Working girls, mothers, and a hamster Femininity as shown on propaganda posters in Nazi-Germany

This thesis researches the ideal notions on femininity according to the Nazi’s by analyzing both the existing literature as a dataset of 50 propaganda posters. All posters are published in Germany between 1933 and 1945 and are gathered from the online archive of Bundesarchiv. Femininity and gender are two main themes in this thesis, as well as how the Nazi-German politics based their claim on controlling their population –or even more, civil life– on biopower. This meant a clear division between what was seen as female and feminine, and what as male and masculine. Furthermore, the usability of propaganda posters is researched, as well as how posters have been used in the existing literature. The created dataset does not point out any sharp differences with the literature. What is however most striking and noteworthy is the incorrect usage of propaganda posters in previous academic works. This thesis points out that posters are a problematic primary source when researching the ‘true’ ideal femininity according to the Nazi’s, but are useable for researching how Nazi policymakers portrayed their ideals in the forms of propaganda –among which posters– to their population. Lastly, this thesis brings forth the least problematic way in using and analyzing posters in and for (historical) research.