Women in the Weimar Republic

The first comprehensive survey of women in the Weimar Republic, this book explores the diversity and multiplicity of women's experiences in the economy, politics and society. These fourteen years of political, economic and cultural turbulence marked great changes in the lives, expectations and perce [...]
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The first comprehensive survey of women in the Weimar Republic, this book explores the diversity and multiplicity of women's experiences in the economy, politics and society. These fourteen years of political, economic and cultural turbulence marked great changes in the lives, expectations and perceptions of German women, in the form of new opportunities in employment, education and political life and greater social freedoms, all played out in the media spotlight. Drawing heavily on archival and primary source material, and engaging throughout with the most recent research, this book examines these changes, opportunities, expectations, perceptions, prejudices and the media and cultural representations of the 'new woman' within a single, coherent analysis of women's role. As a starting point, the book discusses the significance of women's experiences in the First World War for their subsequent position in Weimar Germany, before detailing the contribution to political life and culture that was formally opened to them by the revolution. Subsequent chapters explore women's role in employment, the family and reproduction, and as producers and consumers of Weimar's mass culture. It portrays the Weimar Republic as a progressive period for young, urban women, which was stalled in 1933. This book will be essential reading for students and researchers of German women in the early twentieth century and will also appeal to anyone interested in the Weimar Republic and women's history.