“FDP’s Fastest Bee”: Sexism Allegations Against TV Total

TV Total is back — and after only a few issues it has its first allegation of sexism. It’s about Gregor Geese and “the fastest bee in the FDP”.

Cologne – TV Total is back. First and foremost, this means that a certain slot on Pro Sibeen, now in prime time, is reserved for an ironic secondary exploit of slapstick, joke and trash TV formats. Basically, it’s one thing above all: harmless. And yet the format, which has just been revived, is to be criticized for the first time after just a few weeks. The main reason for this is Gregor Geese.

Namely, a one-of-a-kind interview with Raab’s successor Sebastian Pfpuff named an unnamed FDP politician as the new Bundestag’s “fastest bee”. A few seconds later, the presence of the FDP parliamentary group on the Internet ceased, and the onslaught of curious people was rampant. But in addition to this curiosity, the subject produced another response: alienation. Surprisingly, at a time when the Bundestag is younger, more diverse and in small steps, more feminine, female federal politicians are being told about their attractiveness.

From Gregor Geese. in prime time. As the statue on the left refused to be named the Bundestag’s alleged “fastest bee”, Sebastian Pfup then continued to play the game. First he made a call to ensure that the website of the FDP parliamentary group collapsed again under the server load of the stormy pro Sieben audience and then he actually let the two FDP members of the Bundestag fade away.

“Fastest bee in the Bundestag”: FDP politicians criticize TV Total

Because: You can be the “fastest bee”. The selection was done purely on the basis of external criteria. In other words: TV Total has made itself the outstretched arm of young FDP politicians for whom political material has to stand behind, behind the charms that have been drawn on the big prime time stage.

It was not received well at all, especially in liberal circles. Franziska Brandman, the federal chair of the Young Liberals, tweeted: “I can’t believe it: Yesterday, TV Total went looking for ‘FDP’s fastest bee’ and humiliated female politicians. This shocks me. I hope the editors will be ashamed of themselves.”

Not invented by TV Total: Politicians have been rated according to their appearance since 1965

And TV Total, one of the politicians named by graduate industrial engineer Nicole Bauer as the potential “fastest bee” in the Bundestag, quietly did not want to put up with the erosion of its external features. His reply on Twitter: “Do I think TV Total’s action is sexist and problematic? Yes. I do and I also wonder what time will we be in 2021 that women in public will be reduced to so much as theirs. “Politicians) are judged and humiliated mainly on the basis of their appearance which is horrifying and depressing!”

Prof Sieben then saw himself in a response and told Editorial Network Germany (RND) in the person of broadcaster Christoph Körfer: “Obviously some people are arguing about the final and final version of ‘TV Total’ on the Internet. It’s worth noting that most of the speakers haven’t seen both programs.” Korfer continued: “In the debate, you tear down the elements in terms of satire. Because in theory, ‘TV Total’ did the same. What is meant to be satire: exaggerated a subject and framed it in such a way that it became polarised.”

What has so far not played a role in the whole debate: As early as 1965, journalists in Bonn named Ursula Kripps (SPD) “Miss Bundestag”. She was followed by Dagmar Enkelmann (PDS) in 1991, Dagmar Vohr in 1994 (CSU, was elected Miss Germany in 1977).
2009 Agnes Krumwiede (Alliance 90 / The Greens) and 2013 Jana Schimke (CDU). The attractiveness ratings of female MPs, other than their political abilities, are not an invention of TV Total. (Mirko Schmid)