CDU's Amthor calls for stronger male support of feminism despite past opposition
CDU politician Philipp Amthor has called on his party not to leave feminism to the left.
"This is not an exotic or exclusively left-wing issue—it's a task for society as a whole," Amthor told Stern. "Women are still judged by different standards too often: men are evaluated on their arguments, while women's appearance takes center stage. We need greater awareness of this—and men who don't shy away from standing up. On this, by the way, we in the CDU and the Union parliamentary group are very clear and don't need lessons from the left."
Amthor emphasized the need to defend progress in gender equality against the far-right AfD. "When I sit on the government benches and hear the nonsense coming from the far-right—biological determinism, rigid gender stereotypes, this outdated view of women as the weaker sex—it's clear we don't just need to push forward; we also have to defend the social advances we've already made," he said. "That demands a response. Some may prefer making protest signs or organizing demonstrations, but I think the everyday dimension is being overlooked."
In the past, Amthor has opposed key feminist demands. In 2019, he argued for maintaining the criminal ban on abortion and the so-called "advertising ban" on abortion services. That same year, he dismissed as unconstitutional a proposal to mandate equal gender representation on party candidate lists to boost the share of women in parliament. In 2023, he advocated for a ban on gender-inclusive language in government institutions.
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