Women earlier and now: Everyday life has changed so seriously

On March 8th there is an international Women's Day and we also want to draw attention to the still unevenness between men and women. Furthermore, there is a need for action in many areas and the struggle for equality is far from over. There are also countless areas in the present in which we still have to fight hard for our rights.

But what have we women actually achieved in the past and what did the everyday life of a woman really look like in the 20th century? To get to the bottom of these questions, I sat down with my mother and talked to her about the past.

She not only told me a lot about how she felt everyday life as a young woman, but also how my grandma's everyday life looked like. And I can reveal one thing in advance: For me as a 90s child, a lot is a matter of course today, which was absolutely not a matter of course for women 40 years before my birth.

Let's look back: Women in Germany have only been eligible to vote since 1919. And it was not until 1949 that the sentence "Men and Women are equal" found the move into the Basic Law. The SPD MP Elisabeth Selbert had an important part in this. It is considered one of the four "mothers of the Basic Law".

In 1958, the law to equalize men and women came into force. Thus, in a marriage, women were finally able to determine their assets themselves and open their own account. While today it doesn't matter whether we go to the bank as a man or woman and opened an account, it was not a norm for women at the time. Just go to work? None.

Only with the law on the reform of marriage and family law in 1977 did women obtain full right to be employed. Before that, they were only allowed to pursue an activity if they were compatible with the "marital and family duties". As a result, the husband was also able to terminate the employment relationship of the woman if he believed that she neglected her primary duties as a housewife and mother. For me it is hardly imaginable today that my grandmother should have asked my grandpa if she can work at all. But in the past that was exactly reality.

In particular, the new women's movement, which formed as a result of the 68 movement, got a lot in motion. She campaigned for the same wages with the same work and passionately fought for the abortion of the abortion paragraph. The protest movement was primarily directed against the prevailing male power structures.

In addition to all these historical facts, one offers usDr. Oetker advertisingFrom 1954 an exciting, albeit depressing insight into the gender roles of the 1950s. In the advertising clip, Dr. Oetker advertising for his pudding powder. There are two concise sentences that everyone who has heard you have already remained conscious: “You know yes, a woman has two questions of life. What should I put on and what should I cook? " These two sentences show the terrifying reality of the 1950s. Women was primarily expected to like the men. To ensure this, you should cook, clean, look after the children and look good.

This advertising is now almost 70 years old and admittedly, a lot has happened since then. But how much has the everyday life of a woman really changed over the course of the 20th century compared to today? To approach these questions, I talked to my 63-year-old mother, who could give me some exciting insights into her life, but also in my grandma's everyday life.

First of all, I asked myself how my grandma's everyday life, from which my mother differed. My grandmother was born in 1922 and my mother in 1958. In the time when my mother was born, it was not common for men to be present at birth. This was apparently considered to be "unmanly", a child was just a matter for the woman. However, when I was born in 1994, it was common for the fathers to be there at birth and that still applies today.

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In West Germany it was common for women to take care of the household and child rearing alone. So that they could pursue this task, they were usually not employed and so the man as a sole earner had the decision -making power over the money. This had serious effects for the woman, as my mother told me.

For a long time, workers were paid for their wages bar, for example once a month or once a week, in a so -called wage bag. The women were dependent on their men's money and only received household money in order to be able to feed the family. However, if the woman gave the woman too little money or even no money, the woman was completely centered, as my mother explains.

As a result, women drove to the job of their husband on the days when employers will issue the wage bags and tried to get money from the wage bags. This is the only way to buy food for the family. The image of the employed man and the woman who takes care of the house and children was firmly anchored in the minds for a long time and still exists in many places today.

“For many, it was unthinkable that the woman went to work and, in the 'worst' case, still neglected the household. That just didn't belong, especially for mothers, ”explains my mother, as she found out about my grandmother.

A lot was "not decent" for women, as my mother told me. For example, my grandma only wore the majority of her life. Women's pants were only accepted socially in the late 1960s. The situation was similar with bikinis. These also only established themselves in the late 1960s. Nevertheless, my grandma wore skirts for a long time. It was only in the late 1980s that my mother encouraged my grandma to wear pants. In addition, my grandma always wore sheep aprons. The "also belonged to a housewife."

By the way: Even underpants were only allowed to wear underpants in the mid -19th century. The women's underpants were open in the crotch and were called 'leg dress'.

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My mother also tells me that a visit to a bar that is normal for us today was unthinkable for my grandma in her thirties: “As a rule, only men met in inns. This was frowned upon for women, especially for women who were alone. But if you were traveling with your husband, it was fine. But basically women could not allow themselves to drink alcohol in public or even smoke. ”

The topic of female sexuality was basically hushed up. For women, an illegitimate child was a social disaster. The typing pill was also only intended for married women and should alleviate symptoms during the period. Rape in marriage did not even be mentioned as a term in the law. Only since 1997 has rapes have been an independent criminal offense in marriage.

In the course of the sexual revolution at the end of the 1960s and early 1970s, self -determined sexuality was increasingly focused. Women's movements are strong against sexual abuse, rape and against any form of sexism in everyday life. Women's shelters were founded and emergency numbers were set up in which women who were victims of rape and violence were able to report.

The new women's movement also fought for the abortion of the abortion paragraph § 218 in the early 1970s. Until then, a termination of pregnancy was prohibited. Today abortions in Germany are allowed within the first three months if a medical consultation has taken place beforehand (->Impunity of the demolition of pregnancy§ 218a).

On December 19, 1908, a “Women's Day” was launched for the first time, where the women's organization of the Socialist Party of America called for every second Sunday in February to demonstrate for women's voting rights. In 1910, the German politician and women's rights activist Clara Zetkin finally proposed the introduction of an international women's day at the second international socialist women's conference in Copenhagen. However, first without a fixed date.

On March 19, 1911, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Denmark and the USA committed the first Women's Day. Later, women in Sweden, the Netherlands, France and Russia also joined. When the National Socialists came to power in 1933, World Women's Day was banned. And even after the Nazi era from 1945, the Women's Day was not reintroduced. While it was celebrated in the GDR more than a socialist event, from 1948 the focus was primarily on striving for peace in West Germany. As a result, the actual importance of women's day was more and more forgotten.

It was only through the women's movement at the end of 1960 that Women's Day and its actual meaning moved more into people's consciousness. In 1975 the day was then declared international women's day by the UN.

World Women's Day is a legal holiday in Berlin - not currently in all other German federal states. Incidentally, World Women's Day is currently a legal holiday in 26 countries. These include Ukraine, Russia, Armenia or Vietnam.

In the present, women and men are legally equal and, unlike earlier, can determine themselves about their assets. The professional opportunities for women have also increased significantly. However, equality between man and woman is far from being reality everywhere. And certainly not arrived in all heads.

Women still earn less money than men (). In politics and on the executive floors, they are strongly underrepresented compared to their male colleagues. Women are often faced with the difficult challenge of reconciling family and job. But also for some men, the Macho -Lechte principle still applies, women are solely responsible for the household and the upbringing of the children. There is still a great need for action in all of these areas and a lot has to change.

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