A New Role for Women in The Great Gatsby

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Throughout history, women have had to overcome many setbacks. They have gone through a lot of mistreatment in the process of changing the idea of how a woman should dress, act, and participate in activities outside of the home. The role of women changed drastically in the 1920s. This change presented women with new freedoms in the workforce, at home, and in fashion. Women who took advantage of the new opportunities and independence in the 1920s are known as flappers. The flapper lifestyle is seen most clearly through Jordan Baker, a professional golfer and friend of Daisy Buchanan in The Great Gatsby. Through his characterization of Daisy Buchanan and Jordan Baker, F. Scott Fitzgerald highlights the changing role of women during the 1920s in The Great Gatsby.
The 1920s allowed women to have a lot of new freedom, but women were still presented with setbacks that kept them from fully experiencing it. The Clash of Cultures in the 1910s and 1920s website explains how women were more restricted in how they dressed before the 1920s. It describes how women were forced to wear corsets and frilly clothes that were more conservative. This conservative way of dress changed during the 1920s with the flappers (“Image and Lifestyle”). The website goes on to explain that even though women had many new opportunities during the time period, they were still not given important roles at work. “Although the labor movement thrived in the early twentieth century, by 1920 a small fraction of women in the workforce had union jobs, and rarely did the movement take up issues of concern to working women or allow them leadership roles” (“Work, Education, and Reform”). The Clash of Cultures website also explains that there was some opposition to the new free...

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...the growing independence for women in how they dress, where they work, and how they act. This will continue to grow, producing the modern lifestyle of women in the United States.

Works Cited
Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Collier Books, 1991. Print.
“Flappers.” US History: Pre-Colombian to the New Millennium. Independence Hall Association, n.d. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
Hilliardem. "Flappers and Old Sports." The Great American Novel: 1900-1965. WordPress, 18 Sept. 2012. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.
“Image and Lifestyle.” Clash of Cultures in the 1910s and 1920s. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.
“Work, Education, and Reform.” Clash of Cultures in the 1910s and 1920s. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Feb. 2014.
Wyly, Michael J. Nick Carraway’s Price: The Loss of Innocence. Understanding the Great Gatsby: Understanding Great Literature. San Diego: Lucent Books Inc, 2002. Print.

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