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

Pike, Deborah. “”Masquerading as Herself”: The Flapper and the Modern Girl in the Journalism and Short Fiction of Zelda Fitzgerald.” The F. Scott Fitzgerald Review 15 (2017): 130-48.

This is an article written by a Deborah Pike, she is a senior lecturer in English literature at the University of Notre Dame, whose research is in the area of literary modernism and she is also the author of he Subversive Art of Zelda Fitzgerald. Thus, her article provides insights of what is behind Zelda’s writing as she has an extensive knowledge on the topic. Her article in a way is a compare and contrast between the Zelda in her short stories and journalism and the Flapper. In a way her journals glorify the consumerist image of the Flappers, which was part

of the role flappers played in society: consuming and boosting economy, which would later lead to a depression. “Female identity in such a world evolves through acquisition; later flappers who were less political and more fashion conscious bought into consumer society”. Here the author emphasizes the role consumption played in Flapper lifestyle, and how it affects womanhood.” She defined the flapper as a woman-empowered, unconstrained, cosmopolitan, and outspoken, able to experiment with her identity and her appearance in light of postwar economic prosperity and innovations in popular media such as film and advertising.” This quote represents from the article’s analysis, what Zelda thought about Flappers versus the consumer idea she represented in her writings. In this description, we see how important the Flappers were in that time period.
Through her article, the author creates this dual identity for the Flappers do to her detailed analysis of Zelda’s writings and her motifs. Never the less, these dual identities convey the level of influence Flappers made, either through consumerism or through affecting women’s role.

Freedman, Eb. "THE NEW WOMAN: CHANGING VIEWS OF WOMEN IN THE 1920'S." The Journal of American History. 61, no. 2 (1974): 372-93.

This article written by Eb Freedman in 1974, which were times of drastic change and liberal views, during the second wave feminism and 4 years after the strike for equality of 1970.

The events happening in those years directly affect Freedman’s focus. In her article she explains how the New Women came about and how for the first time women were equal by law to men. And then further explains how Flappers, were feminist because they wanted the same freedom as men, and they achieved it through their appearance and their behavior. However, most importantly her main focus is the moral revolution that took place and at the core of the moral revolution are the Flappers. “The revolution in manners and morals was accelerated by the growing independence of the American women.” As mentioned in other sources, as women were able to become economically and politically independent, they started to change their manners and morals from the submissive ideals of the Victorian era. Furthermore, in her article she discusses how historians discarded the changes in manners and morals as advances in feminism because they did not interfere with of sexual division of labor. Which is a contrast to the ideas of how the Flappers were in a way feminist, presented by other sources. She also criticizes the generalization made by historians about the women in the different eras without taking into consideration race, ethnicity, class and region. This means that the reality for the Flappers who were middle

class women in the Northeast wasn’t the same as that of an African American in the South. Never the less, Freedman is indeed criticizing the lack of proper history on feminism during the 1920s, therefore, she is agreeing with the ideas that the Flappers did played an important role in shaping what womanhood and the ideas that they had about feminism in 1970. She also exalts the idea that Flappers in a way were fighting the stereotype that was perpetuated by historian of woman’s place in the home rather than her capacities for non- domestic careers.
This source is important because it asses issues that other sources didn’t and in understanding middle class women in the 1920. It is helpful to understand, also what historian criticized about them because it is also part of what they embodied in the eye of other people.

The different sources have led to similar points such as the idea that Flappers were in a way feminist who dispute for social and economic change through their actions.

Thus, they were able to change the redefined what womanhood was from the Victorian Era ideals becoming ones that were equal to men. Women experience a social change in the 1920 that, I believe defined the kind of life women enjoy today. Imagine if the change the Flappers brought didn’t happen, how long women would’ve have had put up with the oppression of men?

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

character.