Women in the Two Germanies. A Comparative Study of A Socialist and a Non-Socialist Society

243 Pages·1981·5.067 MB·English

by  Harry G. Shaffer (Auth.)

Pergamon Titles of Related Interest
Baehr WOMEN AND MEDIA
Bauer & Ritt FREE AND ENOBLED
Foster COMPARATIVE PUBLIC POLICY AND CITIZEN
PARTICIPATION
Schulz & Adams POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN COMMUNIST
SYSTEMS
Stewart THE WOMEN'S MOVEMENT IN COMMUNITY POLITICS
IN THE U.S.
Welsh SURVEY RESEARCH AND PUBLIC ATTITUDES IN
EASTERN ERUOPE AND THE SOVIET UNION
Related Journals*
CHILDREN AND YOUTH SERVICES REVIEW
HABITAT INTERNATIONAL
SOCIAL SCIENCE AND MEDICINE: Part C: Medical Economics
WOMEN'S STUDIES INTERNATIONAL QUARTERLY
WORLD DEVELOPMENT
*Free specimen copies available upon request.
Pergamon Titles of Related Interest
Baehr WOMEN AND MEDIA
Bauer & Ritt FREE AND ENOBLED
Foster COMPARATIVE PUBLIC POLICY AND CITIZEN
PARTICIPATION
Schulz & Adams POLITICAL PARTICIPATION IN COMMUNIST
SYSTEMS
Stewart THE WOMEN'S MOVEMENT IN COMMUNITY POLITICS
IN THE U.S.
Welsh SURVEY RESEARCH AND PUBLIC ATTITUDES IN
EASTERN ERUOPE AND THE SOVIET UNION
Related Journals*
CHILDREN AND YOUTH SERVICES REVIEW
HABITAT INTERNATIONAL
SOCIAL SCIENCE AND MEDICINE: Part C: Medical Economics
WOMEN'S STUDIES INTERNATIONAL QUARTERLY
WORLD DEVELOPMENT
*Free specimen copies available upon request.
1
PERGAMON
ON SOCIAL ISSUES
POLICY
STUDIES
Women in the
Two Germanies
A Comparative Study of
A Socialist and a
Non-Socialist Society
Harry G. Shaffer
Pergamon Press
NEW YORK · OXFORD · TORONTO · SYDNEY · PARIS · FRANKFURT
Pergamon Press Offices:
U.S.A. Pergamon Press Inc.. Maxwell House, Fairview Park.
Elmsford. New York 10523. U.S.A.
U.K. Pergamon Press Ltd.. Headington Hill Hall.
Oxford 0X3 OBW. England
CANADA Pergamon of Canada. Ltd., Suite 104. 150 Consumers Road.
Willowdale. Ontario M2J 1P9. Canada
AUSTRALIA Pergamon Press (Aust.) Pty. Ltd.. P.O. Box 544.
Potts Point. NSW 2011. Australia
FRANCE Pergamon Press SARL. 24 rue des Ecoles.
75240 Paris. Cedex 05. France
FEDERAL REPUBLIC Pergamon Press GmbH. Hammerweg 6. Postfach 1305.
OF GERMANY 6242 Kronberg/Taunus. Federal Republic of Germany
Copyright © 1981 Pergamon Press Inc.
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Shaffer, Harry G
Women in the two Germanies.
(Pergamon policy studies on social issues)
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Women—Germany, East. 2. Women—Employment-
Germany, East. 3. Education of women—Germany, East.
4. Women's rights—Germany, East. 5. Women—Germany,
West. 6. Women—Employment—Germany, West.
7. Education of Women—Germany, West. 8. Women's
rights—Germany, West. I. Title. II. Series.
HQ1630.5.S52 1981 305.4'2'0943 80-22624
ISBN 0-08-023862-9
All Rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means:
electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise, without permission in writing from the
publishers.
