I just shared an election poster from an Austrian Freedom Party (FPOe, successful right wing party) candidate on Facebook. The slogan is "Heimatliebe - statt Marokanerdiebe" ("love of one's home country - instead of Moroccan thieves").
I decided to look up what the Freedom Party thinks about women, especially since there was an interesting presidential candidate from the party a while back (Barbara Rosenkranz, who had given birth to 10 children).
Here a few quotes that I found from senior party members (rather freely translated from German):
"A woman is a woman, a man is a man. I reject equalization."
"Homo sapiens has been successful because of the division of labor between men (who hunt) and women (who take care of the home)."
"Many women do not go into politics because they are more interested in fashion, and use their time on their hairdo and cosmetics."
"Men want to be alpha males, they want to lead. If women have a lot of testosterone, they can become leaders in business, or in the women's movement. Most women want to stay at home, though."
"Women, who feel overburdened with a career, children and housework should employ maids. Men do not have time to help, as they have serious jobs."
After writing my past blog entries, these quotes do not make me angry. They make me sad. I do not for one moment believe the world should be the way that the Austrian Freedom Party (or any other right wing party, for that matter) wants it to be. But I do believe that these quotes still reflect how much of society works, right, left, or centre.
Ouch... what narrow-minded and unbelievable comments from that party with that horrible poster slogan... Nice contrast to your previous blog entries though!
ReplyDeleteYou're right, it is sad and not even worth getting angry about because the terrible reality is that such sentiments exist all over the world. And it's worse in some places/cultures/societies! My problem these days, when thinking about the American electorate, is wondering how much of the U.S. thinks this way, or disagrees with me on various fundamental values. I used to be incredulous about this, but now I fear I have to accept that I, my friends and family are the ones in the minority with many of my views. Scary, as we head into the 2012 Presidential election!
ReplyDeleteWhich brings me to a confession/quandary: is it intolerant and limiting of me to value some of my personal relationships based on political and other beliefs? I can't help but do that, at times. Strong religious views, political stances, etc. - it's hard to get around them though theoretically friendships should be based on experiences and feelings that transcend such differences? It's hard for me...