Is German schlager music sexist?

The German music scene appears to have a certain problem with sexism, at least according to human rights organisations like "Terre des Femmes." The Hamburg-based women's rights groups launched a new initiative with the hashtag #unhatewomen, drawing attention to misogyny in German rap music.

The weekly news magazine Spiegel analyzed the lyrics of 30,000 "Deutsch-Rap" songs, backing the the claims of sexism in this music genre.

But by singling out German rap as the black sheep of contemporary misogyny in music, other musical styles go unnoticed. This is something that Spiegel magazine also pointed out in a disclaimer at the end of its analysis.

This is why we asked ourselves: How sexist is German schlager music, the ubiquitous catchy pop music that's played at mass discos, weddings and fun fairs?

It doesn't matter if they like it or hate it, even younger generations know the names of schlager music stars, including the deceased ones like Roy Black, Udo Jürgens and Karel Gott.

The fact that these well-known musicians are so firmly enshrined in Germany's cultural memory certainly has something to do with the history of the genre.

Post-war Germany's musical revival

"There has never been any other musical genre in history that in its early stages was known for being so unintruding or inoffensive in terms of both musical elements and song lyrics as schlager music," musical scientist Julio Mendevíl wrote in 2007 in his PhD thesis titled, Der deutsche Schlager. Ein musikalisches Stück Heimat (German Schlager. A musical piece of homeland).

The unifying element in the beginnings of the genre after World War II was the emphasis on a familiar but long-lost German heritage ideal, which was to be restored through song. In some ways, post-war Germany thus reinvented itself through harmless-looking schlager music.

Harmless advances or sexist roles?

However, musicologist Marina Schwarz from the University of Leipzig believes that this representation of schlager music in the 1950s and 60s already was somewhat problematic. Her research focuses on the image of women portrayed in schlager, which she found to be rather sexist from the word go: "These songs were written at a time when sexism was unfortunately much more socially acceptable than it is today," she says.

One example she highlights in her research is the 1977 song "Wagen vor mir" (The car in front of me) sung by the duo Hans Blum and Ursula Peysang, known commonly as Henry Valentino mit Uschi. 

The song deals with a man in a car who casually follows a female driver — because he enjoys the way she looks from behind. The woman in the song, on the other hand, grows increasingly nervous and finally turns off to hide away behind the hedges at the side of the road. But instead of underscoring why this situation might at the very least be problematic, the song presents the aggressive scenario as an unironic cheerful country tune. 

The man's advances are portrayed as harmless, while the only thing the woman has left to show any anger about is the fact that her little detour resulted in her getting back home late.

Openly sexist hits

This classic form of schlager music still exists today, says Schwarz, while stressing that two more forms must be added to have a comprehensive overview of the musical genre: There's pop schlager music with interpreters like Helene Fischer, Andrea Berg or Vanessa Mai and then there's also the so-called Mallorca schlager featuring performers like Micky Krause (top picture), Jürgen Drews or Ikke Hüftgold. The latter form in particular, which is enjoyed above all by a younger audience at parties, is openly sexist, she stresses.

As an example Schwarz highlights the song "Geh mal Bier holen" (Go fetch me a beer) by Micky Krause, who is well-known around the German party enclave of Ballermann on the Spanish island of Mallorca. In this song, various men ask women to go get them a beer. 

The scenery is varied and includes an instance at home in front of the television, and another example at a swingers' club. The reason why these men cajole their women into fetching them a beer is straight-forward in the lyrics: "You've become so ugly again" ("Du bist schon wieder hässlich").

The song has been played over 18 million times on Spotify.

'Internalized misogyny'

"This is an extension of the patriarchal society in which we still live," says Marina Schwarz. This is why in her view the music industry as a whole is dealing with a major problem, because it merely reflects currents and trends seen in society as a whole.

Schwarz says that this also explains why not only men but women as well sing and celebrate these songs. She refers to this phenomenon as a form of "internalized misogyny." Schwarz believes that these women, who have grown up in a structurally sexist society, have absorbed its ubiquitously misogynous ideas to such an extent that they appear normal and can therefore also be repeated by women. 

The reason why this sexism is less obvious in schlager music than in rap music must be its appearance and presentation, she argues: Many schlager music stars look like middle-class family men living next door; the music itself is simplistic, it never is harsh or dissonant, and the themes of the music style are universal, such as love or having fun with friends. 

"Yes, I believe that the saccharine atmosphere of a schlager song often glosses over the fact that they can also contain very problematic lyrics," Schwarz explains.

Countering sexism with empowerment

But there are exceptions to the rule, as highlighted by the second pillar of the schlager, the more recent pop schlager genre. Even there, the motifs that are being sung and serenaded tend to be conservative ideals, such as the classic relationship between a man and a woman. But at the same time, the performers of the sub-gene have increasingly begun to conform to international pop music standards, says Schwarz, stressing that this can be seen in the performances, outfits and lyrics of schlager superstar Helene Fischer.

"Her Song 'Atemlos' (Breathless) is a proper hedonistic manifesto, where the woman is the active narrator. It's almost a form of self-empowerment."

And this appears to be a recipe for success. Currently, the most successful schlager artists are all representatives of this contemporary sub-genre. And since the pop schlager hits looks increasingly promising in terms of financial success, it's quite possible that in the future more music of this kind will be written, be it purely for commercial reasons. And this, in turn, could lead to less sexism in schlager.

"I don't think we're ever going to return to the stage where sexism was openly celebrated" in schlager music, believes Marina Schwarz, noting that the listeners' demographics are changing. 

"The music and lyrics often reflect the groups that listen to this kind of music, highlighting things that move them and reflecting what their expectations of the music are. And the majority of the audience listening to schlager today are female. That’s why I doubt that your typical schlager listener will want to return to the dark ages of songs giving advice on how to pester women in cars."