3 - 1997

Social justice and free market

Women will take the churches by their word

Will power and money remain men’s domains?

by Gerhild Frasch

The members of the panel in charge of final editing of the joint statement were all male in the end. Still Gerhild Frasch observes that the two_year consultation process preceding the publication of the joint statement contributed noticeably to the fact that the final published version shows a much stronger change of perspective in the assessment of gender roles than was the case in the first drafts. Gerhild Frasch is Secretary General of the Protestant Women’s Association in Germany (EFD).

The key message of the social statement is: "A social market economy can no longer be realised by normal jobs for men and only indirect financial provisions and cover for women and children. Beyond specific distribution conflicts between the sexes, equality of men and women is no longer a matter of dispute. The crucial factor for equality is that women obtain a fair share of gainful employment and that men take over a fair share of housework, child_raising and caring. This goal can only be realised gradually. So it’s all the more necessary to upgrade housework, child_raising, caring and volunteer work in our society and to eradicate discrimination, for example in the social welfare system, where financially possible." The concept of work is seen in a greater scope than that of mere gainful employment and the dimension of family work, caring and volunteer work comes into play.

Women are no longer reduced to the role model of the mother: The text quotes them as female citizens (18 times), female employees (7 times), single mothers (7 times), girls and young women (6 times), female church employees (3 times). In the draft version, women (including nannies and mothers) were quoted nine times. In the current version, women are mentioned as women 50 times. Efforts to include gender in the language are obvious, but in the passages on power, money, and the environment, the masculine form is used throughout.

For projecting the text, it would be helpful to break down the statistics by gender. For instance, how large is the women’s share among the jobless, homeless, volunteer workers, in land, real estate, and property? This would highlight the unequal distribution to the detriment of women even more clearly! The demand to decouple welfare provisions from paid employment is directional for the current social and pension policy debate. In the coming difficult years the church as an employer will have enough opportunities to proceed in small steps, as quoted in the social statement, for example by creating attractive part_time jobs for men and women and by providing flexible working hours in line with family needs. Women will take the churches by their (social) word.

Reprinted from Der Sonntag, 31 March 1997, slightly abridged and translated for publication in this magazine.