Why do you think the Nazis chose to glorify homemaking and childrearing in their vision of the Reich? How did that idealized vision of housewives contrast with what women were actually doing in Germany during the war years?

Kinder, Küche, Kirche (children, kitchen, church)—the traditional vision of women as purely domestic—is mentioned more than once by Mildred and her comrades. The slogan dates from the eighteenth century but reappeared in Hitler's Germany. Why do you think the Nazis chose to glorify homemaking and childrearing in their vision of the Reich? How did that idealized vision of housewives contrast with what women were actually doing in Germany during the war years?

Homemaking and childbearing gave the picture of strong Aryan families - families and children loved and nurtured by the women while men went out and created the utopia they were all meant to live in. I'm not sure, though, that it wasn't meant to put and keep women in their place as second class citizens. This was certainly in conflict with what Jewish women were expected to do and what the resistance women were doing.

The Nazis were putting forth a picture of the perfect family in a perfect environment. many people seemed to become brainwashed with this image even though in their daily lives the women were doing much more than homemaking and childrearing. We know that many of the women were making huge sacrifices and devoting their lives to fighting the Nazi ideal. Many of the German women too were spending most of their time just trying to survive. Also, they were giving their sons over to Hitler's army as soon as they were old enough.

I agree that Kinder, Küche, Kirch was a Nazi invention to create strong Aryan families. It was also a way to control half of the population by bribing women with social benefits and discriminating against them in the workplace. During this time, only men were allowed to be doctors, lawyers, and civil servants. This was the German version of keeping women barefoot and pregnant.

I agree also with previous posts. In reference to Kinder, Kuche, Kirche, it was stated at a 1931 meeting of The National Socialist Women's League that "a woman could blossom and best serve the interest of Germany", so it wasn't only the men that were telling women what to do. Also noteworthy, in 1935 during a speech to the National Socialist Women's Congress, Hitler declared, with regards to women's rights: In reality, the granting of so-called equal rights to women, as demanded by Marxism, does not confer equal rights to all, but constitutes the deprivation of rights, since they draw women into a zone where they can only be inferior. It places women in situations where they cannot strengthen their position with regard to men and with society but only weakens them.
At that time though, Aryan women did become Nazis party members even though it was decreed by the party that they could not join. Of course many restrictions were lifted once wartime necessity dictated changes to policy. There also were a few exceptions for women to excel in particular fields, such as being a filmmaker, aviator, or scientist. But to me the worst of all positions held by women were the ones who filled official posts at the heart of the concentration camps.

Keeping women out of the workplace endorsed and strengthened the patriarchal society that Hitler preferred. Women were to serve the needs of men and be obedient. Mildred used this approach in her defense at her trials even though her life’s work had been as an equal in the academic field.

To give the world the impression of a well-rounded Aryan family. Women were depicted as subservient to the Reich.

They wanted to display a perfect culture in Germany to get the buy-in from other countries. I also feel they had no respect for women.

Remember, women were mainly homemakers at the time even here. By idealizing them the Nazis were able to keep the family in line with their views of the world. The American housewife was not too different until the war started and women had to fill certain roles. The glorification was also a way to keep them in support. This obviously did not keep some women under the thumb of the regime. This book describes the work some educated women of the time. What about those from other “classes”?

To procreate and build the Ayan "superior" family and race. The contrast was they were treated as the "inferior" sex that lived in fear and did everything to protect the children they had.

It was all about creating and sustaining Hitler's superior race.