Gender compulsion in the “TV Garden”?
That’s what ZDF says about the accusation
Andrea Kiewel was criticized for her handling of gender.
© ZDF/Ralph Orlowski.
In the “ZDF television garden” Andrea Kiewel apparently apologized for gender-fair moderation. That’s what the broadcaster says.
Andrea Kiewel (57) led through a new edition of the “ZDF TV Garden” last Sunday. Among other things, she reported on the German “singer and songwriter scene” and took a longer and more pronounced break before “inside”. Then she let the viewers know: “Don’t make a face – I have to.” There was then extensive discussion on social media as to whether the presenter was being forced to gender by the broadcaster. ZDF reacted to this with a tweet.
“There are no instructions for gendering in the ‘ZDF television garden’,” the broadcaster clarifies. “Andrea Kiewel is personally concerned to address everyone, which is why she used the phrase ‘singer and songwriter’ in connection with ‘must’.”
Andrea Kiewel: “It’s important to me”
Kievel also spoke up after the criticism. “Nobody, not ZDF and nobody else tells me that I have to change,” she explained after the show in an interview with the “Bild” newspaper. “I’ve used the masculine and feminine plural for a long time because I really want to and it’s really important to me. It’s close to my heart. And I meant it that way on the live show.” It can sometimes happen “that not every word in a two-hour live broadcast fits perfectly. But that’s the way it is. I want it. I don’t have to.”