The 1920’s is sometimes referred to as the “Roaring Twenties,” or “The Era of Wonderful Nonsense.” The nonsense this phrase is referring to is the style and boldness of the new kind of rebel: the flapper. In the 1920’s the flappers shocked everyone and set the path for other people who yearned to stand out and be different. The flappers certainly contrasted the generation before them, but that did not happen overnight.
There are many reasons credited as to why flappers started rebelling, but one of the major ones was WWI. The women decided that most of the eligible bachelors were dead or at war, meaning that there were not enough men to go around. When those men had gone off to war, they left their jobs, meaning that someone had to work in their place. Many women were hired, and these women earned wages and could live independently and buy things themselves for the first time. Before then, women were expected to stay at home and care for the house and kids. But because women could work now things were easily obtainable such as cars such as the Ford Model T. Even though some women had to go to work, they still had more free time than previous generations because of new inventions such as vacuum cleaners and refrigerators that made housework easier. With all of this time, Fashion, Costume, and Culture: Clothing, Headwear, Body Decorations, and Footwear through the Ages states: “young women were no longer content . . . styling long masses of hair” (1). The older women still had long hair, thought that women should only work from the home, and others. The flappers and the older generation had many more clashing ideas.
Many things made the older generation disapprove of flappers, especially the notorious parties held in clubs referre...
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...of people are certain to change it again.
Works Cited
Appel, Jacob M. “Garbo, Greta (1905-1990).” St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. Ed. Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast. Vol. 2. Detroit: St. James Press, 2000. 199-200. Student Resources in Context. Web. 28 Oct. 2013.
“Flappers.” Fashion, Costume, and Culture: Clothing, Headwear, Body Decorations, and Footwear through the Ages. Ed. Sara Pendergast and Tom Pendergast. Vol. 4: Modern World Part I: 1900-1945. Detroit: UXL, 2004.
732. Student Resources in Context. Web. 28 Oct. 2013
Gourley, Catherine. Flappers and the New American Women: Perceptions of Women from 1918 through the 1920s. Vol. 2. Minneapolis: Twenty-First Century, 2008. Print. Images and Issues of Women in the Twentieth Century.
Sagert, Kelly B. Flappers: A Guide to an American Subculture. Santa Barbara, California: Greenwood, 2010. Print.
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.
McNamee, Katilin. "The Importance of Flappers in This Time Period." Flapper Girls. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Dec. 2013.
Flapper by Joshua Zeitz is a book that many historians have found so thrilling that they find it difficult to put it away. This is because of the manner in which Joshua presents the themes touching story. He tells a telling the story and growth and development of the American woman. He explores the role of industrialization and the growth and development of urban centres. He uses a romantic story using Zelda and F. Scott. Besides, fashion, which many women strive to achieve, plays an essential role in making the work of Joshua a world class literature. American woman underwent a number of revolutionary stages to come to what is now referred to as modern women. Through the stories of Zelda and Scott, the reader is able to imagine the rough road that women in America have travelled to achieve their current status of modern woman.
... fewer children was stressed to the patriarchal, consumerist society. The roaring twenties were a consumerist and capitalist age for America, and the liberalization of women occurred naturally as the younger generation was born into the new age of Freudian sexuality, however the flapper as a symbol for young women is incorrect. Out of proportion, and unfounded the flapper was a consumerist to exploit a rising cultural market. Women gained the right to their bodies, as America gained the right to its profit.
in Cleve 1). Flappers believed that they were not seen as pretty when dressing restrictively and they finally wanted to dress for themselves. The style change was seen as a terrible thing for society back then, but they would never know what kind of effect it had on the future. Modern day style has been shaped around the Flappers in a way. Nowadays, women are always wearing short skirts or somewhat revealing clothing.
Some people hated this 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. These women, the flappers, in the 1920s felt free after the 19th amendment was passed. “Since the early twentieth century, the sexual habits of these American women had changed in profound ways” (Zeitz 21). Flappers drank, partied, and had romantic evenings with men. All of which were illegal for women. In addition, they were an embarrassment to society and they were able to get away with anything. “Flappers were a disgrace to society because they were lazy-pleasure seekers who were only interested in drinking, partying, and flirting” (Dipalo 1). For instance, Flappers went to clubs, drank, and hung out with men and were too lazy to do anything. Therefore, one consequence of the war was the creation of a new woman and this led to a movement like no other.
