Women In West Germany

Erica Carter teaches Cultural Studies at the University of Warwick. Recently, she published How German is She? Postwar West German Reconstruction and the consuming Woman (1996), in which she explores how the development of a "social market economy" after 1949 gave a new centrality to consumers as key players in the economic life of the (German) nation and in that process gave women a new public significance. Carter argues that concepts of nationhood survived in the rhetorics of public policy and in popular culture of the period.

On the morning of December 7, 1941 a surprise attack conducted by the Japanese Navy on the United State naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii resulted in America’s involvement in World War II. While the rest of the world was at war, America stayed neutral until the attack on Pearl Harbor which ironically was intended as a preventive action towards America’s involvement in the war. After the attack, America entered the war, a war that the Americans were not prepared for. America just has gotten out of the Great Depression in the 30s and was still recovering. The war brought about draft and new job opportunities for men and women. Nancy Potter, a teen during the time described the effects of the war, "I think for girls and women, and perhaps

In the mid 30’s Germany was in a perpetual state of economic decline. The First World War had decimated all economic growth, increased inflation, and made unemployment an all-time high. From the suffering of

Before the war women had to fit into a stereotype of “the perfect family” (“A Change in”). Prior to 1941 only 30% of women worked for 10 years and only 50% worked for 5 years (Discovery Education). Women were encouraged not to work, because it broke “the perfect family” stereotype (“The Women of”) (“A Change in”). Even husbands did not want their

Many historians would disagree that the Weimar Republic aided in creating a dramatic improvement of the workforce for women. Before the establishment of the Weimar Republic in the late 1918, women did not traditionally take on a role in the workforce, but many were traditional housewives whose responsibility was to care for their families.’ However the number of women in the workforce increased after the establishment of the Weimar Republic and women developed a larger role for themselves in German society both socially and economically as they became involved workforce. As women joined the workforce, the Weimar Republic established some standards to ameliorate the labor force. The improvement in the labor force started with the mass increase of women in different career fields, but also because the welfare standard was not met as women faced harsh working conditions and discrimination. The Weimar Republic and its constitution helped improve the welfare and workplace environment while also allowing for women to have a widespread of job options. The Weimar Republic opened new doors for women in the workforce and also introduced a diverse age and status range of women; there were married, single, young and older women working. Therefore, the Weimar Republic on played a moderate role in improving the issues in the workforce for women.

In the aftermath of World War II, German civilians become the target of hatred due to the Holocaust. The mass rapes that happened to German women during the occupation of Berlin are not remembered due to the hatred of the German population as a whole. In her diary A Woman in Berlin, Anonymous catalogues her perspective of the mass rapes. In order to cope effectively with the rapes and to survive, Anonymous manipulates her sexual assaults to become a method of obtaining necessary goods because she, like other women, could not depend on men.

From the 1890s to the 1920s women from all walks of life became participants in American consumer culture. Whether this translated into the consumption of movies, clothing, beauty products or household goods, women influenced and participated in the development of consumer culture in America. Three distinct groups of women stand out in the development of consumer culture, these include middle-class white women, immigrant women and the daughters of such and black women. These three groups of women partook in the unique experience of what it meant to be participants in American consumer culture and at the same time were susceptible to the issues of gender inequality, objectification and racial discrimination. Before discussing the development

Women had their own jobs and some of them made equal or even more contributions to the family than men. Men’s and women’s roles were largely decided by their economic status within the family. As women gained economic independence from men, they posed a great challenge to men’s absolute authority within the family. If a woman had work, her husband would be more likely to take her advice and she could have more freedom to express their ideas. Without the war, it would be impossible for women to find new opportunities in the job market and then change their roles within the family. World War II led to a revolution in American families and women’s and men’s roles within the family were rearranged after women also became bread winners.

were not something that people disliked. The jobs they had to do were fair jobs and they made fair money. Women also worked during this time. Everyone held their own weight in a communism society. Women working brought in two sets of incomes into the household. This also made life a little easier. In order to have citizens obtain luxury goods, Gerhard described how he tried to obtain a car, “This coming March I could buy a car, if I had the money. Ten years ago I put my name in, and now I’ve learned that I can buy a Mazda 323. But it costs 25,000 Marks, which I just don’t have.” Here it shows how a simple luxury good that is so easily obtainable in America. The types of markets in East Germany were restrictive and extremely hard

Throughout 1914 to 1945, the role of women changed immensely. During the 20th century, the role of women evolved, from the nurtures and home-makers and was expected that their objective in life was to get married, bare kids and devote their entire life to their husbands. But during World War 2 with the fast, growing incline of need for soldiers proved that women had to participate in jobs which were usually only consisted of men. After WW 2 with all the soldiers returning from war, a lot of women were fired to re-employ men and women were expected to go back to the roles of a housewife. Before, during and after WW 2, the role of women changed indefinitely and shaped today's society.

poor state of health and the Nazi’s claimed they were saving them (Friedlander 112). The killings were still operating at the hospitals and at the killing centers since there was church protest, Hitler sought to appease them by issuing the order but in reality the killings were still operating. The stop order limited the killings at the killing centers but the euthanasia movement was still being active, killing handicapped newborns and adults was top on the list, and the physicians used a variety of tactics to kill certain people (Friedlander 151). For the children, they were not placed in the gas chambers as the adults were placed in the gas chambers or killed in the hospitals by a variety of methods. While the Nazi’s believed that their inferior

Sociologists Schieman and Taylor (2001) studies stated women’s role in the society are traditionally revolved around tasked that are household related. They also stated that in the society, men and women are expected to have different responsibilities within the home. “Women’s central role is often linked to family, even while involved in the workforce, men’s core role often tends to be associated with paid employment” (Schieman & Taylor, 2001, p. 473). This verifies that the examples I stated earlier about the perception the society has on the gender role of women are

Today societies are still very much plagued by gender inequalities that are detrimental to future societies. If the purpose of a democratic government is to uphold the principles of equal opportunity, then public policies that seek to reduce and eventually obliterate any role of gender in society are necessary. In working to achieve such justice, gender inequality within the family needs to be addressed, gender roles need to be broken down, and public policies that assume no social differentiation of the sexes need to be adopted.

Imagine that after a lifelong of hard work and saving, you find that your lifesavings will not buy more than one cup of coffee. For a majority of the middle class living in Germany during the early 1920’s this was precisely their experience. Of course, not all suffered during this period of hyperinflation. Those who owed money encouraged their government’s expansionary monetary policies, knowing the resulting inflation would effectively cancel their debt. In fact, it was the Reich itself who had the most to gain from inflation, for it was the biggest debtor of them all.

Secondly, Women‘s liberation also made a big “bang” in family’s function. Recall to the traditional nuclear family, the position of women is being as a “good wife or a good mother” and limited within household’s area and husband’s authority, so Women’s liberation changed this image into a “potential good worker” because it lifted women’s position into a higher level. Starting at the 1960s, women had more chances to enrol in the paid work world and to join in more social activities. David Popenoe (1991) has investigated that women employment rate is increasing twice as much as it used to be. Therefore, this permutation of women’s social position also affects and changes the function of the nuclear family.