With the spread of the Nazi’s “national community” or Volksgemeinschaft ideology in the 1930s, came strict definitions from the Nazi party of what it meant to be German. Opposing the independent “new women” promoted in the 1920s by the Weimar Republic, the Nazi’s idea of womanhood was centered around creating a strong nation by pushing women to be mothers and maintain the household. In this way, those mothers could raise strong soldiers that could serve and protect Nazi Germany. While in contrast, Elsa Herrmann description of a “new woman” in a 1929 book, describes a woman focused on the present and actions such as entering the workforce. Most importantly, and the main reason the Nazis rejected the image of the “new woman,” is that the “new …show more content…
woman” was focused more on herself instead of the nation. This “new woman” phenomenon spread across Europe and specifically Germany during 1920s due to encouragement from the Weimar Republic. The Weimar Republic was know encouraging expressive experimentation. A major difference between past women and the “new woman” was the consideration of tradition in one’s decision. Before a woman's sole focus in life would be to get married, care for her children, and maintain a proper household. These were the same goals her mother before her had, the same as her mother’s mother, and so on- it was simply the tradition. But then as the “new woman” phenomenon developed, women started to question these standards. Why did women have to be contempt with living their entire lives in this small world? Women became motivated to live in the present and enter the workforce. As Herrman describes, “The new woman has set herself the goal of proving in her work and deeds that the representatives of the female sex are not second-class persons existing only independence and obedience.” The visual representation of these independent women were short haired, and androgynous dressed. Though while this phenomenon was extremely popular in its time, to those in the urban working-class this was a distant reality that could never be reached. This is critical to understanding one way the Nazi party was able to revert this ideology back to the original tradition based format.
Since the “new woman” ideal was unrealistic for many women, many could feel that they were not strong modern woman. Hitler and the Nazi party targeted that insecurity by boosting the importance of the role of a mother in Germany. Only by following the tradition lifestyle of a woman could they ever be equal with men in their contribution to the Nazi movement. Elsbeth Zander, a Nazi activist and leader of the German Women’s Order, addresses the role of women in 1926, where she explains the important impact of motherhood in Germany. Zander explains, “We women must, through our quiet, honest work, inspire the German male to do noble things once more!.” Which when analyzed critically, this quote truly means that women should be the behind the scenes of the movement, caring for the household and being strong in their soul, not actions. Propaganda supporting Nazi’s defination of womanhood was common, such as the “Healthy Parents- Healthy Children!” poster from 1934 Germany. The visuals of this poster, with an Aryan woman dressed femininely is shown happily with her many children and husband is in direct contrast to the visuals of a “new woman” who stood independently on her own, dressed androgynously. In this way, the Nazi party was not only setting the racial standard for Nazi Germany, but the gender
standard. The Nazi’s motivation behind this clear rejection of the “new woman” was to strengthen the Volksgemeinschaft ideology. The “new woman” was independent, strong, and made decisions for herself. Though the national community ideology was based on German citizens making decisions to benefit the nation. And what was best for Nazi Germany was raising healthy future soldiers. So German women were pushed away from jobs such as government and instead were taught that what was the most powerful thing they could do as women was be a mother. Jutta Rüdiger, an official in the national office of the League of German Girls, almost directly says this in a 1939 document, On the league of German Girls, “We want to shape girls who are politically conscious. That does not mean women who debate or discuss things in parliament, but girls and women, who know about the necessities of life in the German nation, and act accordingly.” In this way, Hitler and Nazi Germany are able to shape the nation to their ideal- just as the propaganda poster, husband and son ready to protect the country at all cost and mother and daughter ready to raise the next generation to carry on the Nazi’s ideals.
During the time of 1940-1945 a big whole opened up in the industrial labor force because of the men enlisting. World War II was a hard time for the United States and knowing that it would be hard on their work force, they realized they needed the woman to do their part and help in any way they can. Whether it is in the armed forces or at home the women showed they could help out. In the United States armed forces about 350,000 women served at home and abroad. The woman’s work force in the United States increased from 27 percent to nearly 37percent, and by 1945 nearly one out of every four married woman worked outside the home. This paper will show the way the United States got the woman into these positions was through propaganda from
Koonz is able to challenge that stereotype and provide more background and fleshed out information about Jewish women during the Third Reich. According to Koonz, many Jewish women took a "wait-and-see" attitude when the Nazi party came to power because Germans from all backgrounds (including Jewish) were accustomed to secondary/lesser treatment of Jews already. She is also able to give the reader a better understanding of the confusion and perversion of the Third Reich. While Jews were being persecuted in the early 1930s, there was not a legal meaning for "Jew" until 1935,and Jewish women and children were sent to mass execution sites first because of the "chivalry" of Nazi
...wise you were to bring your women into your military and into your labor force. Had we done that initially, as you did, it could well have affected the whole course of the war. We would have found out as you did, that women are equally effective, and for some skills, superior to males." (Albert Speer, head of Nazi war production)
The film titled, “The Life and Times of Rosie the Riveter”, looks at the roles of women during and after World War II within the U.S. The film interviews five women who had experienced the World War II effects in the U.S, two who were Caucasian and three who were African American. These five women, who were among the millions of women recruited into skilled male-oriented jobs during World War II, shared insight into how women were treated, viewed and mainly controlled. Along with the interviews are clips from U.S. government propaganda films, news reports from the media, March of Time films, and newspaper stories, all depicting how women are to take "the men’s" places to keep up with industrial production, while reassured that their duties were fulfilling the patriotic and feminine role. After the war the government and media had changed their message as women were to resume the role of the housewife, maid and mother to stay out of the way of returning soldiers. Thus the patriotic and feminine role was nothing but a mystified tactic the government used to maintain the American economic structure during the world war period. It is the contention of this paper to explore how several groups of women were treated as mindless individuals that could be controlled and disposed of through the government arranging social institutions, media manipulation and propaganda, and assumptions behind women’s tendencies which forced “Rosie the Riveter” to become a male dominated concept.
