Women and Politics in East Germany
In: Socialist review: SR, Volume 15, Issue 3, p. 121-134
ISSN: 0161-1801
The situation of women in East Germany since WWII is reviewed. Four historical periods are distinguished: 1945-1949, the postwar period; 1949-1963, the founding of the German Democratic Republic; 1963-1971, when central planning was fully established & efforts were made to integrate women fully into the LF; & post-1971, when conflicts in women's roles & the slowness of progress became evident. Women are a major element in the LF, with 87% of women aged 16-60 participating; but their participation involves them in dual roles that often create stress. Family life remains oriented to the nuclear family & resistant to change in sex roles. Women have difficulty gaining leadership positions & have little representation in politics. The absence of a women's movement & the lack of tolerance for autonomous social movements have led to the expression of women's concerns with this situation primarily through literature, particularly the works of Christa Wolf & Irmtraud Morgner. W. H. Stoddard