Changes

Ideal economic roles were gendered in West Germany. The phenomenon of widespread female wage labor was associated with the crisis years of the Third Reich and the devastated condition of Germany after the war, when "rubble women" (''Trümmerfrauen'') were seen literally rebuilding Germany brick by brick. By trying to enable women to return to their traditional roles as homemakers (where they were also expected to be primary household consumers), West German political and cultural elites sought to put the dislocations of fascism and war behind them. East Germany, by contrast, found the phenomenon of female employment outside the household less problematic. Indeed, female employment was officially promoted by the ruling SED (''Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands'': united socialistic party of Germany) regime, since gender equality in the field of labor was one of the ideals of socialism. But equality in employment (which was limited largely to the proportion of women employed outside the home, since women were relegated mainly to textile, craft and other "feminine" occupations, and remained vastly underrepresented in management jobs and professions other than teaching) did not bring equality in consumer patterns. East German elites still expected women to be the primary household consumers, creating what scholars and many of the women themselves term a "double burden" where women participated in the economy as both consumers and workers. Moreover, consumption consistently proved more challenging in East Germany, owing to the endemic shortages of consumer goods and basic household items, and the unofficial and informal patterns of procuring goods, which required a great deal of effort on the part of women. Female consumers also had to devote large amounts of time to waiting in long lines for limited quantities of goods, and many women complained that this was compounded by the failure of most East German men to pick up the slack in other household chores.

Ideal economic roles were gendered in West Germany. The phenomenon of widespread female wage labor was associated with the crisis years of the Third Reich and the devastated condition of Germany after the war, when "rubble women" (''Trümmerfrauen'') were seen literally rebuilding Germany brick by brick. By trying to enable women to return to their traditional roles as homemakers (where they were also expected to be primary household consumers), West German political and cultural elites sought to put the dislocations of fascism and war behind them. East Germany, by contrast, found the phenomenon of female employment outside the household less problematic. Indeed, female employment was officially promoted by the ruling SED (''Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands'': united socialistic party of Germany) regime, since gender equality in the field of labor was one of the ideals of socialism. But equality in employment (which was limited largely to the proportion of women employed outside the home, since women were relegated mainly to textile, craft and other "feminine" occupations, and remained vastly underrepresented in management jobs and professions other than teaching) did not bring equality in consumer patterns. East German elites still expected women to be the primary household consumers, creating what scholars and many of the women themselves term a "double burden" where women participated in the economy as both consumers and workers. Moreover, consumption consistently proved more challenging in East Germany, owing to the endemic shortages of consumer goods and basic household items, and the unofficial and informal patterns of procuring goods, which required a great deal of effort on the part of women. Female consumers also had to devote large amounts of time to waiting in long lines for limited quantities of goods, and many women complained that this was compounded by the failure of most East German men to pick up the slack in other household chores.

===Stasi===

===Stasi===

Beginning in 1950, a powerful secret police called the "Stasi" infiltrated every part of society, and used hundreds of thousands of secret informers  to ensure that bad ideas were immediately identified and rooted out.  No one trusted anyone outside their family.

Beginning in 1950, a powerful secret police called the "[[Stasi]]" infiltrated every part of society, and used hundreds of thousands of secret informers  to ensure that bad ideas were immediately identified and rooted out.  No one trusted anyone outside their family.

 

===1953 uprising===

===1953 uprising===