Roles Of Women In The 1920s Essay

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From voting to working, there are many actions society takes for granted. Everyone did not always have the opportunity to take part in such seemingly normal tasks. Women in the 1920s had to fight for these rights, toiling to make significant social changes. World War I had recently ended and women were taking on new responsibilities. They felt their hard work was worthy of gaining basic rights. While many women were still mostly stay-at-home mothers who followed their husbands orders, the 1920s were a transformative time for the social status of women due to the current events, their changing appearance, and their actions.
The 1920s were a successful economic period for the United States, and women were able to express their desire for …show more content…

Women tried to erase the distinction between masculinity and femininity by meshing the two together. One example of this was women’s interest in cigarettes. Smoking was viewed as a pastime for men, but the 1920s opened up a whole new world (with unknown consequences) for women (Zeits 5-9). They tried to be more like men with a single act, even if it was in a trivial way. Women were also making great strides toward equality with the new laws they were able to get passed. Some laws seemed minor, like gaining the legal ability to drive (Alchin, “Women in the 1920s”). Others were revolutionary, like getting the right to vote. Women’s suffrage was always a desire but after World War I, women felt they had earned the right to have a say in the government to which they contribute. Men disagreed with this because they felt women having a say would lead them to become more educated. The more educated the woman, the more likely she is to disagree with, and possibly even divorce her husband, wrecking homes all across the United States, according to men of that era. Many protests and discussions later, women finally won the right to vote, with the ratification of the 19th Amendment on August 18, 1920 (1920-1940: The Twentieth Century, 24-39). Throughout history, women had less rights than men and were held to different standards. In the 1920s, that situation began to change and women put forth the effort to do

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