Printed in the United States of America
To my children Bernie, Ron, Lennie and Tanya -
and to women everywhere who struggle
for equal rights and opportunities
List of Tables
and Figures
Tables
1.1 Area and Pre- and Post-World War II Population,
(FRG and GDR) 3
1.2 Population, 1939-1978 (FRG and GDR) 7
2.1 Current Legal Regulations on Paid Leave to Take
Care of Sick Child (FRG and GDR) 18
2.2 Theoretical Retirement Income of Spouses Divorced
At Age 65 or Older (FRG) 37
2.3 Monthly State Child Subsidies (FRG and GDR) 41
2.4 Maternal Death Rates (FRG and GDR) 51
2.5 Reasons for Abortions Legally Performed in
the FRG (FRG) 54
3.1 Labor Force (FRG and GDR) 56
3.2 Gainfully Employed (FRG and GDR) 57
3.3 Unemployment (FRG) 63
3.4 Part-Time Work (FRG and GDR) 69
3.5 Twenty Major Reasons Why GDR Women Choose
Part-Time Employment (GDR) 70
3.6 Participation of German Women in Selected Service
Industries (1936) 71
3.7 Female Participation in Selected Branches of the
Economy (FRG and GDR) 72
3.8 Female Trainees for Skilled Workers' Positions
(FRG and GDR) 73
3.9 Women's Participation Rate in Selected Professions,
Other Than Government (FRG and GDR) 76
3.10 Titles of Honor Bestowed on Meritorious Workers (GDR) 79
3.11 Women in Western National Parliaments (1972) 84
3.12 Female Delegates to the National Parliaments
(FRG and GDR) 85
XI
Xll TABLES AND FIGURES
3.13 Women in Elected Political Positions (FRG and GDR) 86
3.14 Female Members of the West and East German National
Parliaments by Professions and Age Groups (FRG and
GDR) 87
3.15 Female Members and Female Candidate Members of the
SED Central Committee 1950-1971 (GDR) 90
3.16 Female Participation in SED District Leadership
Secretariats 1949-1971 (GDR) 91
3.17 Women in Major West German Political Parties (FRG) 92
3.18 Women in Responsible DGB Positions (FRG) 94
3.19 Average Gross Income of Gainfully Employed (FRG) 97
3.20 Monthly Net Income of Gainfully Employed (FRG) 98
3.21 Places Available in West German Child Care
Facilities 104
3.22 Places Available in GDR Child Care Facilities 106
4.1 West German Schools 119
4.2 Girls Enrolled in West German Schools 123
4.3 Enrollment in Vocational Schools (GDR) 126
4.4 Female Students Enrolled in German Institutions
of Higher Learning (FRG and GDR) 129
4.5 Enrollment in West German Institutions of Higher
Learning, 1978-79 133
4.6 Gainfully Employed Female College Graduates in
Selected Disciplines, 1971 (GDR) 135
5.1 Children Born Out of Wedlock (FRG and GDR) 143
5.2 Distribution of Household Chores in Multi-Person
Homes, GDR 145
5.3 Marriages and Divorces (FRG and GDR) 149
5.4 Divorces (FRG and GDR) 150
5.5 Divorce Proceedings Initiated by the Wife (FRG) 152
Figure
4.1 GDR School System 124
Preface
The problem of women's rights has become one of the most burning
issues of present days. The United Nations has adopted conventions and
passed declarations aimed at the elimination of discrimination against
women; 1975 was proclaimed International Women's Year; heads of
nations East and West have addressed themselves to the problem of
equal rights for women; books galore have been published on the
subject; and appropriate legislation has been enacted in countries
around the globe. In the West in particular, periodicals have appeared
and organizations have been formed whose primary if not exclusive goal
is the emancipation of women. Western non-socialist countries point to
progress achieved, but are aware of prevailing inadequacies and of
prejudices and discriminatory treatment yet to be overcome. Socialist
countries(l) hold that the true emancipation of women is impossible
under capitalism; they proclaim that under their system women have
already achieved equality under the law and that in actual practice they
are far ahead of non-socialist countries; but they do not deny that they
have not yet attained full equality of the sexes in all aspects of life.
For several years now, I have been interested in the status of women
in socialist as compared with non-socialist countries, and in the
progress women have made under their respective systems. In 1977, I
published a study on "How Emancipated is the Soviet Woman as
Compared to her Sister in the United States."(2) But due to widely
(1) Here and henceforth, unless otherwise stated, "socialist" shall refer
to the Marxist-Leninist type of socialism in such countries as the Soviet
Union, Poland, or East Germany (the GDR), who assert to be working
toward the goal of a perfectly communist society.
(2) Oesterreichische Osthefte, Winter 1977, pp. 245-64; a slightly
shortened and less footnoted version of it was published in Kansas
Business Review, November 1977, pp. 1-9.
Xlll
xiv PREFACE
divergent historic, cultural, and social backgrounds, there is a world of
difference between Russian and American women. In a sense, the
emancipation of Soviet women is the more impressive because the
Soviets inherited a social environment in which women had been more
deprived, more downtrodden, more at the mercy of their men, and in
which they were surely less educated and less aware than women in the
United States or, for that matter, anywhere in the West. Yet, I saw
great merit in comparing women with essentially the same background,
currently living under different social systems. Hence my decision to
engage in a comparative study of the position of women in the FRG
(Federal Republic of Germany - West Germany) and the GDR (German
Democratic Republic - East Germany).
