Boak, Helen. Women in the Weimar Republic<\/em>. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2013.<\/p>\n Clarke, Jay A. \u201cKollwitz, Gender, Biography, and Social Activism.\u201d In K\u00e4the Kollwitz: Prints, Process, Politics<\/em>, edited by Louis Marchesano, 40-56. Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute, 2020.<\/p>\n Comini, Alessandra. \u201cKollwitz in Context.\u201d In K\u00e4the Kollwitz<\/em>, edited by Elizabeth Prelinger, 89-114. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992.<\/p>\n Ferree, Myra Marx. Shaping Abortion Discourse: Democracy and the Public Sphere in Germany and the United States<\/em>. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2002.<\/p>\n Fowkes, Ben. Communism in Germany Under the Weimar Republic<\/em>. London: Macmillan, 1984.<\/p>\n Grossmann, Atina. “German Communism and New Women: Dilemmas and Contradictions.” In\u00a0Women and Socialism – Socialism and Women: Europe Between the World Wars<\/em>, edited by Gruber Helmut and Graves Pamela, 135-68. Berghahn Books, 1998.<\/p>\n ——. \u201cGirlkulture or Thoroughly Rationalized Female: A New Woman in Weimar Germany?\u201d In Women in Culture and Politics: A Century of Change<\/em>, edited by Judith Friedlander, 62-80. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1986.<\/p>\n ——. Reforming Sex: the German Movement for Birth Control and Abortion Reform, 1920-1950<\/em>. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995.<\/p>\n Hardt, Hanno. \u201cPictures for the Masses: Photography and the Rise of Popular Magazines in Weimar Germany.\u201d Journal of Communication Inquiry 13 no. 1 (1989): 7-30.<\/p>\n Jay, Martin. “The Weimar Left: Theory and Practice.” In\u00a0Weimar Thought: A Contested Legacy<\/em>, edited by Gordon Peter E. and McCormick John P., 377-93. Princeton; Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2013.<\/p>\n Kanfo, Danielle. \u201cK\u00e4the Kollwitz: The Dead Mother.\u201d In Her Own Image: Women\u2019s Self-Representation in Twentieth-Century Art<\/em>, 24-36. Madison, NJ: Fairleigh Dickinson University Press, 2009.<\/p>\n Kearns, Martha. Ka\u0308the Kollwitz: Woman and Artist<\/em>. New York: The Feminist Press at The City University of New York, 1976.<\/p>\n Kirchner, Natascha. \u201cProcesses, Practices, Techniques.\u201d In K\u00e4the Kollwitz: Prints, Process, Politics<\/em>, edited by Louis Marchesano, 57-73 Los Angeles: Getty Research Institute, 2020.<\/p>\n Kollwitz, Ka\u0308the. The diary and letters of Kaethe Kollwitz<\/em>. Edited by Hans Kollwitz. Translated by Richard and Clara Winston. Evanston, Ill: Northwestern University Press, 1988.<\/p>\n Lavin, Maud. Cut with the Kitchen Knife: the Weimar Photomontages of Hannah Ho\u0308ch<\/em>. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993.<\/p>\n Lerg, Winfried. \u201cMedia Culture of the Weimar Republic: A Historical Overview.\u201d Journal of Communication Inquiry 12, no.1 (1988): 94-107.<\/p>\n Meskimmon, Marsha. We Weren\u2019t Modern Enough: Women Artists and the Limits of German Modernism<\/em>. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1999.<\/p>\n Nochlin, Linda \u201cThe Twentieth Century: Issues, Problems, Controversies.\u201d in Women Artists: 1550-1950<\/em>, edited by Ann Sutherland Harris and Linda Nochlin, 58-67. Los Angeles: Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1976.<\/p>\n Prelinger, Elizabeth. \u201cKollwitz Reconsidered.\u201d In K\u00e4the Kollwitz<\/em>. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1992.<\/p>\n Rowbotham, Sheila. Women in Movement: Feminism and Social Action<\/em>. New York, N.Y: Routledge, 1992.<\/p>\n Schirmer, Gisela. K\u00e4the Kollwitz und die Kunst ihrer Zeit: Positionen zur Geburtenpolitik<\/em>. Weimar: VDG, Verl. Und Datenbank f\u00fcr Geisteswiss, 1998.<\/p>\n Sharp, Ingrid \u201cGender relations in Weimar Berlin.\u201d In Practicing Modernity: Female Creativity in the Weimar Republic<\/em>, edited by Christiane Sch\u00f6nefeld, 1-13. Wu\u0308rzburg: Ko\u0308nigshausen & Neumann, 2006.<\/p>\n ——. \u201cRiding the tiger: Ambivalent images of the New Woman in the popular press of the Weimar Republic.\u201d In New Woman Hybridities: Femininity, Feminism and International Consumer Culture, 1880-1930<\/em>, edited by Margaret Beetham and Ann Heilmann, 118-141. London: Routledge, 2004.<\/p>\n Usborne, Cornelie. “Rebellious Girls and Pitiable Women: Abortion Narratives in Weimar Popular Culture.”\u00a0German History<\/em>\u00a023, no. 3 (08, 2005): 321-338.<\/p>\n ——. Cultures of Abortion in Weimar Germany<\/em>. Berghahn Books, 2011.<\/p>\n ——. The Politics of the Body in Weimar Germany: Women\u2019s Reproductive Rights and Duties<\/em>. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1992.<\/p>\n Vangen, Michelle \u201cLeft and Right: Politics and Images of Motherhood in Weimar Germany.\u201d Women\u2019s Art Journal<\/em>, vol. 30 no. 2 (2009): 25-30.<\/p>\n Vogel, Lise. Marxism and the Oppression of Women: Toward a Unitary Theory<\/em>. Leiden: Brill, 2013.<\/p>\n von dem Knesebeck,\u00a0Alexandra. K\u00e4the Kollwitz: Werkverzeichnis der Graphik<\/em>. Bern: Kornfeld, 2002.<\/p>\n Weitz, Eric D.\u00a0Weimar Germany: Promise and Tragedy. <\/em>Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2018.<\/p>\n Wheeler, Robert. \u201cGerman Women and the Communist International: The Case of the Independent Social Democrats.\u201d Central European History<\/em> vol. 8, no. 2 (June 1975): 113-139.<\/p>\n Wolterstorff, Nicholas. \u201cThe Social Protest Meaning of the Graphic Art of K\u00e4the Kollwitz.\u201d In Art Rethought: the Social Practices of Art<\/em>, 244-254. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015.<\/p>\n Woycke, James. Birth Control in Germany, 1871-1933<\/em>. London: Routledge, 1988.<\/p>\n Wuerth, Andrea and Janice Monger, “Reproducing Reproduction: Abortion Imagery in Recent Works of German Women Artists,”\u00a0German Politics & Society<\/em>\u00a015, no. 4 (45) (1997): 52-78.