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Symbolism In The 1920s

Decent Essays

The Roaring Twenties The 1920s were the beginning of remarkable social and political changes. The nation’s total wealth more than doubled between 1920 and 1929, and the economic growth drew many Americans into a prosperous but unfamiliar “consumer society.” With the rise in nationwide advertising, and the start of chain stores, people everywhere where buying the same clothes, shoes, listened to the same music danced the same and even used the same slang. Due to the sometimes racy “mass culture”, many Americans were uncomfortable. In United States, the 1920s brought more confrontation than happiness. The most familiar symbol of the “Roaring Twenties” for women was the flapper. According to A&E History, “the flapper was a young woman with hair cut to her chin, wore short skirts, drank, smoked and said ‘unladylike’ things” (2010). The flapper woman was considered more sexually “free” than previous generations. Although the flapper was an iconic symbol, the majority of young women did not do any of the things as described. Many young women did follow the fashion of a flapper, but even women who were not flappers gained some extraordinary freedoms. “Due to the 19th Amendment, the Constitution had guaranteed the right for women to vote that began in the 1920s” (A&E History, 2010). The 19th Amendment opened the corporate doors for millions of women to work in white-collar jobs. This new-found freedom allowed women to participate in the expanding consumer economy. Another

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