The signatories include several Green politicians from the European parliament, the German Bundestag as well as local Green leaders. “We no longer want to be macho,” it declares, “we want to be people. You are not born a man, you are turned into one.”

First time I read the article I was incensed. Then I saw that it did contain some possibly valid points. There is nothing wrong with seeking to ‘deconstruct manhood’, in itself. The possible rejection of any socially determined concept of masculinity is a perfectly reasonable debate for men to have, and one I have great sympathy with – believing, as I do, that masculinity has largely been determined, in history and today, by the selfish reproductive and emotional needs of women.

The article goes on :

“We want to live differently!” writes Lehmann, a senior member of the North Rhine-Westphalia branch of the party, and the European parliamentarian Albrecht. They appeal for a slower pace of life, less focus on profit and more health consciousness. They want to start holding “Boys’ Days and gender-sensitive career-guidance sessions.”

All of that sounds more or less reasonable too. The problem is determining at what point the valid stuff – men re-evaluating their own socialy determined roles, ends. And at what point does women (or manginas) making men and boys guilty and self-loathing of their own inescapable masculinity begin?

Given the preponderance of feminists in the German Green Party, I’m not very optimistic. However, until I have time to look at it more closely, I’ll reserve judgement.

So what do female members of the Green Party make of this? Astrid Rothe-Beinlich, the Green spokesperson for women’s issues, welcomes the new manifesto. “The Greens have always been a progressive party,” she says, adding it was high time “that men also take responsibility for the issue of equality.” But their party colleagues should not simply applaud the manifesto, she says. The question now, in her words, is, “How can it be implemented?” Franza Drechsel, Green Youth spokesperson for gender and political affairs, also praised the new manifesto in principle. “It is good that men participate in the debate,” she says, adding “this is far from enough … the authors remain stuck in the rut of talking about two sexes.” Above all, the debate is not just about men, she argues: “In the long term we can only be in this together.”

But Green Party women are not exactly cooperative either, because this weekend they are keeping to themselves. The speakers at the National Women’s Congress in Bonn are exclusively female. So the question remains: When will the Green anti-macho men hold their first national meeting?