year, while the unemployment rate among west German men has risen dramatically in the same timeframe. This can only be due to the fact that women in eastern Germany already lived through economic shocks 20 years ago during German reunification, when a vast number of them were laid off and had to work hard to make ends meet. Many of them found jobs in the private and public service sector which has not yet been affected by the crisis, but they are paid pitiful wages. For them, the minimum wage of €7.50 (£6.78) put forward by trade unions and others seems luxurious. However, a minimum wage, which would be an important milestone on the road to equal pay, is currently a no-no for the chancellor.

With all this in mind, why on earth should "we" vote for Merkel? I'm guessing that the election results on 27 September will follow the trend of earlier elections: an increasing majority of women will vote centre-left.

Women decide in favour of politics and not so much in favour of the gender of their politicians, because being a woman is not a political programme. Thank goodness!

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