Gerhard Amendt

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Gerhard Amendt (born June 8, 1939 in Frankfurt am Main ) is a German sociologist and leading representative of the men's rights movement . Until his retirement in 2003, he was a professor at the Institute for Gender and Generational Research at the University of Bremen .

Life

Amendt acquired after a business apprenticeship and a short employment relationship, the higher education entrance qualification on the second educational path at the Hessenkolleg in Frankfurt am Main. At the Goethe University there he studied sociology , a. a. also with Adorno and Max Horkheimer . He completed his studies with semesters abroad in the USA and England. During his studies in Germany he was involved in the Socialist German Student Union and in the USA in Students for a Democratic Society .

In 1978 and 1979 Amendt acted as the “political mentor and founder” of the Institute for Family Planning and Abortion of the Pro-Familia -Landesverband Bremen, the first institution in Germany to offer pregnancy counseling and abortion under one roof. From 1982 to 1984 he worked as a consultant to the WHO on family planning issues in Copenhagen. In 1984 he supported Pro Familia with a scientific report against the demand of the Christian Democrat Heiner Geißler that the state governments no longer recognize the association as an advice center for pregnant women. This was preceded by a dispute over the reform of Section 218a of the Criminal Code , which, under certain conditions, enables a punishable termination of pregnancy .

One of Amendt's later work focuses on father research, as part of gender and generation research. In his study Fathers of Divorce , he first undertook empirical studies on the situation of fathers of divorce. In addition, Amendt has books and essays on child welfare, especially homosexual parenting, pedophilia and other topics, etc. a. published in social science journals. Amendt is also a founding member of the organization agens e. V.

family

Amendt is the father of three children. The social scientist Günter Amendt , who died in 2011, was his twin brother.

Positions and controversies since 2004

Divorced fathers

The empirical study Divorce Fathers , published in 2004, is based on a father study at the Institute for Gender and Generational Research at the University of Bremen . It was financed by an anonymous patron and examines fields such as the history of separation, alimony payments , frequency of contact, acts of violence , health , social situation, unemployment or membership in father organizations. "The introduction promotes the attempt", according to Gerd Roellecke in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , "to discuss problems with the consequences of divorce from the point of view of the fathers". Amendt's approach is that women who are still considered the "weaker sex" (Amendt) are more likely to be helped and thereby disadvantaged men. The study does not attempt to statistically substantiate the alleged disadvantage of the divorce fathers, but instead expands 15 case studies in the context of their environment, the complexity of which statistics cannot represent. The other half is devoted to individual questions such as visiting hours or fisticuffs in almost a third of divorce cases. Roellecke criticizes the study for an "often undifferentiated reference to 'society'". The book is recommended, however, the author shows "deep familiarity with the problems". Hinrich Rosenbrock criticizes the fact that the study shows methodological errors in the selection of the interview partners and that it does not meet “basic requirements for scientific methodology”.

Women's shelters

In 2009 Amendt's essay The Victim-in-Love of Feminism or: The Longing for Traditional Masculinity appeared in the daily newspaper Die Welt . In it Amendt called for the women's shelters to be closed, which he described as an ideologically established "haven of hatred of men ", and to be replaced by a network of professional advice centers for families with violence problems. In the 1970s he himself supported the initiative to found the Bremen Autonomous Women's Refuge as a “risky attempt at political lay self-help”, but at that time did not suspect that women's shelters would contribute to the “hostile polarization of society into male violent offenders and female peacemakers” . In an interview with Brigitte , he called for the establishment of “family houses” that were also open to men, and described the claim that the majority of men engage in domestic violence as not provable. According to Amendt, violence includes verbal aggression as well as physical assault.

