THE GUARDIAN: Alice S[c]hwarzer responds after her claim that heterosexual sex involves 'inevitable' subjugation of women was called 'absurd'Germany's leading feminist campaigner and its minister for families, pensioners and women have locked horns over the role of feminism in relationships and the workplace, unsparingly attacking each other's views in a row that has escalated into a nationwide debate.
Alice Schwarzer, considered the country's foremost women's rights campaigner, labelled Kristina Schröder "hopeless" and "incompetent" after Schröder said she thought some of her views were wrong.
Schröder, 33, of the Christian Democratic union, was recruited by Angela Merkel and became the youngest woman ever in a German cabinet. She told Der Spiegel that she could not agree with certain views expressed by Schwarzer, including that "heterosexual sex was hardly possible without the subjugation of women".
Schröder said: "It's absurd to define something that is vital to the survival of humanity as subjugation." She said she was unconvinced by the feminist argument that rejecting heterosexual relationships in favour of homosexuality was a "solution to the disadvantage to women", and blamed boys' underperformance in school on the disproportionate number of female carers and teachers. She also rejected the idea of quotas to improve the standing of women in the workplace. >>> Kate Connolly in Berlin | Tuesday, November 9, 2010