Ulrich takes a captivating approach to this pattern of women’s history. There is a slogan of a t-shirt, and among other small items, “well behaved women seldom make history” printed on them. It describes the objects and the people who use them regarding statement and the meaning behind the slogan. It relates to Ulrich first interpretation of it and what my analysis reveals about the role of slogans and history.
Women’s role in society changed quite a bit during WWI and throughout the 1920s. During the 1910s women were very short or liberty and equality, life was like an endless rulebook. Women were expected to behave modestly and wear long dresses. Long hair was obligatory, however it always had to be up. It was unacceptable for them to smoke and they were expected to always be accompanied by an older woman or a married woman when outing. Women were usually employed with jobs that were usually associated with their genders, such as servants, seamstresses, secretaries and nursing. However during the war, women started becoming employed in different types of jobs such as factory work, replacing the men who had gone to fight in the war in Europe. In the late 1910s The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) had been fighting for decades to get the vote for women. As women had contributed so much to the war effort, it was difficult to refuse their demands for political equality. As a result, the Nineteenth Amendment to the constitution became law in 19...
When the war started, women had to take over the jobs of men and they learned to be independent. These women exemplified the beginning of change. Coupled with enfranchisement and the increased popularity of birth control, women experienced a new liberation. When the men returned from the war they found competition from the newly liberated woman who did not want to settle for making a home (Melman 17). This new class of women exercised a freedom that shocked society.
it may be said that the woman's is a smaller world. For her world is
I am here today to discuss how gender played a critical role in the construction of the Nazi State, prior to 1938. Specifically, I would like to focus my analysis on how and why the Nazis constructed a conception of motherhood that defined the mother in relation to the state. For our purposes today, we will examine two ideal German mothers and explore their similarities in order to understand how and why the Nazis perceived mothers as public agents of the Volksgemeinschaft, or German community of people. Primary documents will allow us to examine first-hand experiences of mothers written within the context of Nazi Germany.
The 1940s provided a drastic change in women’s employment rates and society's view of women. With the end of the Depression and the United States’ entrance into World War II, the number of jobs available to women significantly increased. As men were being drafted into military service, the United States needed more workers to fill the jobs left vacant by men going to war. Women entered the workforce during World War II due to the economic need of the country. The use of Patriotic rhetoric in government propaganda initiated and encouraged women to change their role in society. Yet, at the end of the war, the same ideas that encouraged women to accept new roles had an averse affect on women, encouraging them to leave the workforce. The patriotism promoted by propaganda in the 1940s, encouraged Americans to support the war effort and reinforced the existing patriarchal society. Propaganda's use of patriotism not only increased loyalty to America during the war, but also, increased loyalty to the traditional American patriarchal values held in society.
In a 1944 magazine article, Eleanor Roosevelt claimed that American “women are serving actively in many ways in this war [World War II], and they are doing a grand job on both the fighting front and the home front.”1 While many women did indeed join the workforce in the 1940s, the extent and effects of their involvement were as contested during that time as they are today. Eleanor Roosevelt was correct, however, in her evaluation of the women who served on the fighting front. Although small in number due to inadequate recruitment, the women who left behind their homes and loved ones in order to enlist in the newly established Women’s Auxiliary Army Corp (WAAC), and later the Women’s Army Corps (WAC), were deemed invaluable to the war effort.
The National Socialist Party quickly turned heads in July 14th, 1933 through the Law Concerning the Formation of New Parties, by declaring itself the only political party that was "allowed to exist in the Third Reich" (156.HCCR). Soon thereafter, the political perception the Nazis were likely to enforce would transform the whole view of German culture, economy, race, and especially, the way German individuals emotionally and physically interacted with one another. One relationship in the German state that stood out in my mind was the Nazi’s view of marriage, its purpose, its use and its representation in the German state. The Nazi’s perceived marriage as a processing factory, where each partner had certain roles and purposes to fulfill. Through the creation of speeches, art and laws, the relationship that would stand to the occasion in representing the Third Reich was the relation between man and woman...marriage.
In the end, the greatest appeal of National Socialism to a woman may be that it gives her an heroic National Socialist man as a partner. It is the honor with which they regard each other that can raise their relationship to a true marriage made in Heaven, or Valhalla. And what more can a woman ask?
Throughout nineteenth century Europe and leading into the twentieth century, the division and integration of equal rights and liberties towards both genders was a predominant issue. From the 1860’s and beyond, male suffrage was expanding due to working-class activism and liberal constitutionalism, however women were not included in any political participation and were rejected from many opportunities in the workforce. They were considered second-class citizens, expected to restrict their sphere of influence to the home and family, and therefore not encouraged to pursue a beneficial education or career. Because they were seen as such weak entities, the only way they were able to advocate their interests and dissatisfaction was through their own independent organizations and forms of direct action. With hard work towards improving women’s involvement in the workforce and towards political emancipation, womanhood gradually became redefined. When looking back on these crucial times in history, it is necessary to view how various images and ideas of females represented such integral symbols in modern Europe that influenced the pivotal changes they succeeded in putting forward. Earlier photos show women in society as solely conforming to what society wants them to be, however later this changes and images of women go against what is seen as appropriate and advertise the efforts made towards gender equality.
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