20th Century Roles of Men and Women in Society

20^th Century Roles of Men and Women in Society

By: Tom Monson, Miranda Scherer, Robert Niehoff, Matt Dehn, 

Tim Cox, Angela Balcome, Sarsha Vang, Monica Riebe, Brett Clark- Hedlof

Military Roles

Men

All men age 18-23 were obligated to go through a nine month training before going into war 

There are approximately 200,000 soldiers that are considered professional and 300,000 that are more civilian, but are on reserve and are able to become active at any given time

Some men were forced into war through guilt or shame of their family and friends during WWI and WWII

All major German military and political leaders were men

Military roles

Women

In WWII Women took on the more traditional roles that men had filled.

During WWII Women tended to the sick and wounded, buried the dead, cleared the streets of rubble and ruins and salvaged what they could.

In 1975, German women were sought out to join the military, mostly as nurses

Political Roles

1919- Women receive the right to vote

1949- Basic Law made men and women equal, but until 1957 this law wasn’t amended into the civil code

Domestic Roles

Women

the three "K" words: Kirche, Kinder and Küche. (church, children and cooking) 

Also, women were meant to bear “Aryan” children and were taught to do so through aggressive propaganda.

East German society

East Germany

Women remained working

Laws were revised to accommodate working mothers and many daycares opened up

Abortion was legalized for the 1^st trimester

East Germany relied on women due to the number of males fleeing to West Germany

90% of women made up the workforce and ½ of the German Trade Union Federation

West German Society

West Germany

After WWII women became homemakers again because the men were back from war

West women wanted the same rights as east women (abortion, working rights, education)

Education

Primarily male driven at first

More then half of the people getting a secondary education was women after 1977

East women were more educated then west, because west women wanted to keep the traditional role

In 1980 women were just as qualified as men

Work Force 

Women’s salary was still only about 65-78% of the male salary

Women could not hold top positions

Most women still worked the traditional jobs, such as school teachers and nurses

Sources

Sources
http://womenshistory.about.com/library/ency/blwh_germany_women.htm

http://www.germanculture.com.ua/library/weekly/aa080601c.htm
http://www.warandgender.com/wgwomwwi.htm
http://www.mygermancity.com/german-military
http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/article.php?ModuleId=10005205
http://womenshistory.about.com/library/ency/blwh_germany_women.htm
http://www.fsmitha.com/h2/g-wm.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women's_roles_in_the_World_Wars
http://www.firstworldwar.com/bio/matahari.htm
http://womenshistory.about.com/library/ency/blwh_germany_women.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_issues_in_Germany#Gender_roles_and_demographics
http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,702895,00.html
http://www.germanyandafrica.diplo.de/Vertretung/pretoria__dz/en/03__BD/New__women__managment.html