Analysis of Josuha Zeita´s Flapper: A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity, and the Women Who Made America Modern

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The flapper was the harbinger of a radical change in American culture. She was a product of social and political forces that assembled after the First World War. Modernization adjusted the American life. Flapper: A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity, and the Women Who Made America Modern by Joshua Zeitz analyzes the people who created the image of the flapper. This work is an incorporation of narrative, statistics, and scholarly work that provide a distinct insight on the “New Woman.” Joshua Zeitz asserts the flapper was not a dramatic change from traditional American values but reflected the “modern” decade under mass media, celebrity, and consumerism.
Flappers were the “New Woman,” asserting her right to dance, date, smoke, drink alcohol, work, and free from the restraint of accepted social norms. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda are notable people who commence the image of a flapper. Zeitz develops his argument further by providing statistics of working women who dreamed of being a flapper. The notion of the “flapper” or “New Woman” was viewed as a radical change to the preceding generations. Those that oppose the flapper saw their daughters rebelling against acceptable norms and ruining their lives. The Ku Klux Klan did not accept this image of the “New Woman.” There are also those who view flappers as acceptable. Bruce Bliven, editor of The New Republic, believes that “women concluded that they are just as capable as men.” Technology expands the image of the flapper.
The expansion of technology changed the life of every American. American industry now distributed and produced an enormous amount of household items, clothing, and jewelry. These businesses enthusiastically produced these items for profit. Automobiles changed the ...

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...cally involved. There are those that insist that the younger generation is their own “type” of feminism. Both authors write that mass media is prevalent for the image of the “flapper.”
The work of Zeitz is essential to understanding the changes within American culture. Several dynamics promote the image of the “flapper.” Even though the “New Woman” is able to break away from traditional values, expanding technology is a dynamic that affects that result. He clearly shows that these women challenge the societal norm through a different approach. The advertisements and publicity can still reinforce several stereotypes. These modernized changes are cultural echoes that American society faces today. There is an immense amount of advertising with the basis of beauty and sexuality. This work is necessary to understand the flapper and the dynamics that made America modern.

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