Sexuality In The Weimar Republic

As humans beings we all have certain biological wants and needs. For example, a person would typically need clean drinking water, food for sustenance, and shelter that will protect them from various predators and weather conditions and a want would be the ability to socially interact with others. Another important necessity and desire for living creatures would be the ability to acquire a sexual relationship with someone and to procreate. These goals are not solely limited to one gender over the other, however there was once a time when this was believed to be a fact. Women were not always seen as being capable of being sexual creatures. Their roles were to simply become a wife, then a mother, and finally to take care of the home and children.

Sandra Mass’ chapter in New Dangerous Liaisons: Discourses on Europe and Love in the Twentieth Century entitled, "The Volkskörper in Fear: Gender, Race and Sexuality in the Weimar Republic" takes a closer look at these topics which were controversial and differed immensely from the traditional, Prussian values and beliefs. While Mass looked at this from an angle of representation of non-European women as being sexual objects, her findings still intertwine with Mädchen in Uniform. For example it is stated that sexuality was a strong threat to the culture of Europe and was dangerous (Mass 215). Since sexuality was seen as such a taboo topic for discussion, it is not surprising that a film like Mädchen in Uniform would cause controversy. With an emphasis on female sexuality and a potentially lesbian couple, this film went against everything that was traditional or

McCormick in his chapter of the book Weimar Cinema: An Essential Guide to Classic Films of the Era called “Coming Out of the Uniform: Political and Sexual Emancipation in Leontine Sagan 's Mädchen In Uniform (1931)”. McCormick says that, “Mädchen in Uniform is a film that is implicated within a number of progressive and emancipatory discourses of the late Weimar Republic: the movement for homosexual rights… [and] queer subcultures… (272)” The movie questioned the way that women’s sexuality was viewed and denied that the only future for a woman was with a husband and children. The author goes on to state how the film, which became popular in the 1970s, became a very loved piece of art for women that identified as lesbian since the film was considered a “‘coming-out’ film that affirmed lo between women (273).” The ability for a film from the 1930s and its content to be relatable to women in regards to feelings toward sexuality and how it is handled past that decade, and even century, goes to show how timeless and real the subject matter was for these women. Though the film does not end by explicitly stating the Manuela ends up with her governess in a romantic relationship, the end does show the audience that love wins since the girls and Bernburg are able to overcome the traditional headmistress and her strict