The frustration of women in the FDP

She’s not the only one countering Rentschler’s speech on stage. Local politician Carolin Holzmüller says that maybe people who were considering becoming an FDP member were watching the live stream. But after the speech: “No, thanks!” Holzmüller calls out.

Such a discharge rarely occurs in politics, where attempts are made to stage as much as possible. It provides an insight into the heart of the FDP, into the part that functionaries would like to hide from the public. In the regulars’ table of the FDP, in which politics is primarily a man’s business.

FDP is considered a men’s party

This part of the party has become a problem for the FDP. How big it is can be seen from a number: According to a survey by Infratest dimap, only one percent of people in Germany think that the FDP is committed to the interests of women. So 99 percent believe that the liberals do not have the interests of half the population in mind. It’s a disastrous number.

The last two state elections in Berlin and Lower Saxony show what effects this can have. Both times the FDP failed at the five percent hurdle. In Lower Saxony, five percent of men voted for the FDP and four percent of women.

In Berlin it was six percent men and four percent women. It’s a small difference. But he is crucial. In both federal states, the Liberals would still be represented in the state parliament if as many women as men had elected them.

The FDP knows how big their problem is. At the party’s “Female Future Forum” in autumn 2022, Secretary General Bijan Djir-Sarai said that the FDP could only grow if it could fill more leadership positions in the party with women. “If we don’t take this task seriously, we won’t be successful,” he said.

He wants to be measured against this project, at the latest by the next federal election. Party leader Christian Lindner also said that the number of female members and voters was not satisfactory.

The party is quite progressive in its decisions. Wage inequality between men and women, for example, is “also” a product of gender stereotypes, she wrote in 2019. She went even further: “For this reason, we recognize that formal gender equality alone is not enough.”

The FDP’s problem with women is therefore less a political one than a cultural one. Most FDP men avoid the word feminism. When Lindner was asked in autumn 2021 whether he was a feminist, he replied that he was opposed to “fixed role models”.

Saying goodbye to his then-Secretary-General Linda Teuteberg, he said he “likes to think back” that they’ve “started the day together about 300 times” in the previous 15 months. Lindner took an artistic break, it took a while for the first people in the hall to start laughing.

Lindner rolled his eyes. “I’m talking about our daily morning situation call. Not what you’re thinking now.” Teuteberg looked down, an uncomfortable moment. If women in the FDP are reminded of this, they often grimace.

Former FDP politician Silvana Koch-Netzin published a book last year describing the culture she encountered in the party when her political career began in the early 2000s. She heard sayings like: “I have nothing against women’s movements. The main thing is that they are rhythmic.” She was then expected not to say anything, to endure.

Rough regular table culture

That was long ago. But no one denies that there is still a rough culture in the FDP. It is particularly pronounced in rural areas, some say. The district associations are often the first point of contact for those interested. If you experience a culture here that is unpleasant for you, you won’t come back.

Back to the state party conference of the FDP Baden-Württemberg. The local politician Holzmüller stands on the stage and tells that in her home town the FDP twice forgot to state their function in the Christmas advertisement. She was the leader of the group.

For the local citizens, this is a sign that women in the FDP are “not valued”. You have received offers from other parties. “Because they noticed how women were treated in my party and ask, doesn’t she want to join us? She is valued by us.”

According to Baden-Württemberg’s FDP General Secretary Skudelny, one important reason for the declining proportion of women is the number of members. The party has grown in recent years. “But Christian Lindner attracts more men,” she says.

There is a nickname for them in the party, “Mini-Lindners”. Young, ambitious men, always well dressed, rather proud of their elbows.

The FDP women organize themselves

The women in the FDP are now better organized. The group’s women’s group meets regularly, they organize events only for women, they have developed a concept of “liberal feminism”.

Since 2019, there have been target agreements with the state associations that stipulate a minimum number of women in leading positions. But there is a problem with the implementation, there is no fixed quota. If there is little local interest in the advancement of women, there is no possibility of sanctions if the agreement is not complied with.

Nicole Bauer is women’s policy spokeswoman for her parliamentary group. In her Lower Bavarian district, she reached a proportion of women of over 30 percent on the district board because she took care of it. “Target agreements must become more binding,” she demands.

Bauer believes that four things are needed to get more women into the party: firstly, information that appeals to women. Secondly, a topic that takes into account the concerns of women. Thirdly, female new members should be specifically addressed. And fourth, more visibility of women in the party is needed.

One of the best-known liberal women at the moment is Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, member of the Bundestag. She chairs the Defense Committee, was an early advocate for more arms sales to Ukraine, and has been a regular on the country’s talk shows since the Russian invasion.

Recently she gave a speech at the Order against Animal Seriousness in Aachen. She was disguised as Snow White’s evil stepmother, and her rambling speech was so deep that one could forget to laugh at it.

“I come today as the queen because I’m currently the bad guy. Angry at the dwarf band that birthed toxic males. You know the dwarfs I mean with their egos close to their feet,” she rhymed.

CDU leader Friedrich Merz was the “mid-sized aircraft dwarf”, Russian President Vladimir Putin the “vodka dwarf”, and it remains speculation who she meant by “Porsche dwarf”. In any case, FDP boss Lindner makes no secret of his love for Porsche.

So she should be able to attract women to the party. call to her. Why does she think the FDP has such a hard time with women? She sees a practical reason: “According to my decades-long observation, the CDU traditionally has many women who are or were at least housewives. The SPD also recruits women from the trade union environment and the Greens from associations.

Many women in the Free Democrats are self-employed or in academic jobs, which makes it difficult for them to do voluntary work. They are almost never released for their political commitment and still get paid,” she explains.

Strack-Zimmermann: “Women don’t have the nerve to wear themselves out in the party alongside family and job”

She tells how difficult it is to win women for political work. “I always support women with full conviction, but they also have to want it. The more successful they become in the party, the more robust the competition becomes,” she says. “I often find that women have little desire to face it. They don’t have nerve to wear themselves out there alongside family and job.”

Phone call to Secretary General Djir-Sarai. What is the party leadership trying to do about it? He points to the achievements. “We have 44 percent women on the federal executive board,” he says, “the problem will not change across the board overnight, but we are working on it.” What could he do? “Raise awareness, raise awareness, raise awareness,” he says.

So far, the efforts seem to be of little use. In nationwide surveys, the FDP is at five to six percent. The existential fear is justified. And yet it sometimes seems as if Lindner has a rather tactical relationship to the advancement of women.

In January it was announced that he was parting with four department heads in his ministry, two of whom are women. He replaced them with three men.

This text first appeared in the Tagesspiegel.

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