MÄDCHEN IN UNIFORM – GENDER, POWER AND SEXUALITY IN TIMES OF MILITARISATION

• Main Author: Gerda-Elisabeth Wittmann
• Format: Article
• Language: Afrikaans
• Published: Stellenbosch University 2013-06-01
• Series: Scientia Militaria
• Online Access: http://scientiamilitaria.journals.ac.za/pub/article/view/1056

<p>The film <em>Mädchen in Uniform</em> (1931), a love story between a teacher and student in Germany, is widely recognised as the first pro-lesbian film. Banned by the National Socialists, it opened the way for pro-lesbian film production and was followed by films such as <em>Acht Mädels im Boot</em> (1932), <em>Anna and Elisabeth</em> (1933) and <em>Ich für dich, du für mich</em> (<em>Me for You, You for Me</em>, 1934). These films strongly contrasted with documentaries and popular films of the Third Reich that portrayed a new and heroic German nation growing from the ashes of defeat following the uneasy Peace of Versailles. The film <em>Aimée &amp; Jaguar</em> (1999) revisited the theme of lesbian love during the National Socialist regime. Based on a true story, the film is a narrative of the love between a German and a Jewish woman. Despite controversy, the film won numerous prizes in Germany. This article investigates the portrayal of gender and power in <em>Mädchen in Uniform </em>and <em>Aimée &amp; Jaguar.</em> It seeks to explain how lesbian women and the love between them were portrayed in a time of male domination, militarism and what was seen as hetero-normality. This contribution examines gender-related power struggles and the political climate in Germany at the time of the Weimar Republic and the build-up to National-Socialist militarism.</p>