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat” column_structure=”1_2,1_2″][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.0.47″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_button button_url=”https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/confrontingthewomanquestion\/conclusion” button_text=”Conclusion” button_alignment=”right” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ custom_button=”on” button_text_size=”14px” button_text_color=”#000000″ button_bg_color=”#e0d8c8″ button_border_width=”0px” button_border_radius=”0px” button_letter_spacing=”1px” 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box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px” text_text_color=”#474747″ text_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”text_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ text_text_shadow_vertical_length=”text_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ text_text_shadow_blur_strength=”text_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ link_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”link_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ link_text_shadow_vertical_length=”link_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ link_text_shadow_blur_strength=”link_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ ul_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”ul_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ ul_text_shadow_vertical_length=”ul_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ ul_text_shadow_blur_strength=”ul_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ ol_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”ol_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ ol_text_shadow_vertical_length=”ol_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ ol_text_shadow_blur_strength=”ol_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ 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Object%93″ header_4_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_4_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_4_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_4_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_4_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_4_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_5_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_5_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_5_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_5_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_5_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_5_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_6_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_6_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_6_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_6_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_6_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_6_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″]<\/p>\n Figure 22. Alice Lex-Nerlinger, Paragraph 218<\/em>, 1931<\/p><\/div>\n In this capstone project, I have shown that in her anti-Paragraph 218 poster, Kollwitz made a series of visual and ideological choices. She simultaneously met the brief of the KPD\u2019s legislative demands, made a subtle yet powerful critique of KPD party culture, and made an intervention in the representation of women in popular German media. What resulted was an image that forever changed the KPD\u2019s visual vocabulary and participated in the shift towards more autonomous representations of women in popular media, political images, and fine art.<\/p>\n Kollwitz\u2019s Down with the Abortion Paragraphs<\/em> remained influential on the anti-Paragraph 218 campaign throughout the rest of the Weimar Republic. In 1931, Kollwitz contributed the poster to a traveling exhibition initiated by the women\u2019s magazine Der Weg der Frau<\/em> (The Way of the Woman) entitled Frauen in Not<\/em> (Women in Need).[1]<\/a> Other politically engaged artists, like Alice Lex-Nerlinger, also participated in this event. Lex-Nerlinger\u2019s 1931 painting Paragraph 218<\/em> (Figure 22) depicts a group of women pushing down a black cross inscribed with \u00a7 218<\/em>, signifying the combined religious and political forces that had kept abortion illegal. Superimposed over the women is a stylistically simplified pregnant woman who wears simple working-class dress, with a kerchief tied around her head. This image is significant as it shows women taking action into their own hands, dismantling the abortion paragraphs that restrict their bodily autonomy, while reminding the viewer of the first image that urged for political action: the working-class mother depicted by Kollwitz. Lex-Nerlinger\u2019s Paragraph 218 <\/em>did more than just urge women to take their destiny into their own hands; it illustrated the effect Kollwitz\u2019s proletarian maternal imagery had on the abortion debate.<\/p>\n Figure 23. K\u00e4the Kollwitz, Solidarity<\/em>, 1931-1932, lithographic crayon, Cologne Kollwitz Collection \u00a9 K\u00e4the Kollwitz Museum K\u00f6ln.<\/p><\/div>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n From a broader perspective, by introducing the maternal proletarian to the KPD\u2019s visual vocabulary in 1923, Kollwitz opened the door to more nuanced depictions of communist women in the future. In the subsequent days of the Weimar era, German communists incorporated more images of heroic female laborers and outspoken activists in their art and media campaigns.