20th century roles of men and women in society

ž20th Century Roles of Men and Women in Society

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

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

žMilitary Roles

žMen

¡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

žMilitary roles

žWomen

¡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

žPolitical Roles

ž1919- Women receive the right to vote

ž1949- Basic Law made men and women equal, but until 1957 this law wasn’t amended into the civil code

žDomestic Roles

žWomen

¡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.

žEast German society

žEast Germany

¡Women remained working

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

¡Abortion was legalized for the 1st 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

ž
West German Society

žWest 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)

žEducation

žPrimarily male driven at first

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

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

žIn 1980 women were just as qualified as men

žWork Force

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

žWomen could not hold top positions

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

žSources

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

žhttp://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