Impact Of The Roaring Twenties On Modern Day Canada

Canada was largely involved in the First World War, and was subsequently starting to gain recognition throughout the world. Before the Great Depression, Canada was going through an exceptional period of comfort and ease: The Roaring Twenties. The Roaring Twenties worked to shape modern day Canada by introducing new developments such as the liberation of women, the rise of the entertainment industry, and the consumer economy. Old values were being challenged regarding social standards of femininity and racial interactions. Canadians were starting to enjoy entertainment through movies and dancing, which helped break race barriers with jazz. New products were constantly being invented and sold, demand for Canadian exports was increasing, and

Today, women make up around 25% of the Canadian government and 47% of the workforce. Without these fundamental steps towards political equality, this would not be possible today. Although the Twenties brought about political equality for women, they also had crucial social changes in expectations and standards for women. Traditional societal values and practices were crushed during this decade when Canadian women stopped adhering to them. Prior to these years, women were expected and pressured into dressing inconveniently and ‘modestly’. The perception of modesty largely composed of vexing flamboyant dresses and coats that restricted movement and forcibly changed figures to satisfy conceptions of what a woman’s body should look like. However, the Twenties changed this: women began dressing lighter, wearing shorter dresses and clothes, wearing more makeup, and partaking in previously unacceptable behaviours. They also learned to express themselves using fashion and makeup. A hypothetical image of women who did not abide by stereotypes developed, and was dubbed the flapper. The flapper was seen as a woman with a boyish bob who wore makeup and short dresses, smoke and drank in public, and in some cases, attempted to