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"Tales from 1001 Nights": showwoman Sabine Ernst wants to change the image of the woman
Photo: IMAGO/Arnulf Hettrich
The Greens in the municipal council described images of scantily clad women that can be seen at the Stuttgart Spring Festival as sexist and discriminatory.
As a result of a conversation with the party, showmen now want to redesign several pictures.
It is about depictions of three half-naked women whose blouses or bras are open, said Mark Roschmann from the Southwest Stuttgart Showmen's Association after the meeting.
One of the ladies is now given a closed blouse, while another woman's bra is closed.
For financial reasons, however, it is not possible to redesign entire facades overnight, says Roschmann: "It starts in the mid-five-digit range." He is satisfied with the agreement.
The sexism debate had caused a stir in the past few days.
The Greens in the Stuttgart municipal council had called for the images, which they saw as discriminatory, to be removed immediately.
Roschmann then suggested a meeting at the festival.
"The conversation was very good," said Stuttgart Green City Councilor Jitka Sklenárová.
The goal is a "discrimination-free space" on the Wasen.
What this looks like in concrete terms has yet to be clarified.
Mayor supports showmen
According to SWR, the showwoman Sabine Ernst had already decided before the meeting to have the statue of a scantily clad woman changed at her "Merry Tale from 1001 Nights" stand.
She feels the painting is neither discriminatory nor sexist.
Nevertheless, she had the statue changed to prevent folk festivals from getting a bad reputation because of such depictions and being considered no longer family-friendly.
Stuttgart's Lord Mayor Frank Nopper from the CDU had defended the showmen in the debate.
The municipal council should not become “a censorship authority”, according to Nopper: “Furthermore, after two years of the pandemic, the showmen and women are in an economic struggle for survival and have to concentrate their strength on existential issues.”
ptz/dpa
