– feminist struggles on your campus!
Who we are
Club Marta* is a feminist list at our university. We are an association of FINTA* people (women, inter, non-binary, trans and agender people) who are committed to real, lived equality on campus and in university politics. We are united by the goal of strengthening, making visible and further expanding feminist structures at the university. We are committed to supporting FINTA* in all areas of university life – from committee work and student self-administration to cultural and political events.
Club Marta* is a pure FINTA* list – that means: our room is only for FINTA* – precisely because we are so often denied space. We have no room for misogynist. We want to support FINTA* and fight for space for us and our voices.
We see ourselves as a feminist, grassroots democratic and solidarity-based space. Our members come from different backgrounds, study programmes and realities of life. Some of us have many years of experience in feminist and/or queer struggles, others have just joined because they have realised that the way things are going at the moment is not acceptable: Things can’t stay the way they are at the moment. The * in the name emphasises that we are not bound by binary gender concepts: we have room for everyone – especially for those who are denied this place in society!
What we stand for
We stand for feminism – clear, radical and in solidarity. For us, feminism means: the social structures that give rise to sexism, patriarchy, queer hostility and other forms of discrimination must be fundamentally questioned and abolished.
We stand for:
• Lived equality – not just on paper, but in everyday life and in all university structures.
• Visibility and strengthening of FINTA* – in university policy, in committees, in initiatives.
• Antipatriarchal struggles – we don’t want to reform the patriarchy; we want to abolish it!
• Intersectional feminism – because discrimination is never one-dimensional.
Racism, classism, ableism and queer hostility must always be taken into account.
• Solidarity – within Club Marta* and beyond. We stand side by side with other
emancipatory movements.
• Activism with humour – changing the world can also be a bit of fun!
What we do
Our work at Club Marta* is multifaceted. We see ourselves as a feminist university group, but also as a political force in the student parliament (StuPa) and beyond.
Here are a few examples of our commitment:
• Shaping policies in a feminist way
We are committed to ensuring that feminist perspectives are taken seriously in StuPa meetings, committees and commissions. Be it in the allocation of funds, in the appointment of members to committees or in fundamental university policy
decisions: We look, we talk to, and we get involved.
• Educational work
It is important to us that feminist issues are present on campus. We explain why feminism is still desperately needed today – and we do this with passion and knowledge.
• Actions and protests
Club Marta* is also visible on the streets. Be it on 8 March (feminist campaign day), at the IDAHOBIT (International Day Against Homophobia, Biophobia, Inter- and Transphobia) and at demonstrations against anti-feminist developments.
• Networking and solidarity
We want to create space to enable networking and active solidarity between FINTA*s. We are not alone, we are many! Change starts on a small scale and ends in the big picture.
What we want
Our aim is to create feminist structures at the university that are not just selective, but are permanent. We want:
• More FINTA* in committees and decision-making positions
We are committed to ensuring that FINTA* are not only invited to have a say but can actually participate in decision-making. This means: quotas where they make sense
• Awareness structures at the university
‘No means no and yes means yes!’ FINTA* are subject to structural sexist violence on a daily basis. We want to change that! We are fighting for firm awareness structures that guarantee safe campus life for everyone. This includes binding concepts for events, clear contact points for those affected and a climate
in which sexism and queer hostility have no place.
• Making patriarchal structures visible and dismantling them
We want discrimination to be named – even if it is unpleasant. We want to expose and dismantle patriarchal thought patterns that are reflected in language, (university) structures and everyday life. Misogynists out!
• Solidary and just university
For us, feminism always also means fighting against other forms of oppression. A university without racism, without classism, without ableism – that is our goal!
Do we still need feminism today?
“Feminism? Huh? What’s the point? You’ve had equal rights for a long time!” – We hear this sentence again and again. In conversations, in seminars, at parties or during discussions in committees. And yes, at first glance it may seem that way: FINTA* study, teach, do research; there are equality laws, quotas for women*, diversity units. All good right?
No. Because what’s on paper is far from the reality we experience in everyday life at. At
university in particular, we can see how deeply patriarchal structures are still anchored
in our minds, in our processes and in our institutions
→ Those who speak are often not heard.
It happens again and again in seminars: FINTA* people are ignored, their contributions are belittled or ignored until a man makes the same point – and suddenly people nod. Not because men have the better ideas, but because the voice of FINTA* is given less weight.
→ Those who get involved are ridiculed.
FINTA* who get involved in committees often experience double the work: they have to defend their position and defend themselves against derogatory comments or subtle power Suddenly the word ‘bitchiness’ is thrown into the room or the tone of criticism is addressed – but not the content.
→ You have to be careful when you party.
At parties, at events, on the way home: for many FINTA* it is part of the routine to think about how to get from A to B safely. Making sure they know who they can call if things get awkward. Always keeping a watchful eye on for potential boundary violations.
→ Those who exist are made invisible.
For trans, inter and non-binary people, university is often a gauntlet. Names and pronouns are used incorrectly – not by mistake, but because people refuse to do better. Gender-neutral toilets? Not a chance. University forms that recognize more than ‘male’ or ‘female’? Rarely.
→ Those who study disappear.
Women are in the majority at universities – and yet they disappear on the way to the top. From the doctorate onwards, their share crumbles; for professorships it is only 29%. The cause is called a leaky pipeline: Structural sexism, male-dominated networks, stereotypical expectations and careers that are incompatible with care work. Those who do not fit into the role model are pushed out – not despite their good performance, but precisely because of it.
And these are just a few examples. The picture is clear: feminism is necessary in order to live true equality.
Universities are not islands of equality. They are part of a society, in which sexism, queerophobia, racism and other forms of discrimination continue to have an impact. And they are a place where we all learn how to deal with each other – what is considered normal and what is not – what we find normal and what we do not. If we don’t start here, where will we start?
We don’t want equality to remain an empty word that looks good in mission statements. We want it to be practised – in teaching, in research, in everyday life.
For us, feminism at the university means:
→ Changing structures, not just fighting symptoms.
→ Creating spaces of solidarity in which everyone is seen and heard.
Feminism is now. Feminism is you.
If you decide that you will no longer look the other way, but work with us to make university a place for everyone – then you are already part of it.
And now?
If you’re in the mood for a feminist fight, for boxing misogynists, for collective anger and collective confidence – then you’ve come to the right place. We’re not here to apologise to or to beg nicely. We’re here to make a diJerence! And if you’re curious now: come along! Join in! Whether you’ve been a feminist activist for a long time or you just have the feeling that something is going wrong and you want to do something about it – we’re always happy to meet new people.
Write to us, talk to us, come to our meetings.
And: Let’s work together to change the structures that are supposed to keep us down.
Your Marta*s <3