Miss Wittwer, are you a drama queen?
Tara-Louise Wittwer: If drama queen means I’m happy and more emotional than content, then yes. Women are often deprived of valid emotions and automatically fall into the category of “drama queens”. But it’s a very offensive word.
What do you want to achieve with your book or your work on social media?
I want to illuminate, but not by raising my finger. This is very important for me. When I do TikToxics (Tara-Louise Wittwers format on Tiktok) I try to never judge people, but what did they say. If someone I’ve reacted to apologizes, I’ll delete my video. It’s not my goal to show people off.
How do you reach people from the left who aren’t from the awakened balloon?
I believe and hope to achieve much more: My book has been on the bestseller list since it was published. If it were just this “bubble”, my book probably wouldn’t sell that way. I wrote “Dramaqueen” specifically so that people outside the bubble can be taken. There are people who, due to their life situation, do not have time to actively engage in educational work. Single parents or have extremely demanding jobs. A nurse does not want to work after 18 hours to look after the children and give lessons. That’s why I wrote the book autobiographically. According to his motto: “I was the worst and still make mistakes.”
In your book, you delve into popular culture and its sexist models. Why are we so influenced by popular culture?
You always read that Instafilter does something with the spirit of the youth. For my generation, that was popular culture. It was the only thing shown to us. This movie reproduced this and that. It is clear that we are guided accordingly. There has always been a situation where we focus on trends. It’s not called popular culture for nothing.
In your book, you describe the pick-me-girl phenomenon: women who do things to please other men and the resulting prejudice some women experience. You give examples of women who love football and beer because they find it great, not because of men. Why is it so difficult for society to differentiate?
I don’t like football, but I like beer. My husband asks if I still drink beer for him after seven years of relationship. When a man drinks a pink Cosmopolitan, most people also think he is “gay,” making this classification not only misogynistic but homophobic as well. Some people need drawers to separate people, but no – maybe he just likes to drink that sweet mess all the time without judgment. This is feminism.
They also write that criticizing influencers for their actions is misogynistic. From your point of view, is it not at all appropriate to criticize influencers as factual for exerting potential pressure on young girls through the pervasive ideal of beauty?
no It is completely wrong that women are no longer allowed to be criticized just because they are women. But I don’t know an influencer who actively says you should have plastic surgery. There are influencers who spread out old role models. If a woman decides to actively support these former role models, it’s her decision. But presenting one’s own view as a universal way of life is always complicated. I think it’s important that we learn to reaccept other views, as long as the view isn’t discriminatory or hurtful.