Re: Nationalism is Always Gendered

[Katha Pollitt <kpollitt@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Nationalism is always gendered, yes -- but that's not the same as
promoting "the family" as privileged place.  The Nazis were in some ways
quite anti-family, for instance their eugenic mating program in which
young unmarried girls bore aryan babies for the fatherland. forget the
name of the program -- Have a Baby for Hitler?  For the Nazis, and the
soviet-style communist govts, too (all of which have been extremely
nationalistic), and even for the israeli kibbutzim in their hey day,
creating the New Man often meant attempts at diminishing the power of
parents over kids  and creating a parallel and antagonistic system of
indoctrination -- school,youth groups, militaristic organizations,
etc.  To free up female labor, to circumvent religion and other "bad
attitudes," to make the next generation give its prime loyalty to the
state.
 20th cent nationalistic govts promote the family as a pretty picture--
cradle of national tradition, social order, emblem of What We're
Fighting For.  But the reality is more complicated.