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The original German version of this text was published in WoZ on 14.2.2002. Its background is the media fake "Neosexism" by Sexismus Productions.

Meike Baumann, a psychologist and management coach, puts it gently and academically: “Aggression is no longer a privilege of men.” Her colleague, Sarah Meinrad, 27, martial artist and social worker, defines it more directly: “Men are pigs. And women want to be pigs, too.”

What this is all about is active female sexism, the “reduction of men to their gender or their body.” A phenomenon which Meinrad and Baumann have come across surprisingly often since the beginning of their studies: It ranges from vocally expressed disgust to physical attacks.

In the course of their studies the two scientists came across a number of women whom they came to call, ironically, the “Club of the Naturalbornsexists.” Its members range from the mobbing office clerk to the sexually abusing academic, from the eighteen-year-old harrassing men over the phone to the friendly salt-and-pepper haired lady who jabs her elbow into the ribs of the man sitting beside her on the bus.

In an attempt to find other active female sexists, in a move that drew the attention of the media, Meinrad and Baumann this Tuesday launched a website (www.sexistinnen.ch) and a phone booth at the Bellevue Square (one of the most frequented public spaces in Zurich, near the lake) playing recorded audio documents of phone harrassment, round-table discussions and adventure stories of the Club.

“Female sexism,” says a good-humored Sarah Meinrad, “doesn’t have a lot in common with classical feminism. The typical sexist is neither sexually nor in any other sense perverted. It’s just fun for her to insult guys or, if push comes to shove, punch his face in.”

The loathing of men is probably as old as the cudgel. And revolves around the ever same motives: “In the notion of man lies the focal point of pessimism. In criticizing men to rubble lies the culmination of the only true illumination of the world,” wrote the “Wunderkind” and second woman to have handed in a PhD at the University of Zurich, Helene von Druskowitz around 1905. She relegated “rough, false, ugly” man to a position “of an intermediate between human being and animal.” Later authors were more radical. “To call a man an animal is to flatter him,” stated Valerie Solanas in her famous manifesto “SCUM – Society for Cutting up Men,” which demanded the physical elimination of all men. Solanas didn’t leave it at words and shot Andy Warhol down in 1968. Later radicals did leave it mostly at proclamations, like the “Anti Maskuline Revolution (AMR)” founded 1990 in Graz (Austria), which appealed to brutal violence with the final goal of the “extinction of all creatures not clearly identified as female.” So far to no avail. And yet…

Frau Baumann, how common is female sexism?

We do not yet have precise information about quantity, quality, variations and the main players. That’s the reason why we went public. In any event, almost every woman knows other women who think or act in a sexist way.

Is sexism a consequence of feminism or of the backlash against feminism?

I think it’s a consequence of the world becoming friendlier towards women, but not more female. More and more women take part in business life, but only a few have become bosses. This leads working women to consider the Macchiavellistic option. Every man you destroy is one potential competitor less. This is how evolution works.

Is female sexism then a variety of mobbing committed to the class struggle?

Partly. As one of our subjects put it: “Sexism is preventive aggression.” Such thinking is typical of the alpha animal. If everything is explained with natural science, genetics and inherent necessity, the logical consequence is a competitive and therefore sexist prevailing mood in society. Female sexism is the natural reaction to the cultural code of the day, biologism: man becomes a worthless and/or hostile species. This can no doubt be achieved with creativity and a sense of humor: delete computer files, little jabs of the elbow, sexual humiliation, the harassment of men with beer bellies – that’s fun. For our sexists, men are often a kind of sparring partner.

Klaus Heer, couple therapist: “I had not so far come across this sexism phenomenon in this explicit form. I know it from the domestic sphere: couples, mostly the men tell me about it in couple therapies. (...) In the heads of many women there have always been fixed and ungracious conceptions about what 'a typical man' is. Preconceptions and injustice on the one side cause preconceptions and injustice on the other side. You can compare female and male sexism only to a certain extent. The traditional male sexism is part of the “natural superiority” which men have claimed for themselves over the centuries. To this day, men benefit from the simple fact that they are men – at the expense of women. The consequence of this attitude in society is much more damaging than the entire female sexism taken together.”