Partying, drinking, and dancing; these are the adjectives most commonly associated with the life of a flapper. While these descriptions are accurate, they do not inform people of the advantages and gains flappers make for the female gender. The flapper embodied the idea of freedom from the usual duties of a young female in the 1920s. These women were no longer tied down with the expectation that they would immediately become a wife and mother, as well as being conservative and modest. By diving into a look at the fashion, music, and lifestyle of the flapper during the 1920s it will become obvious that they were not only independent, liberated, and enjoying many more freedoms than they had previously throughout history, but that they also helped pave the way for future generations of women’s quest for independence.
In the 1920s, a new woman was born. She smoked, drank, danced, and voted. She cut her hair, wore make-up, and went to petting parties. She was giddy and took risks. She was a flapper.
In the 1920's the term flapper referred to a "new breed" of women. They wore short skirts and dresses which were straight and very loose. The arms were left bare and the waistline was dropped to the hips. By 1927 the length of the skirts had rose just below the knee which when they danced would be shown. The chests appeared to look very small and women would tape themselves to look even smaller. Bras were also sold to make them appear very small. Their hairstyles were cut very short and were known as a bob, another popular style that was later introduced was the "Eaton" or "Shingle". These styles had slicked the hair back and covered the ears with curls. Women started wearing "kiss proof" lipstick in shades of red, their eyes were ringed a dark black color, and their skin was powered to look very pale. One of the big things with the flappers were that they smoked cigarettes through long holders and drank alcohol openly in public now. They also started dating freely and danced all night long very provocatively. Jazz music was rising in population and the flappers brought it out even more. Not all women changed into becoming a flapper, yet the little numbers impacted the 1920's in a huge way.
In the scope of the mainstream, in regards to women- The Flapper specifically, the 1920s could be seen as an era of rapid progressivism both socially and politically; I am here to tell you that this is not necessarily the case. While many battles in the 20s were won for women- women’s suffrage was now a constitutional right, women were permitted degrees of greater autonomy by entering the workplace and by living away from home and et cetera- like so many other things in this newly emerging modern era, there was more lying beneath the surface that serves to tell a contrary story. In this paper, we will be focusing on women’s move towards greater liberties and autonomy by looking at the duality of the Flapper (as an icon for the
In the 1920’s, the Nineteenth Amendment was passed, which gave women the right to vote. During this decade women became strong and more independent. Women were accomplishing a lot more than they had before. Women started going to college so she could earn her own living. More women started leaving the home and working at a factory or as a secretary. Women were discriminated at the work place. They received lower wages then man did. In the 1920’s, the term flapper was introduced. It was first used in Britain after World War 1. Young women were labeled as flappers who wore makeup shorter skirts. Fl...
wanted to be socially equal therefore the flapper was born. Flappers were first made in 1926. They became very popular very soon after they were first made. The flapper was a very
The Roaring Twenties, with all of its abundance and new freedoms, can certainly be described as a break from tradition of every sort. Womanhood was being redefined, music was undergoing a jazzy revolution, and new inventions were transforming day to day life. This break from tradition represented the ideals of the 1920s, but the grave experiences such as the “red scare” and the disillusioned culture also played a huge role in this era.
So basically, the 1920's or “Roaring Twenties” was a time of major change for America as a nation. Just following the Great War America was on the fast track to new times. There was the model t car, the stock market boom and crash, the banning of alcohol, the radio, jazz music, women seeking independence, Americans seeking higher education, union strikes, the red scare, the death of President Harding and many more. Many people say this was an enjoyable time of constant dancing and entertainment galore, while others would say that the hardships of racism and poverty made this time period one of struggle and hardships. While others only remember the 1920's as the creation of mickey mouse or babe Ruth. This decade truly was “The Roaring Twenties”.