Flappers

772 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Social effects of World War II

Flappers

War is often followed by change; World War I is no exception. World War I is often labeled the cause for the rise of a feminine revolution-“the flapper”. Before the term “flapper” began to describe the “young independently-minded woman of the early Twenties” (Mowry 173), the definition that is most prominent today, it had a 300-year long history. The young woman of the 1920’s was new and rebellious. In her appearance and demeanor, she broke the social constructs of her society.

When the war started, women had to take over the jobs of men and they learned to be independent. These women exemplified the beginning of change. Coupled with enfranchisement and the increased popularity of birth control, women experienced a new liberation. When the men returned from the war they found competition from the newly liberated woman who did not want to settle for making a home (Melman 17). This new class of women exercised a freedom that shocked society.

The flapper life moved at a faster pace. Before this era of change, there was no dating scene where common interaction between men and women heading for spousal relationship could occur. The proper method to finding a spouse was controlled by the male. A young lady was expected to wait for a man to address her with intentions of marriage to begin courting (Rosenberg 1). The war left “nearly a whole generation of young women without suitors” (Rosenberg 1). This situation encouraged the flapper lifestyle because women did not want or have time to wait for a suitor.

The way women lived portrayed their high-spirited rebellion against older generations. Many women began to smoke cigarettes, which was a male habit. In the time of Prohibition, flappers frequently attended nig...

... middle of paper ...

...es additional information on flappers. Another beneficial addition is the way it addresses the artistic perspective talking of entertainment of the time, it has cartoons of the time and a poem entitled “The Flapper.”

http://www.rambova.com/fashion/fash4.html This website outlines women fashions from the early twenties through the late twenties. The site also has pictures accompanies the descriptions.

http://silentladies.com/zFlappers.html This site has pictures of the stars from the silent movies called “Silent Flappers.”

Works Cited

Melman, Billie. Women and the Popular Imagination. London: Macmillan Press, 1988.

Mowry, George. The Twenties Fords, Flappers, and Fanatics. New Jersey: Prentice Hall, 1963.

Rosenberg, Jennifer. Flappers in the Roaring Twenties. http://history1900s.about.com/library/weekly/aa022201a.htm. November 16, 2002 2:30 a.m.

Show More
Related

  • Flappers in the 1920s

    657 Words  | 2 Pages

    From coast to coast people were reading the exploits of a new type of woman called flapper. Prior to World War 1 Victorian ideals still dictated the behavior of American women and girls. Frederick Lewis Allen describes the traditional role of women. Women were the guardians of morality. They were made of finer stuff than men. They were expected to act accordingly. Young girls must look forward in innocence to a romantic love match which would lead them to the altar and to living happily ever after. Until the right man came along they must allow no male to kiss them. Flappers did the opposite. Flappers danced the Charleston, kissed their boyfriends while they played golf and sat behind the wheels of fast cars. The liberated usually young female disdained the traditions of her mother and grandmother before her. Flappers would smoke and drink alcohol, she cut her hair and wore short dresses. They also changed their views on courtship rituals, marriage, and child rearing. With these they could have the same freedom as men could. The time period also saw a highly physical change in women’s lives like how they dressed and looked. For the first time in American history women could choose to be free from long hair and voluminous clothing. Before the women changed they wore very restrictive clothing consisting of long skirts with layers of petticoats over tightly laced corsets that produced an hourglass figure with wide hips and a narrow waist.

    Read More

  • Flappers: A Positive Influence On American Society

    719 Words  | 2 Pages

    The flappers that existed in this age set the way for modern feminists. Flappers were being seen as large advocates for movements supporting women’s rights. This was because as well as taking part in specific social activities, they also started to have an effect on the amount of women with jobs because of their engagement in employment. By defying the traditional roles of women in the U.S., flappers inspired many women to get jobs and support themselves, making females a more important part of American society. They were also somewhat active in politics because they supported women’s rights as well as voting. However, flappers were also seen as defying traditional gender stereotypes, and modesty. Donna Bonthuis also stated that by the time she was in high school, girls were allowed to wear pants for casual occasions. The effects that flappers had on women and working were also relevant to Donna’s life. “My mother would usually give me and my sister work to do on the weekends. We mowed the lawn, clipped weeds...We washed dishes. We got a dishwasher when I was a teenager, but it hardly ever worked. It always leaked or shut off.” The fact that teenage girls were being put to hard labor in the years following the 1920s could be attributed to the changes the flappers made in the world of working

