Women in the FRG

Question 1

How did the number of women grow in the FRG?

Answer 1

• There was ‘surplus women’

- 1948 there was 7.3 million more women than men

Question 2

How did the divorce rate rise and why?

Answer 2

• 1948 it was 80% higher than in 1946
• There was lots of dislocation and deprivation between couples
• Some couples could not put up with the ‘Zero Hour’ and get over the Nazi atrocities

Question 3

Did the FRG have conservative views towards women?

Answer 3

• Ingrained Nazi ideologies of a women as a mother still prevailed
• For lots of people Kinder, Kuche, Kirche was still the ideal for women
• This was fuelled by the Ministry for Family Affairs 1953 giving benefits to women and wives (keeping them out of work)

Question 4

Did Article 3 give equality for everyone, including women?

Answer 4

• No, only in 1958 the civil code gave legal freedom to women
• Before this they had to ask husband permission to work
• Property went to the husband after marriage

Question 5

Early in the FRG what role did politics play for women?

Answer 5

• Adenauer spoke about the importance of making women enter the workforce but the government never did anything
• There was a split between the SPD who wanted equal rights and the CDU who had more traditional views on women

Question 6

How did Helmut Schmidt introduce reform in 1977?

Answer 6

• Introduced the Marriage and family law, overturning the civil code which only allowed women to work had it not interfered with their motherly duties

Question 7

Despite Schmidt’s reform what did a 1982 survey reveal?

Answer 7

• 50% of men and 54% of women believed a mans career was more important
• 70% of men and 68% of women believed women should give up work on marriage
• This shows the ingrained thinking of Kinder, Kirche, Kuche was very much still at large

Question 8

Who primarily fought for women rights in Germany?

Answer 8

• Student driven and radicals, mostly in universities

Question 9

When was the West Berlin commune set up?

Answer 9

1967

• Was made for men and women to live on equal terms
• Was abandoned as women did most of the cooking and cleaning there

Question 10

When was the Action Council for Women Liberation set up in West Berlin?

Answer 10

January 1968

• They set up day care centres and campaigns with nursery teachers to get the gov to change the way school and day care was run
• September, member Helke Sander spoke too Socialist German Students Federation in Frankfurt about their achievements
• By 1969 group split up, the ‘mother faction’ was cut as it did not take care of women outside the family

Question 11

What was Paragraph 281 and who battled against this?

Answer 11

• German Penal Code which made it a crime for women to seek abortions
• Journalist Alice Schwarzer was one of the leaders of the campaign that fought against this
• They put 30 photos of women on the cover of the magazine Stern with the title ‘We’ve had abortions’
• Protests and pamphlets were developed on women health and a lesbian movement evolved in West Berlin

Question 12

What was the role of women in the DRG? (1989 after unification)

Answer 12

• They had a more equal status and were more likely to be working full time
• State creches allowed for them to be at work
• The women often needed the extra income therefore would go to work

Question 13

Had the status of women in the FRG changed by 1989?

Answer 13

• On the whole no
• They were still seen as mothers and there were tax breaks to encourage mothers to stay home with a child especially in the first 3 years
• Only 50% of women with a child under 15 had a paid job and half of these were part time
• School hours in the FRG also meant women needed to be home if they didn’t have childcare