Het grootste sieraad van een vrouw

Gender en het kaalscheren van ‘moffenmeiden’ tijdens de nadagen van de Tweede Wereldoorlog

Samenvatting

Towards the end of World War II and the German occupation of Western Europe, joyful euphoria about the liberation coincided with the public shaving of heads of thousands of women. In the Netherlands, the so-called ‘moffenmeiden’ were considered traitors due to their alleged intimate relationships with German soldiers. As punishment their hair was shaved off and they endured humiliations in front of their community. This article is a historiographical-theoretical exploration of these head shavings. It offers a historical explanation and broadens the perspective theoretically by asking to what extent gender as an analytical framework can contribute to a deeper under- standing of this phenomenon. The accusations and the term ‘moffenmeid’ have a sexist character and were strongly determined by the community. The disapproval of the women’s behavior culminated in a political-social standing in the form of a discursive construction of the concept of “sexual collaboration”. The symbolism of head shavings and the pre- vailing views on gender during the war show that the retaliation was sexualized. Women, their bodies and sexuality were seen as nation- al properties. Thus, the Liberation was more than a moment in which nations could rein- vent themselves by punishing and excluding 'wrong' fellow countrymen. Because the war was seen as a crisis of morality and masculinity, peace entailed a restoration of the mor- al order, pre-war gender patterns, and male domination. The head shavings were a component of this turnaround to a reborn masculine state.