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Documents - Gender Roles and Family Relationships in Upheaval
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1.   Family, Child-Rearing, and the Role of Women (December 3, 1961)
Using forceful language, Franz-Josef Wuermeling, Federal Minister of Family and Youth Affairs, describes what he perceives as the threat to the family posed by....
2.   The Family in Light of Women's Equality (December 20, 1965)
The new East German Code of Family Law not only emphasized women’s equality in marriage and the family; it also liberalized the divorce law and addressed the status of children. It provided a foundation....
3.   The Struggle for Equal Rights (October 7, 1968)
Film director Helke Sander, who co-founded the Action Council for the Liberation of Women in 1968, takes a critical look at the role of women in society and sharply....
4.   Abortion and Women's Solidarity (1971)
Inspired by a campaign in France, 374 women signed an appeal to abolish Paragraph 218, publicly admitting that they themselves had had abortions (legal proceedings were instituted against the signers....
5.   Reforming the Marriage and Family Code (July 9, 1971)
Federal Minister of Justice Gerhard Jahn describes the basic principles of the new divorce law, which created equality between spouses and introduced the concept....
6.   Legalizing First Trimester Abortions in the GDR (March 13, 1972)
In the GDR, a draft law permitting abortions within the first trimester met with reservations from both the church and the CDU, one of the block parties in the East German political system. The ballot....
7.   The Catholic Church, Abortion, and the Election Campaign (August 31, 1972)
The Central Committee of the Catholic Church condemns the ongoing legal and moral decay of society, which it believed the state was doing too little to combat. This criticism was part of the campaign....
8.   Still Taboo despite Reforms (March 12, 1973)
When laws covering sexual offenses were liberalized, legislators once again reformed Paragraph 175, making only homosexual acts with young people punishable by law. This Spiegel article analyzes....
9.   Women's Liberation Gaining Ground (April 22, 1977)
Despite prevailing policies and contrary to social norms, West Germany continued to see a trend towards single lifestyles and a decline....
10.   The Cadre Issue (May 31, 1983)
Up until the end of the GDR, problems regarding the recruitment of women for top positions in politics, the economy, and society remained unsolved. The following text, which pertains to the executive....
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