Who Cares? Who Does it?

If, in addition to these tasks, which, mind you, are the cornerstones of human life, there is still time for the labor market, then, as if we weren't already disadvantaged enough, you are ought to be paid less. One could go on and on with the outrage.

But who cares?

One step forward, two steps back. That's how the fight for gender equality sometimes feels. It seems as if people all over the world want to turn back time. Social progress is being traded for the supposed power of arm wrestling between the great, but actually very tiny, men. There is enough money for militarization, while daycare places are becoming scarce. So maybe it's better to be a housewife after all—the army thanks you! Global injustice is reaching proportions last seen at the height of Western imperialism.

The market ties our hands, and so exploitation occurs wherever there is a promise of profit. This affects women in particular. So burn the system! or the men after all. But perhaps the seeming decline is deceptive. After all, the pay gap, i.e., the income inequality between the sexes in Germany, has been narrowing for years. The proportion of women with a university degree, as well as other indicators that point to greater equality, are also rising.

So isn’t the situation improving after all? Changes within the system have had a significant impact, and with the help of occasional civil disobedience, as exemplified by the 1968 movement, the situation of women has also been significantly improved through parliamentary channels. So perhaps it only feels like stagnation because the demands are growing with the feminist movement. And even if that sounds like resignation, at least women are now in the labor market, in universities, and in parliament. “It's getting better all the time.”

Nevertheless, no compromise should distract us from our fundamental goals. At the latest since the red years of the early twentieth century, it has been as clear as (mothers) day: economic independence is central to complete emancipation. One that goes beyond mere equal rights. Even aside from the economic aspects, we are fighting absurd old battles; for example, the abolition of §218 was already being debated in the 1920s. So our event is not really that progressive, but rather overdue. In other words, it is not a problem of awareness, but of implementation.

On October 17, at our first event, we will therefore focus not only on economic and social science findings, but also on this implementation. What needs to be done—and, of course, who does it?