    Read More

  • Flappers: The Untraditional Women of the 1920s

    675 Words  | 2 Pages

    These women broke many rules, leading young women to rebel against their families. Some people hated the idea of the Flapper and they blamed the war for these women’s new behaviors. After World War I, young women and young girls started to act free and go against their families. “Some people in society blamed the war for triggering this rebellion of youth and they claimed it had upset the balance of the sexes and, in particular, confuse women of their role in society and where they truly belonged” (Grouley 63). Some people hated the idea of the flappers and these women had become.

    Read More

  • The It Girl - Clara Bow

    455 Words  | 1 Pages

    Dubbed by Fitzgerald as “the quintessence of what the term ‘flapper’ signifies,” Clara Bow served as the model for all flappers. A flapper was the new woman; attractive, sassy, “worldly-wise, and briefly clad.” The flapper took on an impish and tomboyish, at lead for their time, attitude. They danced on tables, rendering the recklessness of the new youth. But modern women proved to be a danger for the conventionalism of America. They influenced the change on women’s rights, what was considered moral, and what was considered appropriate for women. These issues had previously been for making a timid woman; upon the coming of the modern woman, these issues made for a modernist female.

    Read More

  • The Role Of Women In The Film 'Gone Girl'

    1512 Words  | 4 Pages

    As the 1920’s began, the liberation of women by the introduction of new rights gave them newly found confidence to move to cities, become independent or live with other women, and experience life in a new way. This introduced the Flapper era, when women broke social normality’s and became less lady like. Without having to live by the rules, women could experiment more with makeup, dancing, and clothing, all ways of expressing themselves, as opposed to prior to the 1920’s when expectations of women’s appearances and behavior were high. This increasingly expressive woman became the cool girl.

    Read More

  • Flappers

    747 Words  | 2 Pages

    After gaining so much independence in World War I when men were away across the ocean, many women resisted the idea that they should now return to the kitchen, the rise of the flapper came out of this new concept of feminism and...

    Read More

  • Flapper Women In The 1920's

    1581 Words  | 4 Pages

    In 1920, the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which granted women in the United States the right to vote, began a period of enforced prohibition, as well as an extensive Temperance Movement following the American Revolution. However, the restrictions these laws and organizations placed on alcohol seemed to directly oppose society’s newly redefined ideals. With the prohibition boom of the roaring twenties also came a surge in anti-prohibition movements, a social response to government regulations. Social movements were prompted by economic concern as well, the need for money from the sale and distribution of alcohol during the later Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the emerging Great Depression. Finally, in 1933, past the end of the Flapper

    Read More

  • 1920s Flappers Essay

    433 Words  | 1 Pages

    But what most people do not realize is that flappers are a form of independence and modernization for women. Flappers challenged the status quo and helped break the chain of traditional gender roles for women (shmoop.com). The birth of the flapper is not accredited to only one event but many events combine such as; the changing attitudes about morality and judgement and the new nightlife scene (ndhs.org). The first event was World War I; which is the starting baseline for the creation of a flapper (ndhs.org). World War I caused great question to arise within society about morality and judgement of traditional behaviors and changed the attitudes of many (ndhs.org). Before the war women were looked at as “guardians of morality” as Frederick Lewis Allen said which meant that women stuck to the traditional gender roles and avoided sexual behavior (ndhs.org). But as people started to question morality and judgement of traditional behaviors, social changes started to occur which helped flappers to rise. Social changes toward dating, sex and marriage, and fashion were the major points that evolved the new modernized women, the flapper (ndhs.org). These women started to party more and drink more and even dressed differently and more “provocatively”. Lastly, the new nightlife scene helped cause the creation of the flapper. Prohibition

    Read More

  • Learning About Your Health:

    992 Words  | 2 Pages

    Assaf, Raymen R., MA. "Overview of Local, State, and National Government Legislation Restricting Trans Fats." Clinical Therapuetics 36.3 (2014): 328-32. Web. 27 Apr. 2014.

