Men: The German men had important roles in society and were known as the main source of income for families. They were able to get jobs and make all of the rules for their family. They were responsible for making all of the final decisions in the family. They were able to buy land and property because they were the ones who made all of the money. They were able to vote during the elections while the women could not. Men were the “stronger” sex – intelligent, courageous and determined. By nature, they were supposed to be aggressive, ruling over their wives and owning all property. Men were the primary wage earners and the public face of the family to the rest of the world. They had abilities that far exceeded those of women, and had the opportunity to better themselves by pursuing education, accessing professional fields, and becoming involved in political activity.
Women: Were known as second class citizens and had few rights. The women did not have very much control over anything except the children. They normally stayed at home and worked on household chores because they were not able to get jobs. Their main concern was in keeping the man of the household happy because women were seen more as tools rather than a human being. They also were not able to fight in wars unless they worked as nurses but it would be rare for the women to be near the frontline. Another popular job that women would have was prostitution which was one of the few ways a woman could earn an income. Some women were able to continue to manage homes, farms and shops but others were unable to survive on their own and forced to abandon their homes and follow their husbands with the army. Women who traveled with the army were known as camp-followers and did so for many reasons: inability to provide for themselves at home; fear of attack; eviction by troops; desire to be with husbands; the attraction of a paying job and rations (even if their pay and rations were minimal), or in some cases as sutlers selling to the army. Well over 20,000 women followed one army or another and transformed camps into small towns. In some ways, women were an important element because they carried out tasks such as laundering and nursing (both of which were paid) which men were unwilling to do and without which the army would have been even more seriously depleted by disease. In addition, women performed duties as cooks, food foragers, spies and water carriers (all unpaid). http://www.lib.niu.edu/1992/ihy9212121.jpg
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