1920s Flappers Essay

Flappers

People today complain about how young girls behave and what they wear but imagine your grandmother as a young girl wearing a short dress, short hair cut and behaving however she wanted.Well that’s exactly what the flappers did and how they dressed in the 1920's. A Flapper is a fashionable young women in the 1920's, intent on enjoying herself and flouting conventional standards of behavior.Many people didn’t approve of what they wore or how they behaved but they didn’t care; they believed in living there life to the fullest(SMITH "FLAPPERS").The flappers image was considered as drastic to some, shocking changes in women hair and clothing.

They wore fashion like short dresses, rolled down rayon "artificial silk" stockings, fake

jewelry, dropped waistlines, and cloche hats.They even wore long strings of beads, opera gloves, shoe clips, robe de style, peekaboo hats, and belts. There hairstyles even changed; they got their hair cut by male barbers.They began to were curls on their cheeks or even a bob which back then was considered as tom boyish.Before the flapper became the icon of the fashionable world, women wore very restrictive clothing consisting of long skirts with layers of petticoats cover tightly lace corsets that produced an hour glass figure with wide hips and narrow waist(A Cultural History of The United States 1920's 49-51).

The flapper represented more than a fashion trend; it was a social phenomenon of young independent women who made the straight line dress something of an icon uniform("signs").

The flapper left her indelible mark on the language, dress, and behavior of American women(SMITH "FLAPPERS").The 1920's was the era of the first youth rebellion(The Jazz Age The 20's 28-30).Some people viewed the flappers as bold for outspoken nature and her use of slang. Flappers represented a new type of freedom following the constraints of WWII(The Twenties in America 313-314).The flapper became an ideal for women who wanted to be modern, chic, and carefree(The Twenties in America

313-314).

They demanded more independence and equality for women.Women were ecstatic once the 19th amendment was added to the constitution giving women the right to vote.At last women had the freedom to do anything men could do(Chamberlain ).They could now drive fast cars and dance to jazz at clubs.

People had very strong opinions about the flappers in the 1920's rather they were negative or positive.The younger generation loved everything about thing.Young females wanted to be and dress like them once they became teens.The older generation thought that they made women look bad and thought they were young and ignorant.

After the 19th amendment was passed women saw it as a green ticket for independence and more freedom.They now could do activities that that men could do but women couldn’t before.They did activities like attending late night parties, night clubs,and going out without chaperon.They believed that life should be lived moment to moment not accord to society, or moral conventions(Smith "flappers").They changed their views regarding courtship rituals, marriage and children rearing(A Cultural History of The United States 1920's 49-51).

They also used varieties of slangs.They used slangs like bees knees(superb person or thing), belly laugh(aloud; uninhibited laugh), and all wet(wrong) but the most popular were big cheese(important person), bump off(to murder), banana(nonsense), apple sauce(nonsense) and bologna(nonsense)(The Jazz Age The 20's 28-30).They were brave, young, and sopisticated.They believed that women should live life to the fullest and they seemed

to

Cling to youth as if it were to leave them at any moment.