Generation Emigration

How many times have we read about people from, say, Ireland leaving their country to start a new life in far-away places like Australia, the US or, like an acqaintance of mine who wasn't put off by the chill factor, and moved to the Canadian province of New Foundland because his academic career wasn't prospering at home!

Who would have thought that one day one would find oneself in exactly the same position. Whilst I've moved often in my life and am certainly no stranger to being an expat, I find this is now an entirely new situation:

Suddenly, ever since the beginning of last September, Germany (where I live) has changed. Within the space of  4 months, 1.1. million refugees have entered the country. Every single town in Germany has to accommodate vast numbers of mainly male Muslim immigrants.Container homes are being built. Twon centers are full of migrants who have nothing to do. And life has changed: You will all have heard about the terrible New Years Eve events at Cologne main station. Similarly horrifying reports have come up from other German cities, and are still emerging as I write. Today, it transpired that two teenage girls in a small town in the South Western corner of Germany were gang-raped by immigrants.

Life in Germany doesn't seem to be safe anymore - all of a sudden. And worse is to come: The forecast is for another 3 million migrants to enter the country in 2016. This would all be bad enough, as there simply isn't any room here anymore, and already newcomers have to be put up in shelters and gyms which are hardly fit for purposes.

Worse, or at least just as menacing, I find another terrible change which has occurred in Germany: The media, the police, officials etc. cannot be trusted anymore. Whilst this has been clear for a while (what for example with varying reasons for the chaotic mass immigration being given - Gemany needs young people, Germany needs qualified workers, oh no it's all a humanitarian imperative, and so on) the events of NYE have proven this suspicion to be fact-based without the shadow of a doubt. Police and media now admit to having neglected to report the real catastrophic extent of the events. Rapes, gropes, robbings, theft, assault, injuries were brushed under the carpet, and only came to light when the pressure of eyewitness and social media reports proved too strong.

So, one suddenly finds oneself living in a country where the dangers of uncontrolled mass immigration are being denied, and victim's are supposed to just get one with it whilst being urged to shut up so as not to "slander" innocent migrants. Germany, once again seems to have transmogrified into a totalitarian state where unpleasantness is being denied, coverd up, and where people who want to speak their minds will be intimidated.

I don't feel I can live in such a country much longer. And whils it will certainly not be possible to move overnight - jobs, family connections etc. standing in the way of rash and emotional decisions - I feel a normal life, such as people were used to here in Germany is no longer guranteedor even possible. I know for a fact that many many well-educated Germans of all ages feel exactly the same.

If Mrs. Merkel and her government can afford to lose people like us, and is happy to import unskilled, largely uneducated migrants from Islamic countries in extraordinarily large numbers, I wish her good luck. Meanwhile I'm thinking of where I shall be moving to. Stay tuned.

So Different - Women in the UK and on the Continent

First you notice the hair. British women's hair tends to be cut into geometrical shapes. Even when it's long, there is a blunt, hard line at the end of it. And it will always have been through the straightening iron. Continental women's hair is much softer, it's "Just-so" hair". You never ever see a French women with "salon" hair. It's freshly washed, but definitely not styled. As with the colour - British women love blocky colour, even their highlights (which they love) are mostly blocky beaver stripes. Teased, straightened, dyed. Anything natural is anathema - it doesn't merely look "made up" - it has to look "up for it". Natural is a look absolutely confined to the elderly in Britain.

Teased  hair, teeth bleached white with a blueish tinge, spray tanned, nails with "nail art" - you do occasionally see that look on women in continental towns - but they tend to be sex workers.

So what style do continental women go for? For a start, spray tans and artificial tans aren't necessary. The summers are long, and most people tan easily. Hair is, as I mentioned, natural, straightening irons aren't very popular at all. Teeth are left as they are. Of course most women wear make-up and fake eye lashes are as popular as in the UK (if not quite as long and black) - but they tend not to be combined with glitter eye shadow and fuchsia lip gloss.

