Nazism as Anti-Feminist Utopia

In Germany it is quite popular for conservative media personalities to blame the 68ers  (the rebellious students from late sixties) for all of society's ills, just as American conservative pundits blame the "dirty hippies" (and Bill Clinton) for every conceivable problem from "losing the Vietnam War" to sexual promiscuity. Perhaps no other media star in Germany went so far - and became so successful - in bashing the 68ers than Eva Herman. For Herman, the feminist ideals that were first articulated in the 1960s have been very damaging to German women. In her best-selling book Das Eva-Prinzip Herman told women to abandon the workplace and stay home with their children - that is the true feminine ideal. This retrograde vision of women resonated with conservative politicians and emboldened Eva Herman to attack feminists even more viciously.

But today Eva Herman revealed the ideological roots of her thinking, and, in doing so, violated the last taboo in Germany:

BERLIN: Germany's NDR public broadcaster fired a talk show host and author on women's issues after she praised Nazi Germany's attitude toward motherhood, the station said Sunday.NDR said Herman, who has written books urging a return to more traditional gender roles, was fired after confirming to station management that she made the statement reported in the Bild am Sonntag newspaper on Sunday.The statement was: "What I wanted to express was that values which also existed before the Third Reich, such as family, children and motherhood, which were supported in the Third Reich, were subsequently done away with by the 68ers" — a reference to 1960s leftists.Other news reports had quoted her as saying at the presentation of her latest book that, while there was "much that was very bad, for example Adolf Hitler," there were good things, "for example the high regard for the mother" under the Nazis.

The authoritarian thrust of Herman's polemic was apparent from the beginning. The journalist Thea Dorn was sued by Eva Herman over a year ago for publishing a commentary in the Tageszeitung entitled Das Eva-braun Prinzip (I found a reprint here). So one has to ask: why did it take NDR so long to fire her?  Why does the media promote women with reactionary views and silence those with progressive idea? We have the same situation in the US media, where racists like Michelle Malkin and right wing fanatics like Anne Coulter are spotlighted. Coulter has written books praising the neo-fascist tactics of Joe McCarthy; she labeled a Democratic presidential candidate a "faggot" and "jokingly" called for the murder of "activist" judges. Malkin wrote a book praising the internment of tens of thousands Japanese-Americans in WWII and urged a similar policy today for American Muslims.  Where are the boundaries in the American media?  At least Eva Herman was honest about the origins of her ideas and now she has paid the price.

Comments

[erphschwester]

eva herman ist ein beispiel von vielen in der deutschen politik- und medienlandschaft. scheinbar plötzlich ist es wieder opportun, dinge zu sagen - öffentlich - für die wir uns noch vor zwei jahren geschämt hätten.

sind wir deutschen wieder WER? also jemand, der sich keine gedanken um das mehr machen muß, was vor kurzem noch als bedenklich galt?

ich jedenfalls finde es bedenklich, seit einiger zeit schon, wenn herman ihr wirres gedankengut öffentlich äußern kann (im letzten jahr hielt ich sie noch für einfach dumm; diesmal kann ich jedoch nicht mehr an gedankenlosigkeit glauben) genauso wie wenn zweihundert nazis (in jena dieser tage passiert) vor zweieinhalbtausend nazigegner "beschützt" werden.

die tatsache, daß auch in anderen teilen der welt ein rechtsruck passiert, sollte uns deutschen keine rechtfertigung bieten. wir wissen es schließlich besser.

[David]

"daß auch in anderen teilen der welt ein rechtsruck passiert" -

jetzt fuehle ich mich als amerikaner betroffen...aber es stimmt.

[erphschwester]

der gedanke, daß dieser "rechtsruck" nicht nur in deutschland und amerika passiert, sondern in allerhand anderen europäischen ländern auch, macht die sache ja nicht besser ...

[YarrYarrBinks]

"What I wanted to express was that values which also existed before the Third Reich, such as family, children and motherhood, which were supported in the Third Reich, were subsequently done away with by the 68ers"

There is absolutely nothing wrong with that statement. The fact that she was fired for saying that just shows there's a new authoritarianism in Germany.

Just wondering, do you support the Nazi 1938 law banning home schooling? Is that authoritarianism you can get behind?

[antonymous]

Homeschooling ban is not "nazi", it's a feature of all civilized societies.

Eva Herrmanns stupidity lies in the fact of using the Nazis for commercial purposes.

Why did't she quote those pre-fascist "familiy values" from some other ultra-conservative source? Well, because their are even more out of style than the Nazis.

Hope that helps you wooly-brained yarryarr. Are you a victim of home schooling, btw?

[Andre]

I think she did the right thing. She has an opinion and is taking a clear position. She never said NAZI Deutschland was great not with one word. She only choose the value of the family as it existed in and BEFORE the third reich. People you have to listen to that women! And by the way, be it right wing or left, in a democratic country, one must be able to say what one is thinking! As soon as that is not possible anymore you don't have democracy anymore either. With the J.B: Kerner show and Eva Herrmann as guest, the german mainstream media just proved one thing. There is no real democracy in Germany. I wonder how long the german people are willing take that kind of hypocrisy?

Deutschland, das sind wir selber! Heine

[David]

Andre -

Her thesis is that all was well with women in Germany until the "68ers" ruined everything. What happened then was women were given the option to pursue careers and their destinies were no longer determined by how many babies they had.

Herman expresses nostalgia for the time when women were first and foremost baby factories; this reached its apogee in the Third Reich, which is why she prefers that period of history to "'68" and the birth of modern feminism.

[Christen Bell]

The fact that feministic opinions are promoted in relationship with the "nazis" is not very helpful at all for this types of subjects. Even if the conclusions are good, the association with that regime is still being made, which is not in the best interest of women.