The Counter Culture of the 1920's Essay

The birth of jazz music is often credited to African Americans, though it didn’t take long to expanded to America's white middle class. Jazz, therefore, was characterised by a meshing of African American traditions and ideals with white middle class societies. Big cities like New York and Chicago were

In the time of the 1920s, a group of women decided that they were done being shown around like dolls and given no respect. These women wanted rights and to have independence, and to not constantly have to rely on a man to get the job done. They decided to get and hold onto steady jobs and became single, young, middle class women. These women were called flappers. They were ones who went to jazz clubs, vaudeville shows, and danced the Charleston. You could also find them smoking and drinking just like any other man would. Flappers extinguished any social double standards about women that was out there in that time. The look of that time was one that has stood out in history since it was first worn. Bobbed, shoulder length hair, loads of makeup,

In the 1920’s, America went through a series of political, social, and economic changes. This was the decade known as the Roaring Twenties, where most Americans lived in cities and lived a consumer lifestyle, while the total wealth of the nation doubled. The name “Roaring Twenties” also held several other different meanings, including a reference to jazz and the rebellious nature of the younger generation. The Roaring Twenties not only was a decade of boom and determination for America, but it additionally represented the biggest shift from a traditional culture to a modern one.

Jazz emerges through major cities like New Orleans ,New York, St.louis, and Chicago . Major Artist like Jelly Roll Morton and Louis Armstrong influenced the spread of mainstream jazz that we see today. Even in today's music we see samples of the jazz back in the early 1900’s. Some of the artist finished on top and some died poor cleaning floors. This essay will show why their careers started and where they ended up compared to the other artist.

One of the most iconic happenings in this age was the creation of jazz. Jazz had always been popular in night clubs in the south but during the great migration, jazz was brought to the north. After just a few weeks, jazz was the new fad and everyone was playing it. “Jazz flouted many musical conventions with its syncopated rhythms and improvised instrumental solos…improvisation meant that no two performances would ever be the same…” (The Decade That Roared, page

The way everyone presents themselves in the 1920s by dressing as chosen and fashion styles, people show this by each gender having their own style of clothes. One of the roles for a female is flappers who are independent females. At night they dressed up to go out to nightclubs in dresses and high heels and crazy fashion styles. Flappers also changed there hair style to be different and act out such as Jordan Baker said “You’ve dyed your hair since then”(Fitzgerald 43). Jordan had no idea who the girl was because she changed her hair so much that she couldn’t be recognized by the guests at Gatsby's party.. This shows how a flapper style is over the top with not staying the same and changing styles a lot. During the age of the flapper, females

The ways of a flapper spread through the United States in the 1920s and changed young girls into a new generation as modern woman declaring a new freedom. The new emancipated women demanded to be recognized as equal to men. The flappers adopted the masculine look and started getting different haircuts and wearing very different clothes. Flappers were known for wearing an excessive amount of makeup, drinking and smoking, dancing, voting, and being very promiscuous. “From these liberating circumstances emerged a caricature: the flapper, symbol of the modern woman” (Info Base).

There was a certain way to act , a certain way to dress, an all around model for what what a lady should be. Flappers emerged in this time of peace , a flapper is a term to describe a girl in a awkward stage. It originated in England. “Flappers did not just look daring , they were daring. In the 1920s growing numbers of young American women began to smoke, drink, and talk slang. And they danced- not in the old style, nut in the new mode inspired by jazz music. The popularity of jazz and dancing hinted at new attitudes toward sexuality”( St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture , 2013). These actions were frowned upon by the older women of the age. This was not the way a woman was supposed to act, and it wasn’t excepted. The style was slim hipped , bobbed-haired, roughed , wearing short skirts and dangling beads, dancing the Charleston, smoking cigarettes, and sipping bootleg gin. This image become a symbol amongst the women in the

