{"id":1444,"date":"2013-11-25T19:15:09","date_gmt":"2013-11-25T17:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/regulastaempfli.eu\/?page_id=1444"},"modified":"2016-05-25T10:51:31","modified_gmt":"2016-05-25T08:51:31","slug":"ad-personam-english","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/regulastaempfli.eu\/?page_id=1444","title":{"rendered":"ad personam english"},"content":{"rendered":"

TEDxVaduz\u00a0 2014<\/strong><\/p>\n

Why Winnie the Pooh is right and Google is wrong!<\/p>\n

\"Why<\/a><\/p>\n

Video : Why Winnie the Pooh is wrong and Google is right.<\/a><\/p>\n

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On Yoghurt and \u201cBarbie, the Hooker-icon\u201d
\nA summary. For independent thinking and feeling.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\"buchtitel_vermessung_2\"<\/a>
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\n\u201cThe optimisation-strategies for modern people take ever more absurd forms, and we copy them all (\u2026) The human Self has been reduced to physical attributes.\u201d
\nThis is the sobering conclusion that Swiss political scientist and historian Dr. Regula St\u00e4mpfli comes to in her book. She does this, however, without victimised undertones, but rather with utmost eloquence and a very ironic take on the whole thing. St\u00e4mpfli covers the philosophical spectrum from Snow-White to Nietzsche, from Kant to Barbie (Quote: \u201cI have rarely argued as strongly as I have about the hooker-icon Barbie.\u201d) She provocatively asks why people, like the yoghurt in their fridge, should have a use-by date stamped on them, and why they let biologists, and their dogma, make them feel old.
\nHer book is an entertaining literary adventure into the world of philosophy, culture, art, and technology. A book that makes you want individuality in a \u201cLook-at-me-culture\u201d.
\nSt\u00e4mpfli comes from Switzerland and has lived in Brussels for a long time. She has three sons and is now living in Munich, working as a columnist and lecturer throughout Germany, France and Switzerland. Since 2008 she has also been working as an independent expert for the European Commission. Her students have called her \u201cthe Lara Croft of political science\u201d.<\/p>\n

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Interview in the Austrian newspaper “Kurier” about the new Book of Regula St\u00e4mpfli<\/strong><\/p>\n

Beautocracy\u00a0\u00a0\"Interview<\/a><\/p>\n

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Must women forever stay young and restricted? Are we nothing more than rows of numbers? Swiss political commentator Dr. Regula St\u00e4mpfli calls for more sensuality, diversity and zest for life in her new book.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Neoliberalism had tits made of cement, it would look like Heidi Klum.\u201d Peter Sloterdijk, German philosopher in his diary (2012)<\/p>\n

Article by Birgit Braunrath for Kurier, 11.8.2013
\nTranslated by Sam Reed<\/p>\n

Kurier: Ms St\u00e4mpfli, can you tell us your measurements? How tall, how heavy and how beautiful are you?
\nRegula St\u00e4mpfli:\u00a0(laughing) You are not being serious? Despite the message of my book? You might as well have asked the Messiah just after he gave the Sermon on the Mount, \u201cHey, Jesus, be honest: how many villas do you own in Jerusalem? Can you tell us the best whore in the city? I am not a relationship between years, kilos and centimetres. You can see for yourself how beautiful, tall and light I am. Chances are, you will just see your own concerns, so I can only reply: How tall, how heavy and how beautiful do you want me to be?<\/p>\n

You have a wine stain birthmark, which you wear as a self-evident part of you. But you mention that you increasingly get asked why you don\u2019t have it removed. Is the trend towards homogeneity indeed stronger for individuals?<\/p>\n

Of course. We see this when people introduce their political opinions with \u201cAt my age\u2026\u201d, as if their date of birth had something to do with what they think. And, with regards to appearance, too much unrequested feedback is given in the German-speaking world, such as: \u201cAre you sure that colour suits you?\u201d What\u2019s it for? In this case, I stand by the English: \u201cIf you can\u2019t say something nice, don\u2019t say anything at all.\u201d<\/p>\n

You talk in your book about a \u201cBiodictatorship\u201d. What\u2019s that?<\/p>\n

