Representations of the German woman’s body in the official Nazi women’s magazine

Abstract

ABSTRACTThis study examines the ways in which the German female body is represented in the official National Socialist party’s magazine, NS FrauenWarte, published from 1934 to 1944. Analyses of the female body visuals help reveal the Nazi regime’s ideology and expectations of women within the Third Reich. Based on semiotic analysis of representations and illustrations appearing in 77 of the magazine’s issues, the study reads the female body as a site of negotiation on the Nazi women’s role in the German society. Ostensibly, we would expect representations appearing in essentially a propaganda magazine to portray Nazi ideology’s definition of women’s expected role in Nazi society. However, the findings indicate contradictions between various representations appearing in the magazine and Nazi ideology as expressed by leading Nazi ideologues. The magazine presents both “feminine,” healthy, and maternal bodies suited for nurturing “Hitler’s children,” as well as sexual and athletic body images, seemingly incompatible with Nazi ideology. In addressing these contradictions, this paper reveals Nazi ideology’s dynamism and complexity.