Gender in Nazi Germany Essay Example

The Nazi regime, one of the most oppressive reigns over many races, genders, sexualities, was not only known for their horrible treatment of Jewish members but their ideals of who men and women should be. Hitler’s idea of who the perfect man is bravery and looks is something imposed on women the same. These sexist ideals went both ways towards both sex's masculine and feminine identities that influenced and played a lot into the different roles that genders were supposed to carry out. For women to be suppressed, there had to have been a role that men were forced into as well. This is how oppression works. There is never one cause or one action, the opposites on each end are done to both. For example, using race, in order for black men to be deemed rude, scary, thug-like, etc., white men had to be viewed as a savior for white women in order for the stereotype of black men to be carried out. In terms of the Nazi stereotypes and oppression, in order for women to be pushed into submissive roles such as cooking, men had to be seen as masculine in identity and power. This caused wrongful identities and stereotypes on both ends of the spectrum that were harmful to each gender.

Women and men within the Nazi regime played two highly differing roles. Hitler himself had different beliefs of who they should be, which consequently turned into a national stereotype with women and men following these roles so closely. Hitler thought that women should live life living for the 3 K’s. These include kinder, küche, and kirche, or children, kitch, and church. This way of life was something that women had to abide by or else they were seen as unfit and unruly. They were basically only there for reproduction, to take care of the house, and to be adequately religious. A direct quote by Hitler himself states, “The goal of female training is, without deviation, to be the coming mother”(Nazi). His ideas on womanhood and motherhood are very popular ideals, however, kept woman oppressed in the home, without being able to do a “mans” job. This description of a woman’s role as a mother directly relates to the man’s job being the protection of the family in war and in general providing for them. Women’s oppression is only possible by the role that men lead and continue to lead, which was as a leader.

In terms of work, jobs were carved out in order to be given to men. There were multiple practices in place that made this want for a men-based political society attainable. An article on sexism by BBC shows multiple examples of this, “barring women from being judges in 1936, not allowing them to do jury service or be Reichstag deputies because Hitler did not think they were able to “think logically or reason objectively”, putting single women under pressure to give their jobs to unemployed men. Single women were allowed to work, outside the professions and primarily in “caring” jobs, for example, nursing and childcare, and factories”(Life). These implementations were very restricting towards women and were solely based on the needs of men. These needs, however, were just as restricting towards men, but in a different way. The men needed to fit a mold. One created by Hitler, which made it difficult for men who didn’t want to fight or become political leaders. The oppression of both genders was equal, which is something that often goes unnoticed because women are definitely more dictated. However, just because women have different battles being fought, doesn’t mean men don’t struggle as well. These double struggles were explicitly expressed under Hitler’s government, even though men would be considered a lot better and easier for men, border lining on almost a good thing. This could have been seen as the case, however, it does show how this patriarchy of men being on the top leads to women being on the bottom. Women were essentially men’s pawns. Moved into whatever role the controller thought they would fit best, and used in what ways they were “supposed” to be.

However, even though these sexist ideas that were the basis of Hitler’s thoughts were in place, women were very helpful during the war. Their “place” no became more top tier and were doing some jobs that used to be considered men’s jobs. Holocaust Museum states, “They served as welfare workers, teachers, secretaries, nurses, auxiliaries in the armed forces and police, and in many other occupations including as guards in concentration camps” (United). These steps that haven’t been seen before in women's responsibility were revolutionary. Such medical areas or war jobs were something that in the past would never have happened. Germany’s want and need for extra helpers around town while the men were out fighting was almost a good thing in terms of women's advances. Yes, women under Hitler's regime were treated very poorly as people thought this was how they should be treated, however during this time women were also considered very important. In order for the regime to have functioned, women had to be taken seriously and made a part of it, which is a very important step into women's rights.