Articles

Progress Through Marginalization: Jewish Women at the Forefront of the German Women’s Movement

Hanau, Alicia

German-Jewish women of the late 19th century found themselves sidelined on three fronts. As women in a traditionally patriarchal German society, German-Jewish women were generally limited to the domestic sphere. As Jews in a patriotic German society, German- Jewish women faced virulent anti-Semitism and Judeo-phobia. And finally, as women in the Jewish community, German-Jewish women were demoted to an inferior status in religious practice. This paper explores the tri-marginalization of Jewish-German women of the Kaiserreich era. Furthermore, this paper argues that tri-marginalization pushed Jewish- German women to the forefront of the German women’s movement. German-Jewish women’s tremendous progression, especially as compared to their German female counterparts, arose primarily through their ability to push boundaries from within the confines of their relegated community.

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Title
On Our Terms: The Undergraduate Journal of the Athena Center for Leadership Studies

More About This Work

Academic Units
Athena Center for Leadership Studies
Publisher
Center for Digital Research and Scholarship
Published Here
October 21, 2015