We humans are living creatures that differ from toadstools and horseflies in that we are capable of more than basic biological functions. Despite this, men in white coats and grey suits attempt to return us to the primordial swamps. The picture of mankind painted by the media consists of these functions and their (evolutionary) ends.<\/p>\n

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Is that really a phenomenon of modern times? The dressmaker\u2019s dummy on the cover of your book reminds one of how women were tied up in corsets. That is hardly different to today\u2019s model shows.<\/p>\n

The argument \u201cThis is nothing new\u201d just shows that even you, as an intelligent journalist, are trapped in the consumerist mind-set. My book\u2019s analysis shows that ideals of beauty and the body, and the image of humankind, are not fixed, but have developed throughout history. Today, however, we are taught that they have been scientifically proven, and have always existed. This is simply idiotic.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe human Self has been reduced to physical attributes\u201d, you criticise in your book. Why do you frown upon it when a woman emphasises her physical virtues, \u201cmakes herself pretty\u201d?
\nObjection! Women and men can do what they want with their bodies as long as they\u2019re responsible. My criticism revolves around the fact that the body has become the new religion, the crime scene where an unquestioned ideology manifests itself. Instead of going to church, more and more people rush to the gym. Now, I think what counts is to develop one\u2019s own self-esteem. To create a diverse image of oneself, so that short-legged blondes don\u2019t strap themselves to Procrustes\u2019 bed, and spend the money on my book instead! (Laughs and adds: \u201cPlease turn on Sarcasm-detector.\u201d)<\/p>\n

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Must we then distinguish between good and bad women? Have solidarity only with those who embody the female archetypes, who are natural, sensuous and self-assured? But not with the assimilated, job-hungry plastic women?<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t like such categorisations and am not forced to accept any category, not even my gender. (Laughs) If there was more love of humanity, plastic women and plastic men would have no chance and would not currently hold certain important roles.<\/p>\n

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Much is said these days about solidarity among women. Where do you think this solidarity ends? With Heidi Klum? With Angela Merkel?
\nI don\u2019t ever talk about women solidarity because, like I said, I don\u2019t like categories. I think one important step lies in the reconciliation of many men and women with their mothers. Because mothers have been put down and hindered in their self-fulfilment for centuries \u2013 this sometimes leaves sad marks on the children.<\/p>\n

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You write that you don\u2019t think much of Women-quotas, as long as only \u201cplastic women\u201d make it. What kind of Women-quota do you recommend?
\nWhat about a gender-independent intelligence quota in politics and economics? (Laughs out loud) Although, as Kant said: \u201cIntelligence is not just a question of the mind, but of the heart.\u201d Changes in the labour market would be decisive: more time is needed for people rather than systems.<\/p>\n

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Are the new women, those who never start a day without a systematic checklist, never go on a date without shaving their privates and never get a photo of themselves taken without make-up, really the anti-pleasure automata that you make them out to be?
\nHow did you come to such an absurd conclusion? I\u2019m talking about the de-sensualisation of the world, not about anti-pleasure. I\u2019m talking about a process by which laughter is replaced by algorithms. And just as an aside: I also don\u2019t let myself be photographed without make-up. And where privates are concerned, I state in my book: adorn them as much as you want. What\u2019s important is more awareness whether what you are doing is what you want to do and not just what is expected of women.<\/p>\n

The demand for nudity is omnipresent. Online media receive umpteen more hits if they show the newest, hottest Bikini trend than if they report about politics. Where does this lead?
\nHopefully not to politicians stripping for votes! (Laughs) The problem is the pornographisation of everyday life: the idea of the human body as a disposable good.<\/p>\n

Will good sex die out because pornographic images and ideas about sex will stick in people\u2019s minds and be imitated?
\nNot mine! And probably not that of many men and women, because most lovers are not imitators but individuals. However, we must be careful with very young and susceptible people.<\/p>\n

The expectations of bodily perfection become increasingly extreme. What will come next? Or will there eventually be a backlash?
\nOne that takes us further back than Mrs. Neanderthal, who cooks mammoth stew in a cave? (Laughs) People are capable of and worth so much more than the media\u2019s presentation of them. That\u2019s why I\u2019m confident. The high-point of the corset, which people are now trying to permanently record in the brain stem, has been passed.<\/p>\n

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