In 1926: living at the edge of time - Monoskop

MALE VS. FEMALE 30S
scension: "Those who do not wish to be buried in bureaucracy will
pursue manual professions which, like that of bricklayer, can still be
edifying." Certain professions that adopt a new image of femininity do
so because they rigorously eliminate agency from nonphysical workand
because roles without agency or physical work are invariably taken
to be female. The language and behavior of K.'s assistants in Kafka's
Schloss, for example, illustrate this fact. Likewise, the air of moral depravity
which surrounds the figure of the gigolo (von Soden and Schmidt,
13) shows that gender equality remains a purely utopian claim.
Predictably, the few authentic innovations in the relation between the
sexes encounter multiple forms of resistance within a set of unchanged
basic values and social structures. This inertia is mainly represented by
the institution of the family, for which gender equality is seen as a source
of instability. It is no accident that it has become a literary convention
to present marriage as the result of random encounters [see Railroads]:
a high degree of insecurity, which is manifest in ever-increasing divorce
rates, and disillusionment with concepts such as Kameradschaftsehe, or
"marriage out of camaraderie" (Die wilden Zwanziger, 112, 124), seem
to be the unavoidable price of gender equality. The spouses in Schnitzler's
Traumnovelle (Dream Story) are both willing to consider extramarital
adventures as nothing but dreams, in order to achieve a precarious
reconciliation. Especially in Germany, a passionate public debate concerning
the legalization of abortion emerges as a metonym for this crisis.
Opinions, books, and films representing a broad range of political opinions
(von Soden and Schmidt, 105) agree that sharing a life as a couple
no longer implies parenthood as a "natural" consequence and obligation.
For others, it is the experience of the Great War-rather than
intrinsic problems between partners-that accounts for such a basic
change in childbearing patterns. Those who are in favor of making
abortion a legally protected option argue that the status of a single
parent (with its social marginalization) creates an intolerably asymmetrical
situation for women: "When people assert that abortion is a crime,
one might object that in most cases it is motivated by shame, fear,
weakness, moral conflict, and often the prejudice against 'fallen' women.
The negative attitude toward life that has emerged from the war has
weakened the desire to have children. Shall we procreate new victims for
the mania of extermination?" (Gerloff, 795).
In the media, the feeling prevails that women and men should have