The reverse-image of those who view East Germany exclusively through lens of repression, the romanticized view of the GDR that leaves out how many of these things were tied to state coercion and political connections. https://twitter.com/wing_of_night/status/1278736026115158018

Poor quality housing was one of the leading problems in the 1970s and 1980s. The vast majority of complaints written by GDR citizens concerned apartments that were falling apart or non-functional. State offices also used housing assignments as a form of reward and punishment.

There was a "right to work" but you could not choose your place of work or have a free choice of profession. There was no right to strike - much to the consternation of long-time Communists and workers more broadly - and those deemed workshy could be imprisoned as asocials.

Formal gender equality did not "outlaw sexism," which remained socially. While there were significant supports for childcare, most working women also had the "double burden" of also parenting and queuing for goods in shortage.

Public culture celebrated gender equality, but women rarely held senior positions in government or the SED. Many professions remained deeply discriminatory and actively excluded women from advancement.

International solidarity did not translate into a racism free society - contract workers from Asia and Africa and minorities faced everyday racism in East Germany. There was also a burgeoning neo-Nazi scene in the 1980s that the state did little to suppress.

One of the defining features of the GDR - like many countries - is that its publicly announced values were not actually achieved on the ground. Ultimately, the SED could not adapt to the growing dissatisfaction in the population, and it collapsed under the weight of mass protest.

As others have mentioned - harsh punishments for conscientious objectors to mandatory military service, and an industrial sector that produced the worst air quality in all of Europe by 1989 are additional factors that undercut the romantic vision of the GDR.