The beginnings of the PWG Zurich

From Lisa Besler, co-founder of PWG

Zurich 1983

Please try to imagine being a working woman in a Zurich, in which all shops are only open from 8:00am - 6.30 pm, (often closed over lunch) Monday through Friday, Saturdays only open till 3:00pm. Imagine all bars, restaurants closing, all trains, trams and concerts ending at or before midnight! Imagine never having a no-smoking zone in a restaurant or bar! Imagine this 80’s society, which had only begun to think about women being permanently in the working force and their right to vote in Swiss national elections was only since 1971! Imagine it being “normal” to have to answer the question in an interview, “Do you plan on having children?” (btw: It’s still legal to ask this question here!). Imagine only being able to wash your laundry in your apartment building once a month (I know of cases!) Children and being a working mom? The 1983 short-version of status quo in this wellfunctioning society: A woman worked until she became pregnant. End of story, end of career. Yes, some exceptions and lots of reasons WHY working and family didn’t work back then for the majority of women. But that’s the long version.

Immersion and Identity

It was to this Zurich I had come to in 1982 from the USA after college graduation and marrying my husband. And, despite the narrowly defined sex roles, I loved the people, the beauty of the landscape and the ever-present history. Fast-forward 6 months of immersion into the Swiss culture and office work life and I realized I couldn’t make myself fit the Swiss (female) mold: a) no matter how hard I might try. And I also realized b) I didn’t want to! Who could I talk to about it? I could never fit into the roles that were being presented to me. How could I get in touch with like-minded women? How did other non-Swiss women do it?

Role model, please?

I was a member of the AWCZ (American Women’s Club of Zurich), despite the fact that I could only participate in one event: the monthly TGIF. I began placing a want ad in the Club’s, ‘The Round Robin’, to try and meet other working women at lunch hour or just after work. I’d been doing this for several months, eating hurried lunches over the how-my-lunch mate-got-here topic, the do’s and don’ts of this mostly male working-world and tips about where to shop for goods I couldn’t find (not a tortilla, cupcake or peanut butter in any Migros in 1983!). Here’s the advert I placed in the April 1983 Round Robin. (Thank you for the copy, Jeanette Bider!)

It was a good short-term solution and definitely saved my sanity! But as more women became interested, we had no place to meet. So it was at the fall-TGIF of 1983 where I was introduced to Ethel. I learned that this bubbly, happy woman had recently become a Jungian psychologist - after raising 4 children! I was hopeful! And when I explained what I was trying to do, she immediately said, “Meet at my practice at the Jung Institute!”

Spanish Peanuts and Red Wine

The group began to meet on Tuesday evenings twice a month at Ethel’s practice in the Gemeindestrasse. It was a comfortable room with space to seat about 7 people with wallto-wall carpeting for additional attendees. Ethel always offered a bowl or two of Spanish salted peanuts and a bottle of red wine was also opened. Guests contributed to the cause in the ceramic dish provided. It was not the epitome of a good business dinner but it was food for my soul and the wine might have helped us let our hair down a little easier . . . In the very beginning, we’d introduce ourselves, how we got here, say what we did, were interested in and what problems we might be having. Our networking varied any where from finding new apartments for attendees, to brainstorming to help solve work and social problems. The next phase saw members telling more about their vocation or even doing a short experiment! I have a fond memory of Ana Celia Mota, a physicist at the ETH specializing in super-conductors, bringing along an innocuous-looking flask of liquid nitrogen to freeze-dry a rose for us! Our first members weren’t “only” office employees like I was back then: it’s always been an eclectic group: journalists, nurses, psychiatrists, musicians, students, translators, housewives, economists, bankers, dental hygienists, retirees, students, head secretaries, etc.

Finding a voice and structure of our own

As the group grew, the need grew for more structure: Introductions were good but after awhile we wanted something more substantial. We also were growing and Ethel’s practice was bursting at the seams when we met. We started searching for rooms at central restaurants in Zurich. One we frequented for a long time was the Börse. We also changed the meetings to a 1 networking meeting and 1 “formal” meeting with a topic of interest to the women. We continued to advertise in ‘The Round Robin’, which was very important in the 80’s: there were no cell phones under 2 lbs then, and I don’t believe texting was possible! The average person had neither home computer nor internet access: we needed a vehicle for our voice.

There was however growing skepticism within the AWCZ that our group was threatening the Club. Did we have a majority of US Americans and Club members? If not, we could pay non-member advertising prices and they were steep! Despite some hot-headed moments - I certainly didn’t want anyone telling us who we could and could not have attending! And I’m certain there were ruffled feathers at the AWCZ, we were allowed to continue advertising, in a large amount thanks to the support of AWCZ president at the time, Kathleen Von Gravenitz. To ensure the legacy of the group and it’s purpose with the help of Jeanette Bider we wrote up statutes and became a Swiss non-profit Verein. I am so thankful that the PWG finds these ideas as important today as in 1983 by posting them boldly on the PWG webpage under “Philosophy”. The power of this philosophy moved me to tears at the 30th celebration, when I, after not having attended for a 10-year stretch. I saw women of all walks of life and nationality doing “positive, inspiring networking” from all over the world, exchanging everything from email addresses to recipes to work advice. How grand you are, ladies, how grand you are!

Lisa Belser, Co-founder of the PWG