From mädel to mutter: National socialist school readers and the ideal woman

Through the examination of a selection of texts found in National Socialist school readers and magazines the following study attempts to illustrate the role of written texts in the socialization of girls in the Third Reich.

This study sets forth the thesis that National Socialist reading materials for children were instrumental in creating a narrow image of the ‘ideal’ woman. Ultraconservative notions of family life and women were prevalent in the Weimar period (Chapter 2), yet they gained tremendous momentum within the Nazis' Volksgemeinschaft (Chapter 3). The analysis of attempts to indoctrinate children through texts (Chapter 4) demonstrates the lengths to which Nazi leaders would go to propagate their Weltanschauung . By limiting texts with female protagonists to those centering around the ‘ideal’ woman (i.e. the mother), the Nazis sought to create a standardized discourse on women and the role they were expected to play in the New Order (Chapter 5).