»She should help her husband not only in the family but also in broader, national life«

Tlie images of Carinthian Slovene men and women in the period between the wars

Abstract

Based on the example of Slovene minority in Carinthia, the article deals with various links between sex and nation. Conservative notions about female and male sex and their specific role influenced the ideology, politics, the operation of societies, etc. Patriarchal family was considered the "vital cell" of the nation, and a wife and a mother, faithful to the God and the nation, as "the soul" of a family. The emancipation of women would thus not only pose a threat to the established social order, but also to the very existence of the minority. Therefore, the minority organisations and publications - particularly The Koroški Slovenec, the most important paper in the period 1921-1941 (which was also the main source to this article) - strove to preserve traditional relations between both sexes.