[2]<\/a> Even in her later work, Kollwitz continued to incorporate women into the communist visual vocabulary. Her 1932 lithograph Solidarity<\/em> (Figure 23), which commemorates the 15th anniversary of the 1917 revolution in Russia, portrays a group of determined working-class people standing shoulder to shoulder, steadfast in camaraderie with their arms linked together. At first glance, the print appears to be an image of male strength due to the figure\u2019s emphasized large hands. However, at the end of the row on the right, holding hands with the man next to her, is a working-class woman. While her hair is pulled back and she wears a simple dress, just like the mother in Down with the Abortion Paragraphs<\/em>, this woman\u2019s more determined expression, and the fact that she is depicted as a part of the working-class struggle, indicates an evolution in her status within German communism. By 1932, then, Kollwitz was celebrating the rise of communism of her own accord.<\/a><\/p>\n Kollwitz\u2019s poster is not just a relic of the past. With this image, she highlighted the intersection between abortion, class, and economic hardship by presenting the abused working-class mother as the face of the abortion rights debate. Around the world, the struggle for reproductive rights continues, as nationalistic governments and religious conservative groups continue to deny women access to reproductive healthcare. Because the same hardships still exist, Kollwitz\u2019s poster remains relevant to the struggle. Kollwitz\u2019s poster has been used as recently as 2019, during International Women\u2019s Day demonstrations in Berlin in support of abortion rights. This demonstrates to us the visual power of the poster she created: the simple composition, direct political message, and emotional subject matter resonates through the decades.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_button button_url=”http:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/confrontingthewomanquestion\/down-with-the-abortion-paragraphs” button_text=”Down with the abortion laws!” button_alignment=”right” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ custom_button=”on” button_text_size=”14px” button_text_color=”#000000″ button_bg_color=”#e0d8c8″ button_border_width=”0px” button_border_radius=”0px” button_letter_spacing=”1px” button_font=”|700||on|||||” button_icon=”%%2%%” button_on_hover=”off” custom_margin=”|-60px|0px||false|false” custom_margin_tablet=”|0px|||false|false” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|desktop” 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header_4_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_4_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_5_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_5_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_5_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_6_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_6_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_6_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” border_width_top_tablet=”2px” border_width_top_phone=”2px” box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px” text_text_color=”#474747″]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Andrea Wuerth and Janice Monger, “Reproducing Reproduction: Abortion Imagery in Recent Works of German Women Artists,”\u00a0German Politics & Society<\/em>\u00a015, no. 4 (45) (1997): 54.<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Lavin, Cut with the Kitchen Knife<\/em>, 4<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”3.22″ next_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_fullwidth_menu menu_id=”2″ submenu_direction=”downwards” fullwidth_menu=”off” active_link_color=”#ce5f33″ dropdown_menu_line_color=”#ce5f33″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″ menu_font=”Georgia||||||||” border_width_bottom=”7px” border_color_bottom=”#ffffff” border_style_bottom=”outset” text_orientation=”center” animation_style=”fade” z_index_tablet=”500″ menu_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” menu_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” menu_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px” saved_tabs=”all” menu_text_color=”#474747″] [\/et_pb_fullwidth_menu][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Mission” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ 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[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3579,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":8,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-template-blank.php","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-214","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/confrontingthewomanquestion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/214","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/confrontingthewomanquestion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/confrontingthewomanquestion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/confrontingthewomanquestion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3579"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/confrontingthewomanquestion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=214"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/confrontingthewomanquestion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/214\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/confrontingthewomanquestion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=214"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":201,"date":"2021-03-03T06:08:44","date_gmt":"2021-03-03T06:08:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/tm2974a\/?page_id=201"},"modified":"2021-05-03T03:32:36","modified_gmt":"2021-05-03T03:32:36","slug":"down-with-the-abortion-paragraphs","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/confrontingthewomanquestion\/down-with-the-abortion-paragraphs\/","title":{"rendered":"Down with the Abortion Paragraphs!"