"We are proud of EMMA"

Dear readers,

You’ll need to brace yourselves: the next issue of EMMA will be the last. We have hesitated and deliberated at length. It breaks our hearts. But there is no other way. After exactly 50 years, we are bringing the bold EMMA project to a close.

First, the good news. The next issue will be a special edition twice the usual size, as it marks our 50th anniversary. It will be available on newsstands from December 8.

Since January 26, 1977, 398 issues of EMMA plus eight special editions have been published, totaling a staggering 36,584 pages in 50 years. Almost all of these issues are already available online in the EMMA reading room (www.emma.de/lesesaal). The rest will follow next year. So you can read 50 years of EMMA issue by issue, page by page, and see for yourselves just how much passion and courage went into producing EMMA over the past 50 years, and the extent of the resistance it faced. And how up‑to‑date these topics still are.

Since December 3, 2002 the daily updated www.emma.de was launched. The workload did not decrease. Also these texts published online are predominantly archived and accessible online according to key themes.

We are proud of EMMA. As far as we can tell, EMMA has been the only feminist magazine available at newsstands worldwide for decades. A professional political magazine from a woman’s perspective. For women (and interested men). No recipes. No trashy gossip. Little fashion. Hardly any advertising. Instead: information, analysis, inspiration and provocation. Often going against the grain, even within the feminist community.

And that is precisely what we, the current EMMA team, do not want to change. For the most part, we have been a team for around 30 years (with some comings and goings). Repeatedly we have tried to find more female colleagues who share our ethos, time and again, we have also sought a potential editor-in-chief. They do exist. But despite our repeated efforts to recruit them, they have ultimately preferred to join – or remain in – the established media. There, the headwind isn’t quite so harsh. Because being seriously committed to feminism – and not just engaging in trendy queer-feminist chatter – is nothing a woman earns gratitude for. No sooner is the question of power raised than a woman is deemed ‘controversial’, as is so politely put when referring to EMMA and Schwarzer.

Controversial for calling out domestic violence (in EMMA from 1977). Controversial for exposing child sexual abuse (from 1978). Controversial for our campaign against political Islam, Islamism (since 1979!). Controversial in our campaign against wars. We are also controversial – indeed, strongly opposed by some feminists – in our criticism of the frivolous, unrealistic trans ideology. (According to this ideology, any man can declare himself a woman simply by saying so, and young girls, who feel a justifiable unease about the female role, are led to believe that they need only take homones and have their breasts removed, and the problem would be resolved.)

So there remains plenty to do for EMMA. Right to the very end. And no, we are not forced to stop publishing. Sure, like all print media EMMA’s circulation is declining too, but it is still enough to keep going for a long time yet. No, we do not have to stop, at least not for economic reasons.

We, the women behind EMMA, are simply quite exhausted. Even our energy is limited. We’ve been running EMMA for between nine and 50 years now. The first of us wanted to step down two years ago, after 30 years. The reason: she’s determined to go on the round-the-world trip she’s always dreamt of. She still wants to do that. Her colleagues convinced her to hang in there for another two years.

The second one just wanted to work part-time. Her reason: She wanted to spend more time with her husband. And Alice, who founded EMMA 50 years ago and has been at the helm ever since, could do with a bit of a break too. In short: the four-day week had to be introduced three years ago, from 2023. Not an easy thing to do in journalism. But: let’s round off the 50 years! And then walk away with our heads held high. Instead of gradually fading away.

But as the saying goes: You never really leave. EMMAonline will continue to be alive. A forum for feminist information, communication and action, albeit at a slower pace. We are also planning to launch a newsletter (if you're interested, please sign up by emailing newsletter@emma.de).

And there’s one more thing: EMMA is set to take a step into eternity. EMMA’s editorial archive – which reflects the unique and unprecedented adventure of founding and running an independent feminist magazine, with all its ups and downs – will be transferred to the renowned German Literature Archive in Marbach. Meaning from 2029 on EMMA’s origins and 50 years of existence can be studied and researched – and will, who knows, inspire future generations to dare to create a future EMMA. In whatever media form that may take.

In the next and final issue, we will reflect EMMA’s major themes from the last 50 years in a chronicle. 50 years of informing, educating and raising awareness. 50 years of making history and influencing legislation. 50 years of EMMA. 50 years of women’s history.

MARGITTA HÖSEL, ANETT KELLER, CHANTAL LOUIS, ANGELIKA MALLMANN, ANNIKA ROSS, ALICE SCHWARZER