Between Hope and Helplessness: Women in the GDR after the ‘Turning-point’

Abstract

In October and November 1989, women in the GDR optimistically entered the public sphere with demands of their own. The active engagement of large numbers of women in grass-roots democratic initiatives, self-help, consciousness-raising and discussion groups was evident. At the beginning of December, the hope that women would henceforth become so vast a force that they could no longer be overlooked was strengthened when over a thousand women from throughout the GDR met in a large Berlin theatre and voted to found an Independent Women’s Union. A few days later, representatives of the Independent Women’s Union took their places as members of the Central Round Table. The Independent Women’s Organisation participated in a joint election campaign with the Green Party and received 2.7 per cent of the vote. On the other hand, over 46 per cent of all registered women voters chose the ‘Alliance for Germany’. These results were both disappointing and sobering. This voting behaviour, however, provides us with unexpectedly clear evidence for a number of conclusions regarding the situation of women in what is now the former GDR after the ‘turning-point’.