1920-1930년대 모성인식의 변화

Changes in Public Awareness about Maternity in 1920 s and 1930 s - Based on Historical Transition of Germany from Weimar Republic to the Third Reich of Nazi -

Like most of Western countries including Europe during transition to the 20th century, German society also showed a slower recognition of women s position as citizenship in comparison with men. In reality, women s reproduction, their rights to their own body and their sexuality were strictly controlled under the influence of governmental interests, and women s working power was discriminatively empl oyed by state. In the transition toward the 20th century, a new type of country c alled ‘welfare state’ emerged in parallel with the full-scale setoff of modern histo ry, so that conventional relations between women and state could become change d to positive directions. In Germany, women could not appear officially in public sphere until they we re qualified for right to vote along with the establishment of Weimar Republic af ter the end of World War Ⅰ. Social awareness about maternity, a critical matter of modern state during the period of Weimar Republic, sought to play an interm ediary role in bridging public sphere of life with private one, but there were ma ny controversies concerning major issues such as ‘maternity protection’, ‘domestic labor’ and ‘women s participation in labor market.’ Germany s defeat in World War Ⅰ and modern German people s revolution ju st before Weimar Republic facilitated women in acquiring their right to vote, but they were still dominated by traditional social atmosphere of emphasis on ‘matern ity’ of moral women. Thus, such a conflicting awareness about maternity between public and private sphere of life remained in concealment behind social welfare policy during short period of peace after World War Ⅰ, but came up strongly to the surface under the influence of unstable socioeconomic circumstances. As a res ult, modern German policies about women and maternity moved backward. Later, in the age of Nazism advocated by the Third Reich, the setback of mo dern Germany s woman policies and social awareness about maternity was possibl y expected to certain extent during Weimar Republic. The advent of Nazism turn ed women s social position back to the previous age, although their society had b een once open to more equality and freedom created under the influence of mod ern woman movement and changing social atmosphere during the period of Wei mar Republic. Nazi regime appeared owing to national economic crisis, conflictin g social policies and political rightist movement at the late period of Weimar Re public. It aimed to create one German national community that was racially com posed of the pure Aryan. This regime sought to politicize every sphere of Germa n society, and didn t hesitate to violate life of privacy in unprecedented ways to instill totalitarian ideology into individual people. This way, women became subje ct to concentrated control under the Nazi regime due to their own productive and reproductive functions. Nationalistic ultra-rightists required women to extend mater nal love into committing themselves to their fatherland and German nation. Wom en s body was considered as labor force to support fatherland and was also view ed as a means of biological reproduction to sustain fatherland. In the name of G erman fatherland, the regime of Nazism manifested that they would secure patriar chal rights from threat of the Great Depression and associated social crisis. As a result, women s free will and ‘maternity’ were neglected or suppressed in the na me of Nazi regime s needs.