Alice Schwarzer Announces Closure of Feminist Magazine Emma After 50 Years

Alice Schwarzer has announced that the feminist magazine Emma will cease publication. The final issue, the 398th, is scheduled for release on 8 December. In her statement, Schwarzer wrote, "Es reicht – wir sind ermattet" ("It is enough – we are exhausted"). The closure marks the end of a publication that, for decades, served as a key forum for feminist debate in Germany. Ulrike Baureithel, writing for Der Freitag, reflects on the magazine's history and the broader context of feminist media. She notes that in earlier years, reading Emma was a given for young feminists, as was reading the competing women's magazine Courage, even though most could hardly afford such luxury. At the time, it was still taken for granted that information cost money, especially information outside the mainstream, and the function of such publications went far beyond reading pleasure. They were mediums for self-understanding, networking agencies, and instruments in the fight for women's rights. Baureithel agrees with Schwarzer on one point: no one today can imagine what women have suffered, being patronized by men and more. The article appears in the current issue of Der Freitag.