The Changing role and attitudes towards women 1918-89: Flashcards
Life for woman pre-WW1?
-They could not vote, get qualified in a profession and married woman had no legal status at all.
-Their role was kinder, kuche, kirche.
-During WW1, women worked in factories. 75% of women by 1918 were in work.
-Many men died so there were ‘surplus women’.
Women in Weimar: Describe the Weimar governments attitude towards women:
In theory, they were liberal towards women but in practice they were much more traditional.
-There was a huge belief that women were meant to be the more nurturing, domestic role which was reflected in media
-e.g. books like ‘The Friendship circle’
Women’s political role:
Despite the widespread belief that men and women were fundamentally different there was a degree of political equality:
-Women could vote and stand for office (32 women deputies in 1926)
-Equal educational rights.
-Equal opportunity in civil service.
-Equal pay.
However, abortion and contraception was illegal.
Attitude by political parties towards women? Reasons for more negative attitude?
-They all wanted women to get the vote –> Over 112 women elected to the Reichstag between 1919 and 1932.
-However, most parties thought that women should return to being wives / mothers including left wing parties despite them wanting legal protection for women.
-Their concerns mostly came from decreased birth rate and increased divorce rate. 65 per 100k by 1932.
-Right wing groups saw feminism as a sign of cultural decay
-DVP most tolerant towards feminism which was reflected by 1/3 of women’s votes going towards them.
Summarise women and work during the Weimar years:
Even though women were expected to give up jobs to men returning from war, the number of working women rose.
- But they were paid on average 33% less than the men.
-Single women working was seen as a temporary thing until marriage. -Mostly, the number of women working was low and not many women were doctors or lawyers although it did increase.
-They faced hostility e.g. opposed equal pay especially ‘double earners’ from male colleagues.
-Work was also difficult as the school day ended at lunchtime. E.g. 1925 over 250k women were doing poorly paid work.
How did the attitudes of women change?
-They wanted more independence.
- Wore revealing clothes, smoke, drank etc.
-They were mostly city based.
Led to rise of the idea of the New Woman (often criticised in films.)
-Campaigned for more sexual reform e.g. Protection of Motherhood campaigned for contraception and easier divorces for women.
Why did the ‘new woman’ become more common?
They were young, educated and unmarried who had just come out of the war where they could work - showed them they could work the same as men did. Film and cinema encouraged it.
Criticisms of the ‘new women’?
Politicians and the media described them as immoral and urged them to settle down and marry.
How did the great depression change role/status of women?
Created more hostility to women in work. They were hit less hard as pay for women was lower than it was for men by 33%. Chancellor Bruning passed decree allowing for women who had working husbands to be dismissed.
Summarise Nazi views on women:
They emphasized Kinder, Kuche, Kirche above all else and women’s importance in producing Hitler’s ideal society.
-Families were not to be seen as individual groups but more as a part of the greater good for Germany.
-Economic role as did 80% of domestic shopping, refusal to buy Jewish goods.
-No political role - some saw women in the Reichstag as more damaging than the Treaty of Versailles.
Summarise importance of motherhood to the Nazis:
-They saw it as vital for their eugenics program for couples to be strong.
-They introduced laws to discourage the ‘wrong’ type of couple e.g. 1935 Law for the Protection of Hereditary Health of the German people (had to prove they were genetically ‘pure’)
-Lebensborn program from 1936 to produce ‘pure’ children by having SS members have children with as many acceptable women as possible.
-The idea was to have as many children born as possible e.g. by restricting contraception and medals for having more children ‘Honour Cross’ (concerned that non-Aryans were having more children)
How was marriage encouraged?
They were given marriage loans and RM100 for each child born if they were fit and acceptable to the Nazis.
What was work like under the Nazi regime?
-Lots of women lost their jobs, but single women could still find some jobs as secretaries but were excluded from higher levels of work e.g. civil servants had to work in a women’s section.
-Encouraged to leave work and become full time mothers through interest free loans of RM600.
How did status of women change?
-The new Nazi policies brought in meant that mothers and married women enjoyed a higher status and health care e.g. honoured on mothers day.
-They had various organisations to make sure that women kept to standards the Nazis deemed fit e.g. not smoking.
-Contraception was restricted (similar to WR) and many sexually restrictive laws - moistly a backlash to the New Woman from the WR.
-‘Hitler Maiden’ idea restricted them with very conservative values and reduced them to sexual re-productivity and attractiveness through natural look e.g. lack of makeup etc. which was furthered through institutions like the Bureau for Beauty. In many ways this was a reaction to the glamorization of women in the WR.
How did the status of women change through the second world war?
-Women were urged to join war work even if they were married which meant increased child care e.g. 31000 kindergartens by the end of 1942 (mostly worked on farms- around 7 million women)
-Women in work places went up 27% which was far less than during ww1.
- This was because women were reluctant to return to work, they were mostly used for teaching or work on the land and the Germans could use people from the land they had taken.
- From 1940 they could join military aid services e.g. women in BDM had to do 6 months compulsory service.
-Acted as nurturing figures also e.g. guides to emergency shelter in bombing raids.
-Important for Germanisation role: Sent into occupied land e.g. Poland to clean, clear and decorate farms and houses
