Alice Schwarzer dismisses the accusations against CDU politician Manuel Hagel concerning a former school visit as nothing more than a political maneuver, not an act of sexism. “The campaign seemed nowhere near feminist. On the contrary, this old‑men behaviour of a young conservative man eight years ago was hardly worth mentioning and was not sexism at all” she told the “Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung”. She characterises the debate over Hagel’s attitude towards girls as critical: the lawsuit, she says, was “rather a campaign tactic than a feminist act”.
Schwarzer also expresses shock at what she calls the social depths of the Pelicot affair, where “so many completely normal men from next door participated”. She urges women, in a separate appeal, to “learn to look carefully-rather than to look away. Only then will some men actually change”. She cites an example that among the 50 wives of the 50 alleged co‑rapists in the Pelicot case, “none were willing to allow the police to examine their hair to see whether they were themselves unknowingly drugged”.
In her criticism of the German justice system regarding sexual offences, Schwarzer states: “Only one in every 100 rapists in Germany is ultimately convicted. Something must change!” The 83‑year‑old puts her hope in Justice Minister Stefanie Hubig and her initiative against the trafficking of incapacitating drugs.
The feminists also voiced sharp words about current language trends. Although she concedes that gendering was originally introduced by “clever linguists” to make women visible, she now rejects the contemporary practice of “stars, underscores and double colons that supposedly represent tiny demographic groups after a comma”. She describes this as absurd.
For societal change, Schwarzer argues that efforts should focus on men who are open to transformation. She divides men into thirds: one third are “machos” another third are “cowardly indecisives” and a final third are “theoretical feminists, at least in theory”. She concludes that women should concentrate their energy on the last group.