},"content":{"rendered":" [et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”3.22″ next_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_fullwidth_menu menu_id=”2″ submenu_direction=”downwards” fullwidth_menu=”off” active_link_color=”#ce5f33″ dropdown_menu_line_color=”#ce5f33″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″ menu_font=”Georgia||||||||” menu_text_color=”#474747″ border_width_bottom=”7px” border_color_bottom=”#ffffff” border_style_bottom=”outset” text_orientation=”center” animation_style=”fade” z_index_tablet=”500″ menu_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” menu_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” menu_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px” saved_tabs=”all”]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_fullwidth_menu][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Header” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ custom_margin=”||-92px||false|false” 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header_3_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_3_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_3_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_3_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_4_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_4_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_4_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_4_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_4_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_4_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_5_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_5_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_5_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_5_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_5_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_5_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_6_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_6_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_6_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_6_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_6_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_6_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″]<\/p>\n Figure 19. K\u00e4the Kollwitz, Down with the Abortion Paragraphs<\/em>, 1923, crayon lithograph, state II of II. K\u00e4the Kollwitz Museum, Cologne<\/p><\/div>\n Rather than use the contemporary image of the New Woman, who simultaneously frightened the right, galvanized the radical feminist movement, and confused the KPD, Kollwitz made the deliberate decision to foreground the proletarian mother in Down with the Abortion Paragraphs<\/em>. In so doing, Kollwitz brought attention to a demographic that the KPD struggled to fully address and genuinely support through visual representations of party culture and praxis. Kollwitz\u2019s portrayal of the proletarian mother through the medium of political poster not only placed the maternal figure at the forefront of the abortion debate, but also asserted her importance for the KPD. As we will see, Kollwitz\u2019s poster differed from the way other left-leaning artists depicted the working-class mother\u2014as a sympathetic figure who lacked her own agency. This choice also effectively countered the predominance of fashionable, bourgeois New Women in Weimar visual culture, and implicitly rebuked the KPD for not making working-class mothers more visible in their party platform and their printed materials.<\/p>\n Down with the Abortion Paragraphs <\/em>confronts passersby with a starkly-rendered image of a pregnant working-class mother and her children. <\/em>The poster measures 52.5 x 48.4 centimeters, slightly smaller in scale relative to Kollwitz\u2019s other political images, such as Never again War<\/em>. Aside from the text and simplified image, Kollwitz left the poster deliberately bare, with no background or context specified. This was a common technique implemented in Kollwitz\u2019s political posters, which effectively focuses viewer attention on the starkly-rendered figures. Keeping in mind how political posters functioned through public spectatorship and reception, Kollwitz created an artwork that would be bold and stark enough to grab the attention of spectators passing by on the street and leave a lasting impression on them. Kollwitz thereby ensured that the issue of abortion rights, and the KPD\u2019s campaign, would be visually associated with the working-class mother.<\/p>\n Figure 20. K\u00e4the Kollwitz, The Mothers<\/em>, sheet 6 of the series War<\/em>, 1921\/1922, woodcut, Cologne Kollwitz Collection, K\u00e4the Kollwitz Museum K\u00f6ln<\/p><\/div>\n Kollwitz\u2019s rendering of the mother was meant to evoke sympathy for the plight of working-class women while also reminding the viewer of this figure\u2019s strength. Kollwitz depicted the mother with large hands and used dark areas of shadow to indicate muscle mass through her sleeve. These traits allude to the physical nature of the woman\u2019s labor both in and out of the home. This seems to be a pointed riposte to KPD posters that featured muscular male laborers: Kollwitz claimed those idealized physical traits for the working-class mother. By depicting the mother in this way, Kollwitz presented an alternative representative for German communism. However, while Kollwitz emphasized the woman\u2019s strength, she also depicted her as a victim\u2014thus indirectly indicting the KPD for neglecting women\u2019s welfare. The most tangible sign of her abuse is the bruise engulfing the mother\u2019s left eye. We are prompted to assume that this abuse was perpetrated by her husband. Thus, Kollwitz not only replaced the muscular, hypermasculine laborer, but also blamed him for spousal abuse. This in turn served as an indictment of the party culture itself.