An Intermediary in the Women’s Movement

Abstract

Women’s rights activist Marie Stritt’s (1855–1928) political influence shows the coming together of different strands of the traditional lines of the organized bourgeois women’s movement. Stritt was close to the small circle of uncompromising voter rights activists and sexual reformists, both of which were and still are often characterized as “radical.” She was also influenced by the majority in the League of German Women (Bund Deutscher Frauenvereine BDF), whom she labeled “moderate.” As chairperson for the BDF from 1899 to 1910, she dismissed thinking in simplified and polarized categories and appealed for the intermediation between the competing groups of women. Stritt operated at the place of intersection of the different driving forces in a time in which the organization of the women’s movement was becoming increasingly differentiated and politicized. In light of this important function, it is surprising that Marie Stritt’s life has only been, till now, cursorily examined. Elke Schüller’s source-laden “biographical approach” fills this research gap in a thankworthy manner and offers new insight into the history of the BDF.