Joining the CDU as a young woman is a bit like choosing a game of bridge over a night of partying in a Berlin club in your mid-20s. Of course, not all CDU members are passionate bridge players, but most would rather sit at a beer counter and sing hits than go to a techno club. The problem: I prefer techno. For me, there’s only beer and pop music at the Oktoberfest or at carnival.
I have been living in Berlin for four years. I’ve been a member of the CDU for almost as long. I love this city. It can make you lonely, aggressive and happy at the same time. But not only that: In no other German city are there as many second-hand shops as here.
Today they are called vintage stores. You know, that sounds a little more modern. There is hardly anything more beautiful than finding a unique piece from past decades. But the smell of the old leather shoes and the cheap, unwashed polyester remains.
If the CDU were a smell, it would most likely be a vintage shop, sort of the “Humana” among the parties. Do you smell that? It’s the smell of my party that puts many women off. We need a broadening of horizons. I deliberately say we, because everyone in the party is meant – men and women. Ventilation is announced!
This weekend, the CDU meets for its first party conference under the leadership of Friedrich Merz – a test for the party leadership. Because while war is raging in Europe, the gas and electricity market is collapsing and we continue to live in concern about the next Covid “killer variant”, the CDU is not least discussing “women”. Good this way. Better late than never.
Although the CDU claims that ideology only exists among the Greens, the quota for women is a trigger point. A hardened area that is painful to pressure. Pressure that Friedrich Merz feels from all sides – and yet he has hardened even this point. After all, he was elected with the promise that there would be no quota for him. Now he has changed his mind: the quota should come.
In view of the proportion of women in the party of just under 26 percent and 24 percent female members of the Bundestag, this turnaround is not exactly surprising. But what is the party leadership really about with the introduction of the quota: parity in leadership positions within the party or more female members overall?
Of course, with the quota, more female members would be responsible. That’s good and important. But the real goal must be to win more women for the CDU. The quota doesn’t help with that. Because it spoils the idea of equality for which women have fought for decades.
A quota prevents us from attracting good, performance-oriented women to our work. In addition, many of the party’s associations, if not most, cannot implement a quota due to the low number of female members. They would henceforth be in breach of the Staff Regulations.
What the CDU needs are programmatic reforms and a cultural and habitual change. The quota would be a drop in the ocean, it would be like a five-minute window on Kipp. We need a new style and sound, not just new constitutions and bylaws.
The CDU is currently working on a programmatic reform. It must sharpen its positions in social, economic and climate policy in a contemporary manner. Show new strength together. With its clear, real-political pragmatism, the CDU has to answer today’s social questions: housing, child poverty, educational opportunities, compatibility of work and family, opportunities for advancement for young and motivated men and women.
After all, the CDU has been elected by more women than men for years, with the exception of the 2021 federal election. So we’re doing some things well. But it’s not enough to defend what’s good about the present. We must have future competence and also radiate it.
This brings us to cultural and habitual renewals. In this context, let me say a word about the men: I like them, the gentlemen of the CDU. They’re argumentative, passionate, humorous and yes – how should I put it – there are a lot of them.
They built up the CDU and have remained the people’s party with it to this day. They are not flawless, some narrow-mindedness restricts the CDU. It is the male structures and their ideas that restrict. Not everything was better in the past, and “We’ve always done it like this” is not an answer to questions about the future.
As a party of old men, the CDU would become increasingly less important. That is why a change of perspective is needed for many men in my party. Women are smart, they tick differently than men and often have different wishes and ideas – political as well as non-political. Everyone needs male and female advisors and role models in their lives.
More femininity in our own ranks would not only be representative, but would also have a positive effect on CDU politics and broaden horizons. Wherever many women are involved in politics, their thoughts and actions appeal to other women and mobilize them for the CDU.
But the CDU women also have to rethink. Because women have never learned what men have practiced for centuries: to support one another. Women must finally empower other women, encourage them and give them a voice. Do you know “Star Wars”? Then the term Padawan also means something to you. If not: Padawans are the apprentices of the Jedi Knights. Once they have passed all the tests, they will one day be made Jedi Knights themselves.
The CDU needs just the same type of training for its female trainees – a self-motivated mentoring program from woman to woman. Every CDU politician should train female Padawans to become knights. If the CDU women of my generation are already going to star wars as quota women, they should do everything they can to ensure that the female Padawans after us no longer have to.
Incidentally, a counter-model to vintage clothing is “fast fashion”. This is clothing that is made and sold cheaply so that the customer can buy new items more frequently. Fast fashion is always at the center of the times, but it is ephemeral – a Robert Habeck of the clothing industry.
True to the motto “a little bit of stuffiness never hurts”, a vintage party also has a number of advantages. Nice cuts are worth adopting. With sustainable and new fabrics, not scratchy wool and cheap polyester.
The author is 26 years old and a CDU member. She studied business administration in Munich and Berlin. Having worked for the party in various positions, she now works as a public sector consultant.
