Women's Rights In The 1920s Essay

Before the 1920s, women typically never left the house did domestic chores to provide for their husband. However after the end of the 1910s, radical thoughts for women suffrage advocated for until the issue was put on hold during the break of World War I. President Wilson’s ignorance towards the fight for a woman’s right to vote didn’t stop woman suffrage associations such as the NWSA. Women suffrage was protested continuously until it grasped the federal government’s attention. When the 19th amendment passed, the women’s role in the political world dramatically shifted at the local, state, and federal level. Due to this new sense of political freedom women were given, the roles of American women in the 1920s varied between the “New Woman”

and the older generation before, the Traditionalists. The Traditionalists feared that the new morality of the “New Woman” was threatening the traditional role of women in the home. With the conclusion of World War I, women gained more of a prominent role in society and politics. The Roaring Twenties ushered in a new era that transformed religious beliefs, social standards, and women’s rights. The political right to vote gained by the 19th amendment contributed to the redefined image of the “New Woman” and opened up economic freedom for job opportunities after World War I, which significantly changed a woman’s role in the United States to a high extent.
The 19th amendment played a pivotal role in promoting women’s political rights in America.

Women were able to advocate for social welfare, education, better wages, and equal rights legislation. After the 19th amendment was passed, suffrage organizations encouraged women to be active in politics. Many women became active in politics due to the League of Women Voters Association created in 1920. Increased participation among women resulted in both political parties, Democrat and Republican, becoming interested in lobbying for women’s issues and gaining women’s votes. This newly gained attention opened up political opportunities for women during elections. Women became officeholders, elected in the U.S. House of Representatives, and legislators at the state level. In 1922, Florence Ellinwood Allen of Ohio became the first women to be elected in the state Supreme Court (A). This is an example of how women grasped political influence in all types of political levels: state, federal, and local. But, not all women were granted these opportunities in the American government until the Equal Rights Amendment was advocated by Alice Paul in 1923. The Equal Rights Amendment sought to guarantee equal rights for all citizens regardless of sex. Similar to the 19th Amendment, the Equal Rights Amendment focused on legal consequences between men and women in terms of property, employment, and divorce. In addition to the Equal Rights Amendment, new amendments were passed to protect American

citizens from the consumption of alcohol. A major advocate for this temperance amendment was the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. Traditional and conservative in its name, the movement was mainly progressive. Scholar Ruth Brodin recognizes that the temperance movement, whose goals included aiding women whose drunken husbands were driven to abuse, as “the foremost example of American feminism (B).” In the 1920s, the 19th amendment marked the beginning for women to finally be involved in politics and speak up for issues regarding equal rights protection and alcoholism. In sum, women stood up against the authoritative role of men in politics, thus creating a diverse gender array of participants in political affairs.
The scandalous Roaring Twenties recreated the traditional image of the woman into a “New Woman” such as the flapper.

Young women were transforming their style and image. The political cartoon “Something on the Hip” demonstrates how the “New Woman” is now wearing pants, drinking alcohol, and smoking cigarettes (C). This carefree persona of the New Woman differs tremendously from the Traditionalists’ style of clothing, which was much more conservative. The “New Woman’s” attitude towards sexuality changed as well. Openness related to sexual awareness also allowed women to recognize that their gender submission, which had dominated the generations that came before, was no longer necessary. Modern women became more independent, tired of being pushed around by men. Sexual independence significantly altered a woman’s role in society to a high extent because women no longer submitted to the conventional role of depending on a man. Along with the new mass-consumption economy in the Roaring Twenties, the era brought new innovations that shifted women’s attention to social life. Social life consisted of new products, fashion trends, and sexier images of women. Less modest hemlines, new body images of health, and hairstyles transformed the image of what a beautiful woman was supposed to look like during the 1920s. Political success with the passage of the 19th amendment and the increased independent leisure time of the “New Woman” challenged the traditional role prior to the

Progressive Era. Unmarried working women made their own money to support themselves which contributed to increased social mobility.
During World War I, the rapid expanding workforce provided economic opportunities for women. Women worked as streetcar conductors, radio operators, and in steel mills during the war. As men went off to fight in the war, women took on more responsibilities. Women became part of assembly lines in factories and replaced men as police officers, mechanics, and train conductors (D). This newly sense of economic independence during World War I opened up countless opportunities for women in the 1920s. Women made up approximately 21% of the American labor force and the amount of working women increased due to newly gained political and social rights (E). As it became more successful for women to work, some women found jobs in the office, typists and file clerks. In addition, the growth of the beauty industry opened up opportunities for women as sales clerks in the cosmetic industry. Job opportunities were abundant in the farming industry as well as the medical fields. No longer were women obliged stay at home and provide for their family. Women were now allowed to work under almost any type of profession. World War I allowed women to follow under men’s footsteps while they were away at war. Women’s role in the economy changed post-World War I because they became a major contributor to the mass- consumption economy.
Women’s roles in American politics, society, and the economy significantly changed to a high extent during the Roaring Twenties. No longer bound to a man, the newly gained sense of independence and strength altered the woman’s image in society. Facing gender discrimination and mistreatment regarding sex has always remained a continuity over time for women. But the passage of the 19th amendment marked a new era of feminism for women during the 1920s that sparked social justice and freedom of speech. The “New Woman” of the 1920s disregarded the previous Traditionalist values of women prior to World War I and created the standards for women still to this day.