As Germany’s first female chancellor, Angela Merkel smashed the glass ceiling and became a leading player in global politics. Chancellor Angela Merkel has been praised by many for her practical leadership in a turbulent world and celebrated by some as a feminist icon. But a look at his 16-year track record at the top of Germany reveals missed opportunities to fight gender inequality at home. Consistently named “The World’s Most Powerful Woman” by Forbes magazine for the past 10 years, Merkel has been singled out as a powerful defender of liberal values in the West. But only now, at the end of her 16-year term, has she declared herself a feminist—too little too late for some in Germany.In 2017, Merkel was at a rare loss for words when asked if she was a feminist, and dodged the question.But earlier this month, during a joint interview with Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Merkel was less shy.
“I’m a feminist,” she said. On the other side millions of women admire the 67-year-old for breaking the glass ceiling of male dominance in politics, and has been lauded as an influential role model for girls. Let us tell you her journey .
Merkel became the first female Chancellor of Germany in 2005 and is serving her fourth term. In November 2018, Merkel stepped down as leader of the Christian Democratic Union and announced she wouldn’t seek another term as chancellor in 2021. Her leadership has been marked by her steely reserve, from standing up for Donald Trump to allowing more than a million Syrian refugees into Germany. An October 2020 survey found that 75% of adults in 14 European countries trust Merkel more than any other leader in the region. And the public is curious for knowing that who and what will come after Merkel’s time in office comes to an end ? Well One thing is clear: a woman has shown that women can do it,” said Germany’s most famous feminist Alice Schwarzer. “However, a woman chancellor is not for emancipation alone.” But German women have also suffered some setbacks during Merkel’s reign.
Before Merkel took office in 2005, 23% of federal lawmakers for her centre-right union bloc were women. Today the figure is 19.9%. Germany is the best choice for the party, with only 10.9% having fewer female MPs. Germany lags behind other European countries in terms of equal political representation. In 2017, Merkel avoided saying whether she considered herself a feminist when urged to do so at an event with then International Monetary Fund (IMF) director Christine Lagarde and Ivanka Trump, daughter of then-U.S. President Donald Trump.”I don’t want to decorate myself with a title I don’t actually have,” Merkel said back then. Women are also second class citizens in the working world of Germany. Last year, only 14.6% of top-level managers at large listed German companies were women.