The thesis of the symmetry of male and female violence in connection with Amendt's criticism of the women's shelters aroused opposition from the social science side. With reference to research results on the qualities of violence, Monika Schröttle sees the thesis as a scientific half-truth, whose proponents, such as Gerhard Amendt, use "often populist and aggressive media work" to provide decidedly anti-feminist impulses. Rolf Pohl wrote in the magazine Gruppenpsychotherapie und Gruppendynamik : “Amendt's adventurous claims are largely pseudoscientific constructs, which carry through their selective distortions of perception, their projective reinterpretations of reality, their manichaeistic character of explaining the world and their conspiracy-theoretical traits as well as the aggressive anti-feminine defensive gestures ". Political scientist Thomas Gesterkamp also stated that Amendt uses a “questionable term of violence” that does not differentiate between minor fights and serious physical injuries that mostly women suffered. This was contradicted by the psychosomaticist Matthias Franz : Amendt's empirical view of “the hitherto mostly denied potential for female violence” may be perceived by Gesterkamp in his expertise “Gender struggle from the right” as such a threatening breach of taboo that “in a loyal maternity protection reflex, he ended the debate with a shrill Branding “try.

Terre des Femmes criticized that calling women's shelters as a place of "hatred of men" missed the point of reality. Rather, they are the place where abused women can be protected and safe in a life-threatening situation. The Arbeitsgemeinschaft Männerarbeit of the Evangelical Church in Germany ( EKD ) accused Amendt of criticizing the women who work in women's shelters across the board and without any appreciation and ignoring the women's shelters as places of refuge for beaten and in need women. The criticism of the theoretical basis of some women's shelter activists, whose ideological background is by no means uniform, should not lead to a trivialization of the experience of the victims. The EKD men also called on Amendt not to denigrate the important topic of men's work with irrelevant and polemical statements. For his part, Amendt responded with an open letter to the EKD, in which he accused the authors of "consistently expressing a classic understanding of masculinity that pushes men into the attitude of the helpers at the slightest sign of female dissatisfaction." Amendt's demand for "family houses" became rejected by the educationalist Hannelore Faulstich-Wieland . Both shelters for women and support measures for men are required.

Men's rights movement

Social scientists who have studied the men's rights movement consider Amendt to be a key figure and a key player in this movement. His book Divorce Fathers and his essay in Die Welt from 2009 are central reference works of the anti-feminists, who repeatedly invoked his scientific authority. agent e. V. is considered to be a key association of the anti-feminist men's rights movement in German-speaking countries.

Similarly, the social worker Isolde Aigner sees Amendts guest contributions in Die Welt as part of an anti-feminist and masculinist media discourse in which, for example, the wage gap between women and men is attributed to the “modesty of women” and problems of men are blamed on feminism.

The sociologist Thomas Gesterkamp wrote in his work “Gender Struggle from Right” that Amendt had “earned a good reputation in left and left-liberal circles” in the 1970s and 1980s with analyzes of gynecology, contraceptive policy and statements on the legalization of abortion Recently, however, he has been irritating with suggestions and views "that are more likely to be located in a different political spectrum", for example through his positions on domestic violence and women's shelters or criticism of the work with boys by the Berlin men's research institute Dissens, which, according to Gesterkamp, ​​question traditional gender roles. but at the same time wanted to strengthen the personality, whereby the Junge Freiheit quoted Amendts views approvingly.

The sociologist Walter Hollstein saw in Gesterkamp's work, however, an incorrect positioning by Amendt and others who had expressed reservations against feminism as being right . Their criticism is neither sacrilege nor unconstitutional. To label them “right” is a call for a ban on thinking and a belittling of real right-wing extremism.

