Change and Conformity

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Recommended: Social/cultural changes in the 1920s

Change and Conformity F. Scott Fitzgerald once said, "The test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function." This quote rings true to the 1920s in the fact that Americans were changing their lifestyles while simultaneously being forced into conformity. The post World War One America was changing in ways that it never had before. An economic upturn and new technologies of the day made life easier than ever before. Better pay and an eight hour workday left time and money to be spent, and Americans took the opportunity to be social. New ideas and trends spread like wildfire, and post war Americans, who had seen what it was like abroad, were not so ready to accept the traditions and ideals of the past. The Roaring Twenties created several positive changes towards the movement of women's rights and the improvements of African American acceptance in the US, while at the same time Americans were forced into conformity through laws like the 18th amendment. In the nineteen twenties, the crusade for women’s rights gained a much greater force than it had in the past. What helped to make this possible was the economic upturn. The wages of workers increased, and women also began to weigh more heavily in the workforce. Beginning in World War One, American women began to take the jobs of their spouses to support their families. They continued to work even after the war was over. The amount of women making up the overall labor forced increased about two percent in the time between 1920 and 1930, totaling to about twenty two percent in 1930 (“Women in the Labor Force”). Although they did not take the same jobs that men did, women were still an important ... ... middle of paper ... ...ple used was medicinal alcohol. People who had a prescription could legally acquire alcohol, and they could not get in trouble (Hanson, Erica 33-34). The alcohol that doctors prescribed would be produced in factories, therefore it was much safer than home produced alcohol. Many people who did not get the prescriptions produced alcohol at home, called bootleg liquor. Unfortunately, the liquor that people produced at home was extremely dangerous and could really hurt people. Some people would add things like embalming fluid, creosote, and other harmful chemicals (Hanson, David J.). The homemade alcohol could lead to problems like paralysis and blindness, and sometimes even death. Often times getting around the amendment proved much more dangerous than following it. Some people, instead of drinking, tried drugs such as opium and cocaine, leading to even larger problems.

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