Reproductive Control Of Women In Germany Essay

Women in Germany were mainly expected to be child bearers. They mainly focused on women’s reproductive abilities. Laws were created to control their reproduction through abortions and marriages. In Germany, they had a patriarchal society, which is when men were said to be better than women. Men were considered the breadwinners and women were homemakers. (Stephenson, Page 3) Since men were physically stronger than women in a household they were guaranteed authority. There were some women that were considered ‘valuable’. In the 1920’s, Germany had a lot of unemployment, which caused the men to feel like women threatened their chance of employment. Reproductive control of women was based on race, ethnicity, and social status. A number of aspects such as Aryan vs. Non-Aryan, single vs. married, social vs. asocial, and valuable vs. invaluable influenced the Nazis to know whether or not the women should be child bearers. Aryans were said to be pure and had a physical description of pale skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes. Non-Aryans were considered impure. Their health also helped the Nazis decide if the women should a child bearer or not. Racism and sexism were completely associated with every German woman.

Although they had jobs and it seemed as if everything was ok, their wages were still low. Women made the men feel less superior during Germany’s mass unemployment situation. The men had never liked the fact that women were working, so once Hitler gained power his main goal was to send women back to family life. (Stephenson, Page 51) However, in the 1930’s, women were influenced to search for ‘manly’ jobs. While the men were away for battle the women had to fill in for them in factories and other jobs that were considered ‘manly’. Nevertheless, when the men arrived back home from the battle the women were unemployed again or send back to their jobs that weren’t so