Mothers for Germany: a look at the ideal woman in Nazi propaganda

Abstract

This thesis examines the Nazi Party’s ideals regarding women in Germany from 1933-1945. It looks at how propaganda was used to foster a desire in women for the continuation of separate spheres, and motherhood as the ultimate expression of womanhood. The goal is to show how the ideal woman, according to propaganda of the Nazi Party, had three stages of life in which she would remain, as best as possible, in the private sphere. These stages are, childhood, single adulthood, and finally, motherhood. This paper studies these stages in reverse order. It starts by examining the pedestal that mothers were put on in Nazi Germany before looking at who the ideal woman would have been to be a German mother, and finally how girls were prepared even in childhood to grow up to be the ideal Nazi woman and mother. To gain an insight into how the party viewed women, this thesis examines many primary sources, including speeches, and posters, but focuses much of its attention on the Nazi women’s magazine Frauen Warte as well as looking at scholarship already done in the field.