<\/p>\n While the proletarian mother appeared frequently in Kollwitz\u2019s oeuvre, her rendering and exhibition setting in Down with the Abortion Paragraphs<\/em> indicates how Kollwitz adapted this motif to achieve a new aim. Kollwitz\u2019s woodcut print The Mothers<\/em> (1921-22; Figure 20), like Down with the Abortion Paragraphs<\/em>, features maternal figures circled around their children in a gesture of protection, starkly presented in monochrome without any indication of spatial context. Kollwitz published and exhibited this print in 1924 at the Anti-War Museum in Berlin, as part of a larger cycle, to protest the horror of World War I. Here, as in her poster for the KPD, Kollwitz used working-class maternal imagery to make a political statement. But there are key differences between these works. The Mothers<\/em>, which measures 34.3 x 40 centimeters, is a smaller, more intimate image designed for individual contemplation, rather than a poster designed for street viewing. In The Mothers<\/em>, the image itself also bears the whole weight of the work\u2019s meaning, as there is no accompanying text.<\/p>\n Figure 21. Otto Dix, Mother and Child<\/em>, 1923, oil on plywood<\/p><\/div>\n Both of these images by Kollwitz contributed to a larger body of representations of motherhood made by left-leaning artists during the Weimar era. Otto Dix, for example, used this motif as a mode of social criticism.[1]<\/a> Dix\u2019s oil painting Mother and Child <\/em>(1923; Figure 21) portrays an unidealized working-class mother with a ruddy complexion, a frowning face, and closely cropped hair. The child in her hands wears a matching bib and gown rendered in a bright shade of light blue. The purity of the child\u2019s clean clothes is emphasized by the mother\u2019s large hands, stained black from manual labor. Like Kollwitz, Dix clearly aimed to reveal the hardships faced by working-class mothers: their sallow complexions, protruding veins, and simple clothing point to poverty and its attendant health problems. Both artists use the mother as a way to appeal to the viewer, who should be moved to ameliorate her suffering. But Dix\u2019s painting remained in the confines of the art gallery, and therefore could only be seen by a limited audience\u2014primarily comprising the wealthy elite with leisure time. Kollwitz\u2019s image, which the KPD circulated throughout Germany, could be seen on the street, where working women along with other segments of society could view it and take action. Her poster thus not only made the proletarian woman the figurehead of the KPD\u2019s campaign, but also spoke directly to working-class female voters, giving them greater importance and agency in the political sphere.<\/p>\n Through the relationship between image and text in the poster, Kollwitz also made a subtle, implicit critique of the KPD\u2019s treatment of women\u2019s issues. The phrase Nieder mit den Abtreibungs Paragraphen <\/em>takes up the left side of the composition, striking a balance with the mother and children, emblazoned with Kollwitz\u2019s signature, on the right; the two join in the middle of the composition. Importantly, Kollwitz used a black cursive-like typography both for the main text and for her signature. Because this typeface evokes the style of handwriting, it makes it seem as if both the slogan and the signature are authored or \u201cspoken\u201d by Kollwitz herself.\u00a0 By linking her signature and the political message together with the proletarian mother, Kollwitz simultaneously identified the issue of abortion as a working-class issue and also indicating that she personally lent her support to the KPD\u2019s stance on the abortion paragraphs.<\/a><\/p>\n However, noticeably separate, and in a different typography than Kollwitz\u2019s handwritten phrase, are the words \u201cpublished by the KPD.\u201d This sets up a subtle conflict within the poster between Kollwitz and the KPD. Separate from the main figure, the KPD\u2019s editorial stamp is situated precariously close to the mother\u2019s black eye. By creating a visual link between the two, Kollwitz evoked the KPD\u2019s neglect of working-class women in their party platform.[2]<\/a> Thus although Kollwitz signaled her support for the KPD\u2019s anti-Paragraph 218 campaign, she also distanced herself from the party\u2019s culture, and tried to instigate reform in their policies. She took the opportunity that this commission presented to align herself with working-class women and their access to legal and safe abortion, while at the same time making pictorial choices that shamed the KPD for their lack of substantive commitment to women\u2019s issues.<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row column_structure=”1_2,1_2″ _builder_version=”3.25″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”3.25″ custom_padding=”|||” custom_padding__hover=”|||”][et_pb_button button_url=”http:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/confrontingthewomanquestion\/popular-media” button_text=”Women, popular media, and the kpd” button_alignment=”right” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ custom_button=”on” button_text_size=”14px” button_text_color=”#000000″ button_bg_color=”#e0d8c8″ 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button_letter_spacing=”1px” button_font=”|700||on|||||” button_icon=”%%3%%” button_on_hover=”off” custom_margin=”|-60px|0px||false|false” custom_margin_tablet=”|0px|||false|false” custom_margin_last_edited=”on|desktop” custom_padding=”16px|28px|16px|28px|true|true” z_index_tablet=”500″ button_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” button_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” button_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px” locked=”off”]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_button][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ text_font=”Georgia||||||||” text_text_color=”#474747″ text_font_size=”12px” text_line_height=”1.1em” link_font=”Georgia||||||||” link_text_color=”#ce5f33″ border_width_top=”2px” border_color_top=”#b3b3b3″ z_index_tablet=”500″ text_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” text_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” text_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” link_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” link_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” link_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” ul_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” ul_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” ul_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” ol_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” ol_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” ol_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” quote_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” quote_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” quote_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_2_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_2_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_2_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_3_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_3_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_3_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_4_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_4_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_4_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_5_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_5_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_5_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” header_6_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” header_6_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” header_6_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” border_width_top_tablet=”2px” border_width_top_phone=”2px” box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px”]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [1]<\/a> Vangen, \u201cImages of Motherhood in Weimar Germany,\u201d 27.<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> While the KPD seemed to focus on reaching out to working-class women, in reality the majority of their members and legislative representatives were intellectuals or white-collar working women. See Atina Grossmann, \u201cGerman Communism and New Women: Dilemmas and Contradictions,\u201d in Women and Socialism, Socialism and Women: Europe Between the Two World Wars<\/em>, ed. Helmut Gruber and Pamela Graves (New York: Berghahn Books, 1998), 135-168<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" [et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”3.22″ next_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_fullwidth_menu menu_id=”2″ submenu_direction=”downwards” fullwidth_menu=”off” active_link_color=”#ce5f33″ dropdown_menu_line_color=”#ce5f33″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″ menu_font=”Georgia||||||||” menu_text_color=”#474747″ border_width_bottom=”7px” border_color_bottom=”#ffffff” border_style_bottom=”outset” text_orientation=”center” animation_style=”fade” z_index_tablet=”500″ menu_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” menu_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” menu_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px” saved_tabs=”all”] [\/et_pb_fullwidth_menu][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Header” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ custom_margin=”||-92px||false|false” custom_padding=”||0px||false|false” locked=”off” prev_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ text_font=”Georgia||||||||” text_text_color=”#474747″ link_font=”Georgia||||||||” link_text_color=”#ce5f33″ link_font_size=”12px” header_font=”Georgia||||||||” header_text_color=”#242424″ header_font_size=”55px” z_index_tablet=”500″ text_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” text_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” text_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” link_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” link_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” link_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” ul_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3579,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":7,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page-template-blank.php","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-201","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/confrontingthewomanquestion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/201","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/confrontingthewomanquestion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/confrontingthewomanquestion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/confrontingthewomanquestion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3579"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/confrontingthewomanquestion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/confrontingthewomanquestion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/201\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/confrontingthewomanquestion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":197,"date":"2021-03-03T05:55:36","date_gmt":"2021-03-03T05:55:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/tm2974a\/?page_id=197"},"modified":"2021-05-03T20:21:48","modified_gmt":"2021-05-03T20:21:48","slug":"popular-media","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/confrontingthewomanquestion\/popular-media\/","title":{"rendered":"Women, Popular Media, and the KPD"},"content":{"rendered":" [et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ fullwidth=”on” _builder_version=”3.22″ next_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_fullwidth_menu menu_id=”2″ submenu_direction=”downwards” fullwidth_menu=”off” active_link_color=”#ce5f33″ dropdown_menu_line_color=”#ce5f33″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″ menu_font=”Georgia||||||||” border_width_bottom=”7px” border_color_bottom=”#ffffff” border_style_bottom=”outset” text_orientation=”center” animation_style=”fade” z_index_tablet=”500″ menu_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” menu_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” menu_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” box_shadow_horizontal_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px” saved_tabs=”all” menu_text_color=”#474747″]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n [\/et_pb_fullwidth_menu][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ admin_label=”Header” _builder_version=”3.26.3″ animation_style=”fade” locked=”off” prev_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”3.26.3″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.26.3″ text_font=”Georgia||||||||” link_font=”Georgia||||||||” link_text_color=”#ce5f33″ link_font_size=”12px” header_font=”Georgia||||||||” header_text_color=”#242424″ header_font_size=”55px” z_index_tablet=”500″ text_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” text_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” text_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” link_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” link_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” link_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” ul_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” ul_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” ul_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” ol_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” ol_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” ol_text_shadow_blur_strength_tablet=”1px” quote_text_shadow_horizontal_length_tablet=”0px” quote_text_shadow_vertical_length_tablet=”0px” 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box_shadow_vertical_tablet=”0px” box_shadow_blur_tablet=”40px” box_shadow_spread_tablet=”0px” text_text_color=”#474747″ text_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”text_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ text_text_shadow_vertical_length=”text_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ text_text_shadow_blur_strength=”text_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ link_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”link_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ link_text_shadow_vertical_length=”link_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ link_text_shadow_blur_strength=”link_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ ul_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”ul_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ ul_text_shadow_vertical_length=”ul_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ ul_text_shadow_blur_strength=”ul_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ ol_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”ol_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ ol_text_shadow_vertical_length=”ol_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ ol_text_shadow_blur_strength=”ol_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ quote_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”quote_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ quote_text_shadow_vertical_length=”quote_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ quote_text_shadow_blur_strength=”quote_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_2_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_2_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_2_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_2_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_2_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_2_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_3_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_3_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_3_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_3_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_3_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_3_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_4_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_4_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_4_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_4_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_4_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_4_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_5_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_5_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_5_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_5_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_5_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_5_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_6_text_shadow_horizontal_length=”header_6_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_6_text_shadow_vertical_length=”header_6_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″ header_6_text_shadow_blur_strength=”header_6_text_shadow_style,%91object Object%93″]<\/p>\n Figure 12. Cover page of the magazine Uhu; Das neue Ullstein Magazin, no. 1 (1924)<\/p><\/div>\n As the abortion debate raged in the early 1920s, the KPD also took part in a related battle: that of representations of women in mass media. The KPD struggled to keep up with the shift in Weimar popular media that began to reflect the changing role of women in the public sphere. They were reluctant to align themselves with the stereotype of the New Woman, a figure whose close connection to capitalist mass consumerism made her anathema to the party\u2019s ideals. However, it was paramount to the future of the party that they respond to the new attention paid to women in Weimar society, and the way this figure was visualized. It is therefore important to analyze the KPD\u2019s campaign materials in relation to the proliferating images of New Women in Weimar visual culture.<\/p>\n It is important to note that the \u201cNew Woman\u201d was not a real person, but an image and stereotype propagated by popular mass media. This complex, contradictory figure served as a site of contestation through which competing visions of modern German society were debated. Many progressive feminists viewed this figure positively, as the embodiment of women\u2019s political enfranchisement, economic independence, and growing equality with men.