Generally there is, I think, on the Continent a horror of looking as if you tried too hard. (Which is invariably the look British women go for - they want to be seen to make an effort, thereby sending a signal to men: I'm up for it.) Clothes emphasize this - it would be totally unacceptable to wear British-style clothes in a (relatively style-conscious) town like say, Munich, Barcelona, or any French city.The cleavage, the "heels", the skirt length, the style, the "body-con"... all wrong. People would stare, and not necessarily in admiration

I'm not saying the one is better than the other. But there is definitely no overlap.

Next: Men.

Germany's Biggest problem? Sexism.

Why should this be the case, and why am I saying this? Probably because I've lived here now for some time, and in many ways, I'm the target audience. And you know what? I'm sick of it. I'm not talking about cat-calling builders, and I'm not talking about the 80-year old ticket clipper who calls you "love". In fact I'm not talking about "political correctness" at all.

I'm talking about the hard-wired, instutionalised sexism that blights the country because it is so internalised - most people take it for granted, accept it and even women take it as normal. In fact very few Germans know what "sexism" (in German: Sexismus) means. Or rather, they think it means something else altogether: Too much sex on your brain. That in itself tells you a lot.

Two scenes from recent days.

1. A new boss is being led round the company, and introduced to members of the department. He says hello, and shakes everybody's hand. Everybody's, that is, apart from the one one female team member. Why would that be? Because he naturally assumes that the males will be colleagues, but the female will be just someone who doesn't count because she probably is there to make the tea or clean the room.
Incredible?  This is exactly how things are in Germany.

2. Somebody ( a woman) speaks up in a discussion. From the name badge people can see that she has a Ph.D. (a "Doktortitel" in German, which is a big deal in Germany and will always be used when addressing a person who has got one as - typically - Herr Doktor X.
Despite the name tag, the woman gets continuously called "Frau X" rather than "Frau Doktor X" - a total faux-pas had she been male, in fact totally unthinakble.
As the discussion gets more heated, one male even challenges Frau Doktor X as to whether her doctorate which he now admits he saw on the name tag "is real".
Oh yes, this is how things work in Germany.


As a woman, people (=not just men but other women too) will automatically and unquestiongly assume that you work in some lowly position. If it is clear that you don't, they will try and put you down in an incredibly sexist way - for example Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, is unanimously referred to as "Mutti". Bringing her down to a family level, disregarding the fact that she is one of the most influential people in the world. Only as "Mutti" can she be grasped, accepted, or more likely tolerated. (Very unlikely that Germans would have referred to the previous chancellor, Gerhard Schröder, as "Vati").

In a previous post http://interculturalmusings.blogspot.de/2012/06/german-men.html I tried to explain the particular mind-set of German men. Made up of insecurity, chippiness, and an enormous compulsion to boast (mainly about technical or sporting matters). It is quite clearly an infantile disposition, that a Freudian could easily disentangle and - given the always present twist of insecurity into aggression - classify as neurosis.

Figures are not available, but a huge number of German men mary Asian or Easterrn European women. Rightly or wrongly assuming, that they will be more submissive and "know what a man needs". As I mentioned above, tragically, most German women have internalised the male attitude, and will always defer to any man, however absurd, ugly, or lowly he might be. Men possess natural authority and status in Germany, and women don't. That is one of the most internalised facts in Germany. You'll notice it in shops where sales staff automatically address the male, in (still widely bandied-about) jokes about women drivers, women and technology, in the unquestioned assumption that it is women who do the cooking at home. A male who enjoys cooking or - God forbid - baking! -  is regarded with incredulity. "What about your wife?" will be the standard response.

All of this is not limited to a certain age bracket. Try and talk shop with, say a member of the German Pirate Party as a woman who  knows about internet stuff - you will be humiliated, laughed at, and given the feeling that you're talking above your level.

I telly you one thing. I am sick to death of Germany's sexism.

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As I know from experience how vile and aggressive German males' comments are when criticised, the comments here are closed. I would, however urge you to comment via twitter: @Margit11. German men, please bear in mind though, that any comment you will make, will get RT'd. If it is a sensible comment, you will be pleased about this, if it is vile and abusive, it will deter you. Sadly, in this country, it is necessary to take such drastic measures.