When I went past the statue of Käthe Kollwitz a few weeks ago, I didn’t understand why it was covered with floral arrangements. Had I missed some anniversary? No, it turned out this was an advertisement for a flower shop offering cheap bouquets for March 8.
This was not, by a long way, the worst misappropriation of International Women’s Day, a holiday launched in 1910 by Clara Zetkin and other socialist women.
This year, the German army offered Tiktoks and “diversity as strength” factsheets. Women soldiers of Israel’s genocidal military proclaimed: “I’m not here to watch history from the side. I’m here to build it.”
The future that imperialists are building could be seen in Minab, where graves for over 150 schoolgirls were being dug; in Teheran, where burning oil rained down on millions of women; or in Gaza, where tens of thousands of women have been massacred, and many more lack food, hygiene, and health care.
Women can now commit genocide alongside men—the glass ceiling has been smashed forever!
Two Demonstrations
Despite imperialist attempts to co-opt Women’s Day, the revolutionary foundations of March 8 can still be seen. Berlin saw not one but two massive demonstrations.
When I moved here over 20 years ago, Frauentag had almost disappeared, with only tiny events. This year, some 30,000 people came to the demonstration at Oranienplatz (somewhat bigger than last year, which was already huge). Feminism is channeling a lot of rage against austerity, imperialist wars, and the Rechtsruck (shift to the right).
The march to the Red City Hall was organized by different unions, including the confederation DGB and the service sector union ver.di, but there were also big contingents from political groups, ranging from radical leftists to the Green Party.
As speakers pointed out, Germany remains a deeply patriarchal society. On average, a woman is killed every 72 hours by a partner or ex. Women earn 16% less than men. Abortion, while decriminalized under certain circumstances, remains illegal.
Many speeches expressed solidarity with women in Iran, yet often in vague terms denouncing “war” and “oppression,” without saying directly that it is the U.S. and Israeli bombings that are killing Iranian women. This kind of both-sideism amounts to neutrality in the face of a horrific imperialist attack—and this is why the Green Party felt welcome, even though their “feminist foreign policy” consists in justifying the bombing of hospitals.
A second demonstration in the afternoon, starting just a few hundred meters away, tried to fill that gap. As in previous years, the Alliance of International Feminists called on people to “Rise in Rage” against imperialist war and occupation. This demonstration went through Kreuzberg and Neukölln, accompanied by heavily armed police.
These thugs were more restrained than last year, when images of cops punching women in the face went around the world. The legendary Kitty O’Brien was detained again, clearly not intimidated by police violence that previously put the Irish activist in the hospital.
March Lick Ovaries
All of Germany has been talking about a slogan from the school strike against militarism last Thursday. An 18-year-old was arrested for the sign: “Merz, lick eggs!” I’m too old to know exactly where this phrase comes from, but the meaning is clear enough, and thousands of kids were shouting it at the demonstration. Thanks to the repression, it’s now got its own domain: merzleckeier.de
On March 8, we saw a feminist version: “M*rz, leck Eierstöcke!”, with “egg-sticks” being the German word for ovaries. The asterisk leaves some ambiguity: This could just as easily be the month of März as the Blackrock manager Friedrich Merz. The woman carrying this sign was grabbed by police after she left the demonstration, as she reported to me. Two hours earlier, people had overheard cops talking about detaining her, but they waited until she had left the crowd to pounce. “In the wheelchair I’m less likely to vanish,” she said.
Is it actually a criminal offense to tell a politician to lick eggs, right before Easter when the whole country is full of colorful candy eggs? I suspect charges will be dropped, as the embarrassment for the state grows. This shows that the German state, in its quest to become a world power, is nervous about the extreme unpopularity of militarism.
Thus, March 8 in Berlin combined women workers’ protests against exploitation with anti-imperialist solidarity and fights against militarism. It’s just what Clara Zetkin and Käthe Kollwitz would have wanted—despite florists and IDF social media managers.
Red Flag is a weekly opinion column on Berlin politics that Nathaniel has been writing since 2020. After moving through different homes, it now appears at The Left Berlin.