Publications

Fonts

  • Black Power - Documents and Analysis. Suhrkamp, ​​1970. (as editor)
  • Racism and class struggle. An Analysis of American Minority Politics. Dissertation, Giessen 1972.
  • The gynecologists. Konkret, Hamburg 1982, ISBN 3-922144-23-3 .
    • Revised new edition as: The patronized woman or the power of gynecologists. Fischer Taschenbuch, Frankfurt am Main 1985, ISBN 3-596-23769-6 .
  • The new rattle stork. The psychological and social consequences of reproductive medicine. March, Herbstein 1986, ISBN 3-88880-066-8 .
  • The punished abortion. Arguments on the homicide allegation. Ikaru, Bremen 1988, ISBN 3-927076-01-5 .
  • together with Michael Schwarz: The life of unwanted children. University of Bremen 1990; Fischer Taschenbuch, Frankfurt am Main 1992, ISBN 3-596-11079-3 .
  • How mothers see their sons. Ikaru, Bremen 1993, ISBN 3-927076-00-7 ; Fischer Taschenbuch, Frankfurt am Main 1994, ISBN 3-596-12481-6 .
  • You or her 1945–1968 - 1995. Ikaru, Bremen 1995, ISBN 3-927076-04-X .
  • Father's longing. Approach in eleven essays. IGG, Bremen 1999, ISBN 3-88722-452-3 .
  • Divorced fathers. How men experience separation from their children. IGG, Bremen 2004; Campus, Frankfurt am Main 2006, ISBN 3-593-38216-4 .
  • Women Quotas - Quota Women. Or: A gift horse ... Manuscriptum, Waltrop 2011, ISBN 978-3-937801-73-5 .
  • Of hellhounds and heavenly beings: a plea for a new gender debate. Ikaru, Frankfurt am Main 2013, ISBN 978-3-927076-67-9 .

