Women and women related issues in the daily newspaper Siebenbürgisch-Deutsches Tageblatt from the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century
Autor: Gudrun-Liane Ittu
Cuvinte cheie: cotidian, feminism, profesionalizare, învăţătoare, licee de fete, şcoli particulare
Keywords: daily newspaper, feminism, female professions, woman teachers, high schools for girls, private schools
Lucrarea îşi propune să analizeze prezenţa feminină în cotidianul Siebenbürgisch-Deutsches Tageblatt, principalul cotidian de limbă germană din Sibiu, în intervalul 1 iulie 1899 – 30 iunie 1900, respectiv principalele probleme cu care s-au confruntat femeile germane din Transilvania în acea perioadă. În urma analizei efectuate am descoperit următoarele probleme: dezbaterea privind admiterea femeilor la catedră, în calitate de învăţătoare, necesitatea construirii de licee de fete la Sibiu şi Braşov, oferte de şcoli particulare de menaj, de muzică şi pictură. Un capitol aparte îl reprezintă reclamele pentru produse cosmetice, obiecte de modă vestimentară, bijuterii, articole sportive, oferte de lectură şi ustensile casnice.
The paper is aiming at identifying the feminine presence as well as the problem concerning the emancipation of women in the German daily newspaper Siebenbürgisch-Deutsches Tageblatt (the main German newspaper which appeared in Sibiu since 1874), during the time span from the first of July 1899 to the 30th of June 1900. The first half of the interval is dominated by the debate concerning the admission of women as teachers in the Transylvanian Saxons’ schools. The debate started in 1872 – when women’s association from Braşov submitted a request to the Consistory of the Lutheran Church, the patron of the Saxons’ schools – and came to its end in November 1899 with a partial victory of women. I say partial because female teachers were obliged to stay unmarried, otherwise they lost their jobs.
Another issue which preoccupied the Transylvanian female public was the foundation of women’s high schools in the cities of Sibiu and Braşov, an idea which was accepted on a large scale in both localities. In both of these cities associations had been created to raise the money they needed for building the schools. Thus they arranged balls, masked balls, concerts and conferences. The readers of the Siebenbürgisch-Deutsches Tageblatt were also informed about several opportunities women had to prepare for their traditional role of housewives. In this respect there were opened several private housekeeping schools. Music and painting was also taught in private schools by female teachers who studied abroad.
The newspaper also addressed women by advertising cosmetics, fashion articles, jewelry, women magazines, household appliances and sporting goods (some of them reproduced in the illustrations below).
From all I have written one can conclude that despite the fact that Transylvanian Germans were quite conservative, during the last quarter of the 19th century feminist ideas spread on a large scale and were accepted by the society.