Second-wave feminism in Germany
[1] The second wave (emerging during the first half of the 20th century) was heavily influenced by the policies of the Third Reich and its attitudes towards gender roles, and those of the postwar era.
Hubertine Auclert, editor of the newspaper La Citoyenne (Female Citizen) coined the term "féminisme" in 1882 as a political principle.
[15] It had two groups: the militaristic Hitler Jugend and Deutsches Jungvolk for boys,[16] and the Bund Deutscher Mädchen[15] to train girls to be "obedient housewi[ves] and mother[s]".
[19] Discriminatory Nazi legislature was also evident in the Judiciary Training Regulations of 22 July 1934,[20] according to which female lawyers were "einen Einbruch in den altgeheiligten Grundsatz der Männlichkeit des Staates" ("an invasion of the holy and established principles of the nation's manliness").
[22] Near the end of World War II, women were required to work in factories to compensate for the lack of male labor.
[25] Women who served the country during the war as volunteers or conscripts had to face the repercussions of their actions, which affected their careers and personal lives.
An important exception is a phrase in the human-rights section of the new German constitution, which states: "Men and women have equal rights".
[27] This is similar to the Weimarer Reichsverfassung, the Weimar Republic constitution, whose Article 109 read: "Alle Deutschen sind vor dem Gesetze gleich"[28] ("All Germans are equal under the law") and "Männer und Frauen haben grundsätzlich dieselben staatsbürgerlichen Rechte und Pflichten"[29] ("Men and women have strictly the same rights and obligations.")
[31] After finding a job in a telegraph office, Selbert graduated from college and attended law school in Göttingen and Marburg.
Like her father, who was a German politician for the Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands (SPD) until 1931,[34] she began her political career in 1916 and was elected as a representative of the provincial council in Westfalen.
While creating the German constitution, the CDU (Christian Democratic Union of Germany) politician addressed its meaning and phrased it to emphasise the importance of human life and dignity.
The BGB (influenced by the Napoleonic Code) was enacted on 1 January 1900,[41] and many changes were needed to reconcile it with contemporary values.
From 1949 to 1965 Germany had a conservative government and Konrad Adenauer, its Roman Catholic chancellor, was regarded as resistant to change.
[43] Until 1977 a married woman needed her husband's consent to obtain an employment contract, and he decided the use of his wife's earnings.
[51][52] That day, female members of the SDS regional councils founded Weiberräte[53] ("hag-councils") and formed women's centres.
The centres encouraged women to protest against "division of labour, birth control, laws, sexuality in politics and abortion".
For that reason it is worth taking a closer look at anarchist theory and tradition", further explaining:[55]In the 1970s, the '68er movement split into many factions of a Leninist, revisionist or Maoist bent, each following their various dogmas.
Among the dogmatists, all these questions were handled by a small leadership circle or even dictated by the GDR (German Democratic Republic) or China.
For instance, we read the works of Frantz Fanon, the publications of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense the memoirs of the Russian-American anarchist Emma Goldman, and maintained contacts with French and Italian autonomous groups.In the 1970s, the West German women's centers, cradle of all those feminist projects,[56] were so inventive and productive because "[e]very group at the Berlin women's center was autonomous and could choose whatever field they wished to work in.
The women's group Rote Zora (split from the Revolutionäre Zellen) legitimized militance with feminist theory in the 1980s and attacked bioengineering facilities.
[60] Some women disillusioned with the racism of Rote Zora but agreeing with its main points moved on to the anti-racist fantifa movement derivative of antifa.
