Treaty of Middelburg
The biggest and most prominent structure I would want to change is gender inequality. it is what concerns half of the population and even parts of the other half aswell. if women are limited and treated unequal even in more liberal societies, then there is still a lot that needs to be done. and without gender equality, freedom cannot be achieved. it can also not be expanded. the most important is the aspect of freedom of choice. if a women does not want to go to work in order to care for the children, then that should be a free choice she makes, not a forced decision.
Team members
- ■ Anneke Müller
Why do you want to participate?
I want to be part of discussions and conversations about political topics. I want to be able to talk to people with different backgrounds, perspectives and from different academic fields. I hope to benefit from these new views and perspectives to expand my opinion, interests and ideas.
What does freedom mean to you?
Freedom for me is a very individual feeling. Depending on culture, heritage and the way of living freedom can mean many different things for people which I always try to keep in mind when discussing about it. For my part freedom is the right to say, wear, believe, be anything I want, as long as it does not harm the freedom of others. Freedom is important but has to be limited to a certain extent. With a free state it does not only mean acceptance of all but also treating everyone equal. only with being fully equal to the rest, I feel like i can have a fulfilled freedom
What are the biggest challenges?
I think for countries like Germany, France and the Netherlands, young people belonging to the queer community often still struggle with expressing who they really are. People of color increasingly struggle with their freedom being questioned due to fear policies. with an expanding far right, young immigrants struggle to fully integrate, leading to less opportunities in live and a highly limited freedom. In countries with less liberal governments, young people struggle even more to a much higher degree. Young women aren‘t allowed to go to school or university in some countries. In others forced marriage is still legal.
Do you have a message?
an idea is a little overstated. but I strongly believe that fighting the symptoms of sexism is not the answer. we need to start to understand where structures and systems take root in and how these overall patterns manifest sexism. of course it is important to also fight symptoms. but no politician will ever convince me that they actually want to end sexism if they don’t recognize the patriarchy we live in.
