The Similarities Between The 1920s And The 1930s

There was a vast amount of differences as well as comparisons between aspects of life for women between the 1920s and the 1930s. “But although each decade had its distinctive qualities, overarching developments, especially in work and politics, link these seeming disparities into the larger trends in American women’s history”. During this time the lives of women began changing and were impacted socially, politically, and economically.
Politically. In 1920 women gained the right to vote, which then encouraged them to be involved in politics more than ever before. Many women came together to advocate and make a change in the political system, but they had a struggle to make any influence. “Through a multitude of organizations, ranging from

the National Consumers’ League to the National Women’s Trade Union League, they worked together to support the abolition of child labor, mothers’ pensions, women’s wage and hour laws, and the suffrage campaign”. Although women were expanding their political opportunities, many did not care and roughly more than half of those eligible to vote did not.

The 1930s started with the tenth anniversary of woman's suffrage, but it only displayed that during that time women had insignificant effect on the political world. Women continued to participate in strikes, they played a crucial role in labor radicalism that shaped the 1930s. In 1933 Eleanor Roosevelt developed the New Deal program, but this program cast women to work in more traditional housekeeping roles. The traditional expectations of women’s role, to stay home and care for the family, affected their lives in the political world during both decades
Economically. The 1920s, also known as the roaring 20s, was a time of economic progress for America. Companies had a mass production of cars and various other consumer goods such as refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, and so on. These products made life easier for people and it gave women more pleasure as consumers. Companies grew bigger which created more work opportunities as well as increased wages. Women were asked to come to work but they were still given a lower status and wage compared to men. Though there was a dramatic increase of married women going to work, about 10 percent of wives worked

during the 1920s. One of the biggest disappointments for women at the end of the 1920s was the inability to make any important economic changes, they continued to be undervalued in the workplace. America grew more powerful and wealthier after the war ended in the 1920s but that came to an end in the 1930s when the Wall Street stock market crashed, and Great Depression began. Many Americans lost their jobs, industrial production cut down and the national income was cut by more than half. “The number of Americans involved in agriculture labor declined steadily in the twentieth century, a reflection of both the mechanization of farm work and the growing importance of the industrial and commercial sectors of the economy” The farm families suffered during the 1920s due to low crop prices and their suffering was continued into the 1930s where it created the “dust bowl”. Americans suffered greatly during the 10-year depression era, many had lost their homes and jobs. The 1920s New Women was now merely a memory, as now the migrant mother was the new image of the American womanhood. Although generations viewed that a women’s key role in life was to care for her home, women as workers contributed to an important part during the 1930s. During the Great Depression, women were mainly the breadwinners in the families as men’s employment declined and women’s rose. Women experienced unemployment just as much a man but because they were paid less than men they were able to find jobs much more quickly. During the 1920s and 1930s women continued being discriminated in the workforce, the sex-segregated labor markets continued to offer lower positions and wages.
Socially.

The most meaningful change in women’s lives during the 1920s emerged in their personal relationships, family and homes. The 1920s was a time of female sexual revolution, women felt free and independent. They were inspired to challenge the traditions of their parents and to live life differently. Women everywhere embraced the New Woman lifestyle, they began to apply makeup, wear skimpy clothes and cut their hair short. Women not only adopted the “flapper” image but they lived it to the extreme, with heavy drinking, smoking, premarital intercourse and erotic dancing. “The 1920s marked the emergence of a highly commercialized beauty industry that built upon the growing interest in cosmetics of the prewar years”. During this 1920s there was an increase of beauty shops as well as a rise in sale of cosmetics. Women were not only being encouraged to explore their sexuality but now they were encouraged to identify it with beauty products to be completely happy. Women furthered the changing of female sexuality by separating sex from reproduction and fighting for proper birth control. The trend toward smaller families and the use of birth control, continued onto the 1930s as it became an economic necessity during the Great Depression. Women suffered during the 1930s especially in their households. Many families had to combine households to cope with the reduced income, this not only put stress on the women but on their marriages as well. Women had to learn to use fewer

resources, use cheaper products prepare nutritious meals on a budget. The 1930s had a major impact on women and their families, they no longer lived in the 1920s carefree environment. All these changes contributed to women being more independent in the 1920s and 1930s.
During the 1920s, women felt liberated by the freedom after the war, gaining the right to vote, going to work and by embracing the New Woman image. Women everywhere adopted the New Woman image and lived life to the fullest enjoying all the leisure and materialistic things. Though none of these things gave women full economic or political or personal independence, it did allow them to put into motion the trends that would portray the lives of the 1920s women. With the 1930s economic crisis of the stock market crash, and the start of the Great Depression, the 1930s were rather different for women. The issue of women’s equality was not as important as before. During that time women’s progress of the 20th century was slowly reversing, and the New Woman image quickly withered away. Throughout the course of 20 years, the lives of women changed greatly, from gaining the right to vote to changing the image of the modern woman. Women started a change that continued to grow and eventually form into creating notions of women’s proper place.