On Vienna and Its Unappreciated Women
When people hear “Vienna,” they usually think of classical music, the Habsburg Empire, or the Blue Danube Waltz. As someone who spent the first eighteen years of her life in Austria’s capital, I can confirm that all of that is true. I fondly remember visiting the imperial palaces as a child, perceiving the faint sound of the Blue Danube Waltz coming from the legendary but now-closed “opera toilet” upon exiting the Karlsplatz metro station, and learning ballroom dance in PE class at fourteen years old. But behind all its historic and cultural beauty, Austria hides a few ugly truths: the second-highest gender pay gap in the EU, one of the highest femicide rates, and one of the lowest shares of women studying STEM fields, just to name a few. What if I told you that many of Austria's most pressing issues come down to an attitude problem? As Austrians, we do not appreciate what we have, yet simultaneously ridicule women who dare to want more.
Austria is full of paradoxes. On the one hand, the country beams with perfectly snow-coated mountains, picturesque lakes, lush forests, and rich cultural traditions. And its beauty is not limited to rural areas: the capital, Vienna, not only attracts more than seven million tourists per year, but also exhibits far lower crime rates and more affordable housing prices than most comparable European capitals. The Economist has even awarded Vienna the title of “most livable city” countless times. Despite its remarkable standards of living, Vienna has also been deemed “the most unfriendly city” by InterNations Expat Insider just as many times. As a Viennese, none of this comes as a surprise. Hearing people—young and old, rich and poor—vehemently complain about life’s tragedies while strolling through the stunning gardens of Schönbrunn Palace is not an anomaly but a quintessential part of Vienna’s passive-aggressive cacophony. It’s almost as if we are so entrenched in beauty in Austria that we have completely forgotten to appreciate it, holding onto our denigrating attitudes as our cultural ethos.
Nobody feels this lack of appreciation more acutely than women. The typical Austrian scoffing, derision, and sarcasm are far too often directed at young girls with big dreams, at hard-working mothers, and at smart, driven women shattering glass ceilings. If Austria wants to overcome the potential it loses due to women choosing STEM at far lower rates than the EU average (only 28% of STEM graduates were female in Austria in 2021 compared to the 33% EU average), if it wants to combat its alarmingly high rates of domestic violence and femicides, if it wants to, in short, let women partake in and actively shape its beauty, it must stop passively aggressively mocking half of its citizens by default.
Oftentimes, people criticize those arguing for an “attitude change” as dismissive of material reality and obstacles. But the case of Austria proves that the former deeply shapes our perception of the latter. Objectively, Austria has one of the highest standards of living and most extensive social security systems in the world. And yet, our beautiful material reality does not translate into women being able to unapologetically pursue their dreams and live up to their fullest potential.
Of course, technological progress is an inextricable part of female empowerment in the 21st century. We need to foster an interest in STEM in young girls so that they can help find technological solutions to the problems facing them. We need to make women financially independent of their male partners to avoid them staying in violent relationships. We need algorithms to track notorious domestic abusers to keep families safe. But none of this progress can happen unless we start appreciating women and their ideas first and foremost. Let's stop with our derisive complaints and get to work.
Veronika Denner on 03/09/2024