What is to be compared, then, is the status and position of women in
the two Germanies: in the West, a pluralistic, basically free-enterprise
society, much more welfare-oriented than the United States (tuition-
free universities, paid maternity leaves, a nationwide prepaid health
insurance program for all workers, etc.), but still with but limited
functions reserved for government, its attitudes shaped largely by its
Judeo-Christian background, and in the international arena aligned with
Western countries; in East Germany, a socialist planned economy, with
the Socialist Unity Party (SED) in control, officially committed to
Marxist-Leninist ideology, and aligned with the Soviet Union and the
socialist countries of Eastern Europe.
In comparing the status and position of women in the two Ger
manies, a wide variety of legal, economic, political, and social aspects
of life in the two countries will be taken into consideration, such as
equality or the lack thereof under the law, in education, on the job, and
in the home. On the other hand, the fact that, for instance, such basic
necessities as milk, bread, and apartment rents are cheaper in East than
in West Germany but good clothing or appliances are much more
expensive, or that FRG citizens are free to travel to Paris but GDR
citizens are not, might also be interesting facets of life in the two
Germanies; however since these apply to men and women equally, they
would not be directly relevant to this study and have therefore been
omitted.
I began my research on the status of women in the two Germanies in
1977, and in 1978, spent eight months there. While there, I made
extensive use of excellent library facilities, especially at the East
Europe Institute of the Free University in West Berlin. I also succeeded
in obtaining much valuable material from such official agencies and
organizations as the Federal Ministry for Youth, Family, and Health in
Bonn or the GDR Committee for Human Rights in Berlin, GDR.
During my stay in Germany, I also carried out extensive interviews,
both East and West. But I soon became aware of my limitations; to
obtain a scientifically valid, stratified, random sample, it would have
been necessary to interview many hundreds, if not thousands, of
individuals in all walks of life and from all parts of the FRG and the
GDR. Unable to do this, I decided on a more modest approach. While I
did talk to and asked questions of university students, workers, house-
PREFACE xv
wives, and others, I focused my attention primarily on women "in the
know," women close to the problem I was investigating. I interviewed
such women as Gisela Helwig in Cologne and Jutta Menschik in West
Berlin who have published books on women in the FRG and the GDR and
who have reached somewhat divergent conclusions; Professor Helge
Pross at Siegen, who has published books and engaged in extensive
original research projects on the problems of women in the FRG; Inge
Gabert in Munich, who is a member of the Bavarian legislative assembly
and head of Bavaria's Social-Democratic Women; Beate Hesse, As
sistant Expert Adviser on Women at the Federal Ministry for Youth,
Family and Health in Bonn; Liselotte Funcke, Delegate from North
Rhine-Westphalia and Vice President of the West German Parliament,
also in Bonn; and Erika Runge, author of many books and TV scripts on
social problems in East and West Germany, director of West German TV
films, and member of the Communist Party of West Germany. In the
GDR, I interviewed, among others, Professor Traute Schoenrath, who
teaches theory of state and law at the Karl Marx University in Leipzig
and has been much concerned with legal aspects of women's rights in
the GDR; Dr. Herta Kuhrig, Director of the research team "The Woman
in Socialist Society" at the GDR Academy of Sciences in Berlin; and Dr.
Helga Hoerz, Chairperson of the Department of Ethics at Humboldt
University, Berlin, and GDR Representative to the UN Commission on
the Status of Women.
Some critics will undoubtedly ask whether this kind of research
ought to be carried out by a man. I plead nolo contendere to being a
man; but I do not feel that a study on women must necessarily be made
by a member of the female sex, any more than a study of the culture of
American Indians must necessarily be made by an Indian. I could point
out that a masterpiece on the evolution of democratic society in the
United States was produced by a Frenchman who spent only one year in
this country;(3) that the best known work on the history of Nazi
Germany was written by an American;(4) that more than a century and
a quarter ago, an early piece advocating women's rights was written and
published by a renowned nineteenth century male social scientist ;(5) and
that the pathbreaking work on American race relations comes from the
pen of a Swede.(6) Although I do not mean to compare my humble
efforts with those of the authors mentioned above, I do not believe that
my sex interfered with my comprehension or in any way prejudiced my
analysis of the issues treated in this book.
(3) Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, 4 vols, 1835-40.
(4) William L. Shirer, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, 1959.
(5) John Stuart Mill, Enfranchisement of Women, 1851.
(6) Gunner Myrdal, An American Dilemma, 1944.