Europe’s iron lady takes on ‘Mommy’ image
German Chancellor Angela Merkel may be called the world’s most powerful woman but like trailblazers such as Hillary Clinton and the late Margaret Thatcher, she is careful how she plays the gender card.
Merkel, 59, mowed down scores of male rivals on her rise to the top, however, she has rarely promoted women’s causes during her eight years in office.
And in her bid for a third term in a Sept. 22 general election, she has strikingly played up her feminine side in a way that has stunned some observers. “The chancellor is working on a bit of image improvement largely aimed at women voters and meant to transform Merkel the eurozone crisis-solving machine back into a politician with a human face,” news weekly Der Spiegel said earlier this year as Merkel began her pivot. Current polls indicate she enjoys a strong lead among female voters over her chief rival, Peer Steinbrueck of the Social Democrats, as she does with the electorate as a whole.
“At home far from the hurly-burly of politics I can free my mind, read and gather my strength with my family,” she writes, in what several commentators called a turn at “playing the housewife”. “I love to cook and my favorite dishes are roulades (braised meat rolled around a filling) and potato soup.” Journalist and author Bascha Mika said Merkel was playing a tactical game with what she called the sexist term “Mutti” (Mommy). “I find that so clever but also so insidious because she treats voters like children and says ‘don’t worry, I’ve got this’. It’s extreme de-politicization.” Merkel’s rivals accuse her of snuffing out unpleasant debates on issues such as military action in Syria or debt forgiveness for Greece to lull voters into complacency. In May, Merkel spoke to women’s magazine Brigitte, revealing she finds “nice eyes” attractive in men and has a “camel-like” ability to store energy for sleepless all-night summits. During the discussion with two of its journalists at a Berlin theatre, she made a telling comment: “I’m not a feminist but I’m an interesting case when it comes to potential female role models.” Mika noted that Merkel's life and times, including her upbringing under communism, indeed made her an interesting case. “She can be tough, unemotional, ruthless and merciless but she doesn’t make a show of it in the way that Clinton or Thatcher might have done to hold their own with men. Merkel doesn’t need to stand up and say ‘I’m a strong woman’ because she simply is,” she said.
• AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE
