The *Der Spiegel* Bestseller by Alexandra Zykunov
“If you love your child and hate patriarchy, you need this book!” NORA IMLAU
The daughter just wants to play with Barbies that look like they were designed by a plastic surgeon. The son dreams of becoming like his soccer idol—who, unfortunately, has been accused of violence against women. Or maybe a gangsta rapper. Just great. Welcome to the everyday life of a family where the parents want to raise their kids free of stereotypes—but reality keeps getting in the way: What do you do when girls learn as early as elementary school that their bodies are, above all, a problem? And boys in the schoolyard pass around right-wing TikToks alongside TicTacs? How do you fight back against that?
About Alexandra Zykunov
Alexandra Zykunov is a No. 1 bestselling author, speaker, and SPIEGEL columnist.
On August 27, 2026, her third and most personal book to date, “But It’s Okay to Say ‘Patriarchal Bullshit,’ Right?”, was published and immediately climbed to the top of the SPIEGEL bestseller list.
Zykunov has also been a SPIEGEL columnist since 2025, providing weekly commentary on political and social events from a feminist perspective. As alexandra___z, the author is also a highly influential voice on Instagram with more than 84,000 followers; her posts on the invisibility of women’s and family policy issues regularly go viral. For years, she has given readings and keynote speeches at ministries and companies, calling for the patriarchy to be set ablaze. In 2021, together with the nonprofit “Proparentsinitiative,” she co-launched the media campaign “Equal Rights for Parents” against discrimination against mothers in the workplace and for the inclusion of parenthood in Germany’s anti-discrimination law. As a result, some of these demands were incorporated into the coalition agreement of the “traffic light” government. However, not much has happened politically since then. Quite the opposite, in fact.
About Anna Clauß
Born in Tübingen in 1981. She most enjoys writing about Markus Söder’s space missions and family policy issues. Clauß studied cultural management in Passau, attended the German School of Journalism in Munich, and worked for the *Süddeutsche Zeitung* and Bayerischer Rundfunk before joining *Der SPIEGEL*. She is the author of the nonfiction books *Söder – Die andere Biographie* and *Mein Mann ist die bessere Mutter*. Head of the Opinion and Debate Department since September 2021. Member of the editorial board since March 2026.