[1]<\/a> For some on the political left, the New Woman symbolized the evils of capitalism; conservatives, by contrast, considered the New Woman a threat to the German family, given her association with a breakdown of traditional gender divides. But for all of these groups, the New Woman symbolized modernity, and therefore required some sort of response.<\/p>\n This widespread preoccupation with the New Woman was due in part to the ubiquity of this figure in Weimar culture and the mass media, from films to novels and, above all, illustrated magazines (Figure 12).[2]<\/a> Illustrated magazines first appeared in Germany in the late nineteenth century, but expanded dramatically during and after World War I.[3]<\/a> Their popularity was driven in part by the inventive integration of photographs into the layout, as well as by photojournalism, which surged in use as a way to relay information during the war. Magazines used photojournalistic spreads to create visual essays that covered issues ranging from the arts, travel, profiles of celebrities, and social concerns.[4]<\/a> The integration of photographs in popular media was also used to create the advertisements that filled the pages of illustrated magazines such as the Berliner Illustrirte Zeitung<\/em> (BIZ), a major weekly magazine published by the Ullstein company that was founded in the 1890s.[5]<\/a> Images of models, actresses, and female politicians alike dominated the covers of magazines, representing the shift in the new role women played within the public sphere and delivering messages of female empowerment. It is important to note, however, that these idealized images purveyed by magazines were targeted towards bourgeois women with the means to purchase illustrated magazines and the products that they advertised.[6]<\/a><\/p>\n Figure 13. Hannah H\u00f6ch, Dada-Ernst<\/em>, 1920.<\/p><\/div>\n The New Woman played a central role in art of the Weimar period as well\u2014especially in the photomontages made by members of the Berlin Dada group. The emergence of Dada photomontage was directly linked to the explosion of illustrated popular media during this time. Hannah H\u00f6ch in particular integrated images of the New Woman from mass media into her photomontages, seemingly both to celebrate women\u2019s newfound power and to critique this as well as other stereotypes that inhibited women\u2019s freedom.[7]<\/a> H\u00f6ch\u2019s 1920 photomontage Dada-Ernst <\/em>(Figure 13), for example, features a crouching gymnast with the short, bobbed hair that functioned as the New Woman\u2019s chief attribute. The composition is filled with other emblems of modern life, such as a skyscraper and pair of boxers. Above the gymnast\u2019s head is a piece of metal machinery that forms a diagonal line leading the eye towards a pair of gold coins above two disembodied female legs. In between the legs is a woman dressed in a long ballgown, with the silhouette of another leg imposed over her lower half. As Maud Lavin notes, in Dada-Ernst<\/em> we see H\u00f6ch \u201ccataloguing and recombining of signs of modernism,\u201d including the New Woman, as a way to both picture and interrogate modern society.[8]<\/a> Above all, like so many of H\u00f6ch\u2019s artworks, Dada-Ernst <\/em>puts the New Woman, and the role of women in popular media, at center stage.<\/p>\n While Dada art and the mainstream illustrated press abounded in images of the New Woman, the KPD\u2019s publicity strategies hinged upon the male laborer. Though the KPD was founded in part by women such as Rosa Luxemburg, and women comprised some of its leadership, the party\u2019s political posters almost invariably portrayed their culture through images of idealized, militarized male figures. Their aim was to differentiate the party from other leftist organizations: using images of construction workers, lathe operators, riggers, and coal miners in their publications, the KPD wished to associate themselves with a \u201cmanly resolve\u201d that, by implication, their rival parties lacked.[9]<\/a> For example, in a 1919 poster produced by the Spartacist League, the forerunner to the KPD (Figure 14), a working-class man wields a sword as he faces a Lernaean Hydra. Each of the Hydra\u2019s snarling heads represents one of the forces the party aimed to fight, including capitalism, new militarism, and the Junkers (the landed nobility). Spartacus has already conquered one head, which wears a pickelhaube<\/em>, a spiked military helmet associated with the Prussian army and represents the imperial reign of Kaiser Wilhelm. By placing the sword in the hand of Spartacus, the working-class man, the KPD credited him with the destruction of imperial rule. Above the figure is emblazoned the question Was will Spartakus?<\/em> (What does Spartacus want?); the answer to the question, it would seem, is communism and the KPD. This question addressed the male voter directly and encouraged sympathetic viewers to identify with the accompanying male figure, ignoring female viewers entirely. Similarly, in a 1924 election poster designed by Rudolf Schlichter (Figure 15), the working-class man is front and center. Holding a torch above his head that represents the flame of revolution, he leads a crowd of other working-class men as he urges the viewer to vote for the KPD in the upcoming election. Notably, we see no women in that crowd\u2014an indication that the party still conceptualized its primary audience as working-class men.<\/p>\n\n\t\tConclusion<\/h1>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/edspace.american.edu\/tm2974a\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1822\/2021\/03\/lex-nerlinger-paragph-218-1931.jpg\")
<\/a><\/a>Down with the Abortion Paragraphs!<\/h1>\n
<\/a><\/a><\/a>Women, Popular Media, and the KPD in Weimar Germany<\/h1>\n
<\/a><\/a>