Flappers Essay

Throughout the ages women have been stricken with often male-made oppression in many forms on the long, difficult road to their eventual initiation into equal rights. Some aspects of women’s rights today were obtained by questionable means in the past. One such act of liberation by questionable means was the introduction of a class of women in the 1920s known as flappers. These flappers were the beginning of a new wave of sexually and intellectually liberated women. Women of this age wore short skirts and revealing clothing in addition to cutting their hair into bobs and smoking and drinking publicly. These women were also outspoken in many areas,

The flapper was the harbinger of a radical change in American culture. She was a product of social and political forces that assembled after the First World War. Modernization adjusted the American life. Flapper: A Madcap Story of Sex, Style, Celebrity, and the Women Who Made America Modern by Joshua Zeitz analyzes the people who created the image of the flapper. This work is an incorporation of narrative, statistics, and scholarly work that provide a distinct insight on the “New Woman.” Joshua Zeitz asserts the flapper was not a dramatic change from traditional American values but reflected the “modern” decade under mass media, celebrity, and consumerism.

The structure of workforce changed, all out war effort and lack of working age male in factories brought women into factories across Europe in incomparable way. Thousands of women worked with the army as nurses and ambulance drivers, with nominal supplies and harsh condition of the front line, they helped wounded soldiers and provided some solace to the dying. Propaganda Picture by E.V. Kealy, P-524, on its poster says “Women of Britain say-GO” I think which means that all the men can go to the war and fight for the nation, while women are taking care of the house. War had changed role women were assigned to but they were refusing to go back to their old Victorian traditional role and challenged the gender status quo of the women after the war which completely changed the patriarchal European states, and American society as

Flappers in the 1920s where the girls and women that dressed less modestly. They also disobeyed the rules that most women and girls followed. They did what others would not ever think of doing in this time period.

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

The flappers, that began flourishing during World War I, by the 1920’s had become a prominent character with their very own defining characteristics. Around the time of the WWI woman were closer than ever before to gaining women’s rights, giving women the confidence they needed to make change happen(2 2). By the time the war ended, flappers had gained an image of “slender woman in short straight dresses, long beaded necklaces, and bobbed hair, drinking gin and dancing the Charleston (1 167)”4. The flappers were the new woman of the era that were opinionated

What is a flapper? The flapper is one of the most essential parts of the 1920s. They represented a new type of woman. Whether in attitude, attire, or slang. The 1920s flapper demonstrated how women could transform into something that is a part of the modern construction of women’s identity. The flapper was a major part of “The Roaring Twenties”. The flapper was how young women sought to define themselves.

The 1920s was a period of revolution and liberation for women with the rise of “the new woman”, who experienced changes in both appearance and attitude, and the reconsideration of the purpose of sex. The 1920s gave birth to the flapper, the type of woman who rejected the traditional prudish values of the Victorian Era. Merriam-Webster defines a flapper as “a young woman; specifically: a young woman of the period of World War I and the following decade who showed freedom from conventions (as in conduct).” Flappers started to emerge because of the shift in the role of women in society. Women held more political power because of the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment and more and more women were entering the labor force. Women had more

Flappers are compared to young girls between ages 13-30, there was a big influence and change of a woman in 1920. Girls where whatever pleases them and others. The amount of makeup worn is increasing every season. Flappers showed women and young girls that there is no problem acting and doing what men do. Young woman today are examples off from the flappers, which is changed how our American society is looking at towards today’s young

Not only did the flappers affect how they act but how the women dressed as well. Flappers developed women to start to wear short dresses from their shoulder to their knees (Cellania). They began to wear a close-fitted bead cap that was very authentic, if they did not want to wear a cap, they would tie around a satin belt or scarf and make it into a headband (Trasko). Back then the shorter the hair the better. Women cut their hair into what we know is called the “bob”.

The decade of the 20 in the United States was a time of great change after exit of the First World War. When the war ended after a fight of 72 years, women had won the most precious right to vote. The Flappers were young urban women, unmarried of middle class that had a job in the changing U.S. economy, especially as secretaries, telephone operators or vendors at the department stores. The flapper went by the nights to jazz clubs where used to dance in a provocative way, smoked cigarettes with long nozzles, aspired cocaine and the flapper had meeting with rich men. The flapper driving motorcycles and cars (fast).

At the start of the 1920s, a new woman emerged. She drank, danced, smoked, and took risks. She didn’t hide her legs behind thick stockings, and she put on as much makeup as she desired. Her voice was loud, her personality anything but conservative. She was known as a flapper. These woman were known for many reasons; such as, their social influence, their behavior, and the way they dressed, but how did they fill these categories?

With the arrival of world war one, everything changed: with the men away at the front, women replaced them at the workplace. “ it is quite impossible to keep pace with all the new incarnations of women in war time - bus conductress, ticket-collector, lift girl, club waitress, post-woman, bank clerk, motor driver, farm-labourer, guide, munition maker...whenever he sees one of these new citizens….Mr Punch is proud and delighted” approved Punch magazine, june 1916. In their overalls and britches, women were literally wearing the trousers for the first time. The long hair was gotten rid of, in exchange for far more practical, short cuts. The year the war ended, women got the vote, and with their

Fashion during the past decade showed how people try to fit into the beauty standards even if it meant their health. Men and women’s rights still continued to fluctuate as women tried to gain equality even in the fashion

The 1920’s, also called the roaring 20’s, was a time of change. During this time period the fashion for both men and women was changing immensely. The aftermath of WWI caused America to enter a vigorous era. As a result of the role of women during the war, many customs and morals were changing. The Stock Market started booming, many new dances and music came about, and women got the right to vote and enter the workforce. There was an uprise in almost every activity, and fashion was definitely one (Tirocchi, Anna and Laura). Although fashion varied throughout the decade, one could notice a drastic change from the prior fashion.