    Read More

  • Gender Stereotypes In The Film Mulan

    1239 Words  | 3 Pages

    The analysts in the documentary view Disney as a negative influence, however, they do not focus on the overall themes of the movies. Mulan is an example of a fiction film with feministic core values and a positive theme within it. Children watch movies for enjoyment, and they do not understand stereotypes as well as adults. One thing children can grasp is the overall message of the story. Therefore, Disney movies such as Mulan, have an overall positive influence on popular culture because of their positive themes, and it is obvious that Mulan was created as a positive female character. By showing intelligence, bravery, and independence, Mulan represents the core values of feminism. Though Mickey Mouse Monopoly had a lot of evidence of negativity in Disney films, they overlooked the positives by focusing on small clips. Today, Disney continues to make movies that include positive roles for female characters and positive themes, and people of all ages love

    Read More

  • Masquerading As Herself: The Flapper, By F. Scott Fitzgerald

    926 Words  | 2 Pages

    My lecture is specific to the middle-class of the Northeast, however they were not the only ones to experience the Flapper lifestyle, there were also a small percentage of women in other classes who experience this lifestyle. Furthermore, Flappers help us understand the impact of the WW1 and gaining the right to vote on middle class women in the 1920s. This lecture’s main takes away should be that Flappers were able to accomplish more with their rebellion than is commonly known or mentioned. And they represented liberation from women to morality imposed by men and freedom to be without being pushed down. For their time, Flappers were fighters without getting their hands dirty, but with a strong

    Read More

  • Comparing China's Traditional Influences On Mulan And Disney

    397 Words  | 1 Pages

    In Mulan, there are several Confucian beliefs and ideas. Confucianism has a set of roles everyone is told to follow (children respect parents, parents love children in return, etc.) which is shown throughout Mulan. In Confucianism, women are taught to be obedient and to act as perfect as possible which is shown in the scene where Mulan is sent to the MatchMaker to show how she can act as a “proper lady”. Considering that women were thought to be less important than men, Mulan had to go undercover as a man to be able to fight in place of her father. Also, bringing honor to your family was a big part of confucianism and Mulan’s biggest priority was to not dishonor her family. In “The Ballad of Mulan”, Confucian beliefs are shown by how loyal Mulan is to her family. When the emperor is giving out promotions, she only asks for a horse so that she can go back to her home and see her

    Read More

  • Politics: The Concept of Domesticated Opposition

    2370 Words  | 5 Pages

    The presence of constitution and laws which limit his power can be revoked or disregard by him at will as there is no independent mechanism for enforcing them.

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Trans Fat

    816 Words  | 2 Pages

    Since the early 1900’s it has been common practice to add artificial trans fats to foods. These trans fat adds flavor, longer shelf life, and palatability to many foods. Trans fat do exist in milk and meat, however only in small amounts. You will find these fats incorporated into many foods such as, snack food, deep-fried foods, baked goods, and margarines. The primary source of artificial trans fat is adding hydrogen to vegetable oils or hydrogenated oils. The common practice of adding partially hydrogenated oils to everyday

    Read More

  • Philippine President Essay

    1511 Words  | 4 Pages

    The 1935 Constitution provided for a Head of State and Head of Government which is co-equal and co-ordinate with the legislative and judiciary. On the other hand, 1973 Constitution had a feature of a parliamentary government. These two provide Ferdinand Marcos with transitory provisions and commander-in-chief provision, among others, which he used to take control of the whole system. After Marcos’ regime, there arose a need for a new Constitution. Though the 1973 Constitution was at play during Martial Law, it was never validly ratified by the Filipino people.

    Read More

More about Flappers

Open Document