Gendered Germanies: The Fetters of a Metaphorical Marriage

Abstract

On 3 October 2000, Germany celebrated ten years of unification. Predictably, comparisons were drawn to a ten‐year wedding anniversary, just as there were complaints of the ‘seven year itch’ in 1997. The reference to a troubled German marriage has been persistent in various media, and invariably the female partner in the relationship is represented as the former GDR. This metaphorical framework is so ingrained that it shapes thinking on unification, and even those who approach it consciously become ensnared in it. By assigning gender to nation, the linguistic framing of the situation establishes a hierarchy. This paper examines two aspects of this linguistic relationship: first, the marriage of ‘male’ and ‘female’ nations, and, second, the role of gender dynamics among ‘feminists’ from both societies. Three published post‐unification dialogues of prominent German figures — psychoanalysts, writers, and a politician — in which the metaphor surfaces, will be analysed. The marriage metaphor of unification, while it explains some aspects of the power dynamic, is problematic in its reduction of complexities and its self‐perpetuation. The fact that it recurs frequently to describe the effects of unification is indicative of the gendering of politics and political language which takes place in an unequal, uneasy unity.