Newspaper articles

literature

  • Walter Hollstein : "From the ruins of fantastic illusions" - Interview with the sociologist Prof. Dr. Gerhard Amendt . In: ders .: Gender democracy - men and women: live better together . VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften, Wiesbaden 2004, ISBN 978-3-322-80959-9 , pp. 71-73 (online) .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Pro Familia (ed.): Documentation of the symposium on quality standards in abortion care in the first trimester - November 22, 2003 in Bremen . Frankfurt am Main 2004, greeting by Monika Häußler-Sczepan, p. 6 (PDF) . For the name of the institute, see the tenor of a judgment by the Social Court in Bremen, which was printed in Kritische Justiz 4/1981 (online) .
  2. ↑ As a benefactor . In: Der Spiegel , No. 29/1984, July 16, 1984. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  3. ^ The European, heads: Gerhard Amendt
  4. ↑ Tom Mustroph: Away from the Almighty Mother. In: Friday . February 16, 2001, accessed January 18, 2018 .
  5. ↑ Gerd Roellecke : What distinguishes divorced fathers from other fathers . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung , July 20, 2007, No. 166, p. 39 online .
  6. ↑ Hinrich Rosenbrock: The anti-feminist men's rights movement. Mindset, networks and online mobilization . Ed .: Heinrich Böll Foundation (=  writings of the Gunda Werner Institute . Volume 8 ). Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-86928-073-8 , pp. 52 f . ( Online [PDF; 2.4 MB ; accessed on January 1, 2018]).
  7. ↑ Gerhard Amendt: Why the women's shelter must be abolished . In: Die Welt , June 16, 2009, accessed on July 17, 2015.
  8. ↑ Silke Baumgarten: Gerhard Amendt: "Abolish the women's shelters" . In: Brigitte . August 20, 2009. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  9. ↑ a b Monika Schröttle: Critical comments on the thesis of gender symmetry in intimate partner violence (PDF; 1.8 MB). In: Gender , No. 1/2010, pp. 133–151.
  10. ↑ Simone Schmollack: Simple explanations of the world and mother ideal . In: Die Tageszeitung , June 8, 2011. Accessed February 1, 2014.
  11. ^ Ines Hohendorf: Coping strategies of women and men in intimate partner violence (= Tübingen writings and materials on criminology . Volume 25). University Library Tübingen, Tübingen 2014, ISBN 978-3-937368-48-1 , p. 20.
  12. ^ Rolf Pohl : Men - the disadvantaged sex? Defense against femininity and anti-feminism in the discourse on the crisis of masculinity (PDF; 181 kB). In: Group Psychotherapy and Group Dynamics . 48, No. 3, 2012, pp. 296-324. doi : 10.13109 / group.2012.48.3.296
  13. ↑ Thomas Gesterkamp : Arguments on the subject of male discrimination . In: Melanie Ebenfeld, Manfred Köhnen (eds.): Gender equality policy controversial. An argumentation aid . Expertise on behalf of the Economic and Social Policy Department of the Friedrich Ebert Foundation, p. 20 (PDF; 451 kB) .
  14. ^ Matthias Franz, André Karger (ed.): New men - does that have to be? Risks and perspectives of today's male role (PDF; 587 kB). 2nd Edition. Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2011, p. 16.
  15. ↑ Götz Hausding: Endangered Shelters . In: The Parliament , No. 51/2009.
  16. ↑ Martin Rosowski: Open letter to your article in the world on Sunday of June 16, 2009 (PDF; 62 kB). October 14, 2009; The EKD men's open letter is printed in: Switchboard. Journal for Men and Boys' Work , No. 190, Fall / Winter 2009, p. 17.
  17. ↑ Ursula Caberta: Black Book Feminism: From the myth of the achieved equality . Gütersloher Verlagshaus, Gütersloh 2012, ISBN 978-3-579-06661-5 , p. 41.
  18. ↑ Thomas Gesterkamp: Gender struggle from the right. How men's rights activists and family fundamentalists radicalize themselves against the enemy image of feminism . Edited by the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, WISO-Diskurs, Bonn 2010, pp. 11 and 24 (PDF; 185 kB) .
  19. ↑ Johanna Kutsche: The rhetoric of right-wing men . In: Die Zeit , May 12, 2010.
  20. ^ Gerhard Amendt: men's work of the EKD. Open letter (PDF; 55 kB). November 19, 2009. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  21. ↑ Hannelore Faulstich-Wieland: Gender-related fields of work: women's shelters, work with girls and boys, gender-related advice and adult education. In: Hermann Krüger, Thomas Rauschenbach: Introduction to the fields of work in education and social services. Barbara Budrich Verlag, Opladen / Berlin / Toronto 2012, ISBN 978-3-8252-8495-4 , p. 214.
  22. ↑ "The anti-feminist men's rights movement [...] In the German-speaking area, there are initiatives and associations like MANNdat e. V. or agens e. V., who regularly make anti-feminist statements with reference to the 'real equality of men and women'. ” In: Nadja Bergmann, Christian Scambor u. a .: Movement in gender relations? On the role of men in Austria in a European comparison , LIT Verlag, Berlin / Münster / Vienna / Zurich / London 2014, ISBN 978-3-643-50539-2 , pp. 185/186
  23. ^ A b Thomas Gesterkamp: Gender struggle from the right. How men's rights activists and family fundamentalists radicalize themselves against the enemy image of feminism . Edited by Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Department of Economic and Social Policy, Department of Women and Gender Studies. Bonn 2010, ISBN 978-3-86872-270-3 , p. 15f.
  24. ^ Rolf Pohl: Men - the disadvantaged sex? Rejection of femininity and anti-feminism in the discourse on the crisis of masculinity , in: Mechthild Bereswill, Anke Neuber (Ed.): In the crisis? Masculinity in the 21st century, Verlag Westfälisches Dampfboot, Münster 2011, ISBN 978-3-89691-231-2 , p. 113f.
  25. ↑ Hinrich Rosenbrock: The anti-feminist men's rights movement. Mindset, networks and online mobilization . Published by the Heinrich Böll Foundation, 2nd edition Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-86928-073-8 , p. 46f.
  26. ↑ Isolde Aigner: "Shrunken men" in the "purple empire" - anti-feminist thought patterns in media discourse . In: Andreas Kemper (ed.): The masculists . Unrast Verlag, Münster 2012, ISBN 978-3-89771-523-3 , pp. 46-57.
  27. ↑ Walter Hollstein: Study puts men's rights activists in a brown swamp . Guest comment in: Die Welt , May 11, 2010.
personal data
SURNAME Amendt, Gerhard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German sociologist
DATE OF BIRTH June 8, 1939
PLACE OF BIRTH Frankfurt am Main