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Social/cultural changes in the 1920s
Changing roles of women in america 1920s
Social/cultural changes in the 1920s
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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 ...
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...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.
As a nation coming out of a devastating war, America faced many changes in the 1920s. It was a decade of growth and improvements. It was also a decade of great economic and political confidence. However, with all the changes comes opposition. Social and cultural fears still caused dichotomous rifts in American society.
After World War I, America was going through an uplifting time of good fortune and prosperity. This period of freedom, known as The Roaring Twenties was a time for fun and disobeying rules. The 1920s brought new and exciting things to American culture. Music, entertainment, pop culture, and fads were greatly impacted during this time in history. The effects of each of these areas still influences America today.
After the war, the American people made the change from "old" ways to "new" ways. Many factors, such as new technology, fundamentalism, new looks and church led to tension between the old and the new. The 1920s were a time of conflicting viewpoints between traditional behaviors and new and changing attitudes.
Women’s role in society changed quite a bit during WWI and throughout the 1920s. During the 1910s women were very short or liberty and equality, life was like an endless rulebook. Women were expected to behave modestly and wear long dresses. Long hair was obligatory, however it always had to be up. It was unacceptable for them to smoke and they were expected to always be accompanied by an older woman or a married woman when outing. Women were usually employed with jobs that were usually associated with their genders, such as servants, seamstresses, secretaries and nursing. However during the war, women started becoming employed in different types of jobs such as factory work, replacing the men who had gone to fight in the war in Europe. In the late 1910s The National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA) had been fighting for decades to get the vote for women. As women had contributed so much to the war effort, it was difficult to refuse their demands for political equality. As a result, the Nineteenth Amendment to the constitution became law in 19...
The 1920s was a time of conservatism and it was a time of great social change. From the world of fashion to the world of politics, forces clashed to produce the most explosive decade of the century. It was the age of prohibition, it was the age of prosperity, and it was the age of downfall.
The 1920’s was a period of extremely economic growth and personal wealth. America was a striving nation and the American people had the potential to access products never manufactured before. Automobile were being made on an assembly line and were priced so that not just the rich had access to these vehicles, as well as, payment plans were made which gave the American people to purchase over time if they couldn't pay it all up front. Women during the First World War went to work in place of the men who went off to fight. When the men return the women did not give up their positions in the work force.
During WWII, women took over the work force, and had such inspirations as Rosie the Riveter. This created a generation of women who wanted more out of life than birthing children, and keeping a nice home for their husband. The end of the war, however, brought with it a decrease of working women. In the 1950’s the rate of working women had slightly rebounded to 29% following the post-war decrease in 1945. These women were well rounded, working outside the home, and still having dinner on the table by 5PM.
After World War I America became the world’s center for trade. The economic center of the world moved from London, England to New York City, New York, United States of America, and more specifically Wall Street (Buhle, Mari J, Czitzrom, Armitage 848). Due to women, the 1920’s marked economic and social change in America. Women took over men’s jobs during the war while their husbands were overseas, and once the men came home the women wanted to keep their positions. To show gratitude to these women Congress passed the 19th Amendment on August 18th, 1920 which prohibited any United States citizen from having the right to vote based on sex. This change in women’s social status led to more workers in the factories, which were usi...
After World War 1, America was trying to return to some normalcy in the economy and in society. This period of time led into the 1920s. The decade of the 1920s was a time of modernization for the country but was also a time where Americans tried to return to their traditional values. There is still controversy on whether the 1920s should be recognized for its new values and pop culture, or whether it was just a period of Americans going back to their original values from before the war. The 1920s can’t be recognized as just one of those things, though. As a whole, the 1920s can be viewed mostly as a time of modernization because of events such as the Harlem Renaissance and important inventions like automobiles, but it was also a time when American
For several decades, most American women occupied a supportive, home oriented role within society, outside of the workplace. However, as the mid-twentieth century approached a gender role paradigm occurred. The sequence of the departure of men for war, the need to fill employment for a growing economy, a handful of critical legal cases, the Black Civil Rights movement seen and heard around the nation, all greatly influenced and demanded social change for human and women’s rights. This momentous period began a social movement known as feminism and introduced a coin phrase known in and outside of the workplace as the “wage-gap.”
The 1920's was a time of change in the United States. “The Roaring Twenties” had an outstanding impact on the economy, social standards and everyday life. It was a time for positive results in the consumer goods industry and American families, because of higher wages, shorter working hours, and manufacturing was up 60% in consumer goods. But it was also a time of adversity and opposition for others, such as immigrants and farmers. Immigrants had lots of competition when they were looking for work and they weren't treated fairly by Americans, depending on where they came from and what they believed.
During the Great War and the huge amount of men that were deployed created the need to employ women in hospitals, factories, and offices. When the war ended the women would return home or do more traditional jobs such as teaching or shop work. “Also in the 1920s the number of women working raised by fifty percent.” They usually didn’t work if they were married because they were still sticking to the role of being stay at home moms while the husband worked and took care of the family financially. But among the single women there was a huge increase in employment. “Women were still not getting payed near as equally as men and were expected to quit their jobs if they married or pregnant.” Although women were still not getting payed as equally it was still a huge change for the women's
World War 1 was a time filled with trauma, despair, and hardship. Women had limited freedoms such as being able to vote, being confined at home, and having less than half of the rights men were able to have. Time flew by and as the war ended in 1918, the 1920’s decade of change soon approached. The year was famously known as “The Jazz Age” and “The Roaring 20’s” because of the newly found freedom, social and political changes, and the time of prohibition. Among these powerful new changes was the freedom that women were finally able to vote and enjoy what was about to come.
Women in the 1920’s and 1930’s were still trying to find their place in society. During World War 1 women had found their place in society due to the lack of men. Women were working the men’s jobs while they were off fighting the war. This gave women the opportunity to do the jobs they were denied all this time. After World War 1 ended women gained the right to vote but they were quickly laid off from their jobs as men returned from the war. By 1929 jobs became scarce; the remaining jobs were given to the men while women were laid off from work. The women, especially married women, were expected to go back to their natural place at home. Although this happened many women continue to work. Out of 25 working categories 70% of the working women were concentrated in only six. There was not much variety in the jobs women were offered or given. Women were still thought of as a lower class than men but these events gave the opportunity for
Prior to the 1920’s, American women faced many decades of unfairness and inequality. They were not given most of the privileges and opportunities that men were. They had little to no authority and were treated disrespectfully by men. Women, their children, and their belongings were considered the property of their husbands and they had nearly complete power over them. However, between the mid 1910’s to the early 1920’s, things started to turn more towards women’s favor. Many women fought tirelessly throughout the entirety of their lives for the respect they deserved and by the mid 1920’s, women in the United States discovered new rights and an entirely new status