Lu Decurtins, “Mannebuero” (Office for Men), Zurich: “Sometimes men tell us of women who have willingly taken advantage of their position to damage them. They put pressure on the men, threaten them with a lawsuit. We are mainly confronted with cases of sexism in the couple. But sexism can also be present in the context of mobbing. Do I consider female sexism a reproduction of male sexism? Well, the term “reproduction” is too banal. Men and women are socialized differently. They have different strengths and weaknesses. This may be the reason why women operate more sensitively, less clumsily and plumply than most men.

With all due respect to creativity, Ms Baumann. But besides the fact that computer sabotage remains a form of massive mobbing – which are the men who become victims? Machos or softies? Young or old? Bosses or subordinates?

Until now, we were entirely focused on women. We weren’t interested in men.

Do leftist, nice or harmless men get harrassed, too?

A participant in the study admitted to experiencing reluctance to harrass unsuccessful men, too. Others don’t consider that a problem. These men too have their aggressive sides, or they smell, or have beer bellies…

But did not the feminist movement always struggle against any established beauty norms?

Well, hasn’t the beer belly grown in health-damaging self-responsibility? One should be able to expect a minimum standard.

It seems you share the sexist point of view! That’s not scientific!

One question of a journalist really got me thinking. He pointed out that the true family names of the men harrassed over the phone can be heard on the recordings. In the preparation for our action we reviewed nearly everything – the electric connections, the color of the banner, even where you can find clean toilets nearby. But the protection of the men's private sphere did not cross our mind for a second. I'll admit that this was an omission. (She smiles.)

Selected proven techniques from the audio records in the women sexist phone booth at Bellevue Square…

…in the office (mobbing):

- Send an obscene email, which the boss or a colleague has carelessly left open on his computer screen, to all the employees in the company.

- Delete computer documents from mainly elderly and not very computer literate men and to gloat over their desperation.

- With even older gentlemen: loosen the computer mouse cable.

- Motivate the newly-baked father to work very hard, so he neglects his family. With a bit of luck his wife will leave him because he thinks only about his job.

- Destroy or stash away private objects like pictures of the family, lucky charms, souvenirs.

- Make perfidious remarks aimed at a specific inferiority complex (look, bad breath, sexual loneliness).

…privately:

- First turn on somebody and then ignore him completely.

- Laugh at him during sex or afterwards (realistic criticism is in most cases sufficient).

- State disappointment about his body, especially about his penis.

…miscellaneous:

- Call a man on the phone to tell him that he has won a tracksuit as a prize in an advertising campaign. Ask him about his bodily condition. Force him to describe his belly, his butt, his legs, hairiness and armpit perspiration. Then refuse him the tracksuit, noting that a prick like him will not sell.

- Molestations in the bus, for instance with hard or sharp objects.

- Spill beer or something similar on his crotch (e.g., in a bar).

Three motives of sexism from the audio documentation at Bellevue Square:

Susann: “For me, Neosexism is simply a new way of having fun. Feminism is definitely out. What else remains then? We simply want to live a better life, and to achieve this…”

Erika: “…we have to be sexist against men on principle. Men can only be so powerful and aggressive because so many women are passive or depressive. The more women stand on principle on the aggressive side, the more this will change.”

Isa: “And, please, don’t forget: Good sexism is still easier to get than good sex.”

Esther, errh, how is your take on sexism?

Beer bellies I despise, too, of course. I get really angry if I meet a guy who wants to impress me with the “No need to strain your tiny brain, mine'll do it for you.” attitude. Mostly, I live my sexism inwardly. Authoritarian interlocutors, bosses or colleagues I imagine without their clothes when they are loud or in other ways insufferable. For example… bingo! and the unsavory images immediately do away with any feelings of respect.

And what was your most terrible humiliation, Constantin?

It was years ago, in the “Odéon” (a famous old bar in downtown Zurich). I was standing at the bar talking to Lea. She said: “You are boring. Say something else.” I said something different. She said: “You are still boring.” I changed the subject. She said: “Don’t always speak about yourself.” In that moment I could not find a subject in the world that wasn't about myself. I told her that. She said: “Then, shut up!” I shut up. She left.

Meike Baumann, does sexism not produce permanent aggressions? Does it not affect the whole emotional life in a devastating way?

Not at all! After all, aggression is a feeling, too, and a very vital one at that. Besides that, sexists have totally normal relationships, even with men.