The 1920s was an age of drastic social and political changes. For the first time in history, more Americans started living in cities rather than on farms. Americans were wealthier than ever before. People from coast to coast bought similar goods, listened to the same music, did the same dances, and even used related slang. Numerous Americans were uncomfortable with this unfamiliar, urban, and occasionally racy “mass culture”. In fact, for a large number of people in the United States, the 1920s brought more conflict than celebration. However, for a minuscule handful of youth in the nation’s larger cities, the 1920s were roaring. Prohibition gave criminals a way to illegally make money; gangsters, young men who worked in criminal gangs, began selling on the black-market alcohol. Young woman emerged during the 1920s with different appearance, attitude, and behavior; with a bobbed haircut and short skirts.

Jazz which had originated in New Orleans has spread very quickly through the country. Jazz during this time was really popular with famous artist Louis Armstrong playing in jazz groups. It made new dances such as the Charleston and Black Bottom. According

Nps.gov states that some of the greatest musician in America History has come from the jazz side of the world. Artist such as Louis Armstrong, Billy Holiday and Jelly “Roll” Morton, pave the way for jazz to reach its height as it did in the early 20’s with the upbeat tempo and smooth classical sound. These artist brung a unique sound to jazz that was not there. Louis Armstrong contribute to jazz is so remarkable, he played the trumpet like no other. His sound was so soothing to the ears. When you think about jazz, Louis Armstrong is one of the first names most people relate to jazz. Jelly “Roll” Morton was probably the most influence artist there is. An innovative piano stylist and composer, began his odyssey outside of New Orleans as early as 1907. He continue his work throughout the 1920’s and was mainly consider the reason of the swing era.

A typical flapper had short, bobbed hair, and wore a short baggy skirt with turned down hose and powdered knees. Their dresses often exposed her arms as well as her legs from the knees down. Flappers were thought of by their elders as being a little fast and brazen, since they were no longer confined to home or tradition. However, Flappers did not just symbolize a revolution in fashion and way of life; they more importantly embodied the modern spirit of the Jazz Age—they symbolized, “an age anxious to enjoy itself, anxious to forget the past, anxious to ignore the future”.

A flapper was a fashionable young women who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, and listened to jazz. During the 1920s the social norms for women fashion was to wear long modest dresses and long hair. Women also got the right to vote when the 19th amendment was ratified. This was a time of newfound independence for women. many women had taken on new jobs during World War I and weren't ready to give up their independence.

Thanks to Coco Chanel, the iconic flapper image most closely associated with the roaring twenties came about. The flapper and flapper image didn’t actually come to be until around 1926 and even then was only in style for about three years. Typical flappers were women who appeared to have a bold attitude and were independent women who didn’t adhere to the previously innocent housewife image. A flapper usually had a bob haircut, a shorter than average dress, a flat chest, wore tons of make-up, drank illegal alcohol, smoked with a long cigarette holder, exposed her limbs and danced the Charleston. This was a drastic change from the typical American housewife to the reckless rebel. The flapper dresses stressed above the knee hemlines and construed straight, sleek shapes. This was the first time in centuries women’s legs were being seen in a garment. (1920s Fashion 1) Flappers loved to jazz up their costume and even their image. Many flappers’ dresses were adorned with jewels and intricate beading. The main object of the flapper image was to appear almost boyish rather than looking feminine. (1920s clothing 1)

During the Roaring Twenties, women gained more rights, and this allowed them to roam out of society’s standard of a woman. This was a time where “women bobbed their hair, ventured out to speakeasies and dared to shorten their hemlines” (Jamie). These types of women were known as flappers. A studies professor, Rosanna Hertz, said that flappers were rebels, and fashion played an extensive role in allowing them to express their freedom. Women were supposed to wear clothes that covered their legs, “even [if] flapper dresses were knee-length, it was still enough to raise eyebrows” (Jamie). A New York designer named Regina Kobler was a woman of this time period who designed these new styles of clothing. Her work is showcased “in the small show at