What Is The Position Of Women In The 1920's

Between 1914 and today, Canada has changed for the better, as it becomes a more respectful country. There was a great change in women’s right shortly after WW1. Leaders such as the famous five fought for women’s right continuously. They achieved great success as women gained the right to vote and the right to serve in the Senate. Women were being respected as they were allowed to speak their mind and express their opinion, and were willing to participate in many other aspect of public life.

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

Before WWI, women had limited job options with low pay, such as teaching, leaving many women stay in their traditional roles as wives, mothers, and domestic workers. However, when men enlisted in WWI and the war effort needed workers to make supplies, ships, tanks, bombs, etc, many women found themselves doing the same jobs as men. When the men returned from the war, they took back their jobs, but this caused many women to no longer be satisfied by playing their traditional roles. This created consequences, were women fought for their right to vote, greater educational and job opportunities, be able to hold jobs with higher power, and improved labour laws and health care. After many challenges to get equal rights, most women were finally able to obtain a right to vote in 1919, and gain entry to higher job opportunities while being considered as ‘persons’ in 1929. Compare to Canada today, there is one thing that has continued throughout the years, and that is the fight for equality. However, the change is that women are no longer fighting for equal education and health care, but equal pay and the ability to hold higher positions. For example, in 1921, Agnes Macphail was the first woman elected to the House of Commons, resulting in 1 woman out of 235 seats. After the shift of values, Canada has taken some steps by

Throughout the 1920s, marriage was thought of to be a symbol of love and happiness between a married couple. Along with that came the expectation of starting a family and a new chapter in the couple’s lives. Most marriages that took place were based on romance instead of just marrying just to get money, which was rarely seen. Gender roles had an impact when getting married and starting a family. Living in the 1920’s brought more positive, as well as negative, impacts when it came to restarting the economy. Gender roles in marriage decided who stayed at home to take care of the children along with house duties and who went to work to provide for the family. Throughout these times, gender roles either imposed by society or created within the home, have altered dynamics within the home and society.

The 1920s had a big impact on American life all around; however, one of the biggest changes during this time period was in the roles of women. During this time period, women started dressing different, leaving the house, getting jobs, and gaining rights. On top of all of that, they had a bigger role in education, they began taking parts in politics, and divorce became more of a common thing. This may not seem like a big deal to people today, but this was very important at the time. Prior, women had next to no rights. They lived to wait on and please their husbands. Women rarely even left the house. This time period could be said to have paved the way for modern day feminism and women’s roles. This was the time period when they began to be free and stop worrying about how society thought they should live. However, the question still remains: Did the changing roles of women in the 1920s really have a significant effect on women’s roles today? In the next few pages, one will be given examples of women’s role before, during, and after the 1920s. In each paragraph, the roles, rights, impacts, and more that women had at these times will be explained. To conclude, a comparison on how women were thought to act in these different time periods will be made in order to come up with an answer for the question stated above.

The 1920s were an age of dramatic social and political change. Women began to take on a variety of different roles after the first world war, both in the home and in the workplace. The number of working women increased by 25 percent. Many women wanted to show that they could do the job just as well as men. Their war experiences gave many the desire for more working opportunities. Women had also been given the right to vote in 1920. These new found economic and political freedoms led to more liberated ideas about sex, appearance, and consumerism.

The government and the general populace realized how hard the woman had worked for the sake of Canada, and this earned woman the respect that they had longed for from the general populace and the government. Furthermore, this very sense of respect was proved when the government under Prime Minister Borden approved the War measures act on September 20, 1917(“Woman’s right to vote in Canada”). This very act was a prime gesture from the Canadian government that illustrated how winning the respect of the people resulted in the destruction of the misogynistic sentiments of that era. Furthermore, many historians regard the “War Times Act” as a gesture that was carried out in order to acknowledge the efforts that women had done in order to aid in the war(“Suffrage in Canada”). As said previously, woman raised funds for war, they volunteered as nurses overseas, worked endless hours in factories in order to build munitions, and provided countless other services for the benefit of the economy and the government. Moreover, they simultaneously kept their families together,”while men went overseas”(“Woman get the vote”), and kept war efforts moving through funds raised by various non-profit organizations run by women. The government witnessed this and rewarded the services of such woman by granting them the right to vote. Furthermore, the fact the government wanted to integrate women into the Canadian political system reveals that the long arduous toiling that woman had done for the nation was finally beginning to reap rewards for their own battle for gender equality.. Although, the right to vote was only bestowed upon those who were related to soldiers fighting overseas, it nonetheless

The more we learn about the history of women’s rights and how their status was viewed within Canadian society, the better our knowledge becomes that women have been prevented from engaging in an equal role in the country’s economy. Social equality is the idea in which all persons have the same opportunities, respect, values, social benefits and fundamental liberties. The status of Canadian women has changed dramatically over several decades. Women’s human rights in Canada, which defined their social status, were differentiated by three different periods of time, including women’s rights before the war, during the war, and after the war. Many women were treated horribly before World War One however war in general, particularly World War One,

A woman of 1920 would be surprised to know that she would be remembered as a "new woman." Significant changes for women took place in politics, at home, in workplace, and in education.

Women started to express their sexuality in regards to appearance. They began to wear shorter skirts and heavier makeup (“The Roaring Twenties”). Women began to rebel towards the way they were supposed to look and act. Some even became flappers, which symbolized the rise of the unconventional woman and changing attitudes. A flapper is a young woman in this decade who would dress fashionably, often flaunt themselves, and defy gender stereotypes, leading to women being granted more freedom to be social amongst the male-dominated society. Therefore, women started to gain more societal power and started to escape from their domestic

Before the 1920's ladies were not ready to work. Numerous occupations just needed to enlist men for there organization. There employments were for the most part at home or a little paid work. Ladies started getting much more included in the workforce all through the 1920s and there was a developing speak to work. Society was tolerating ladies into normal occupations, in any case, most expected that it was essential for ladies to work ladylike kind of positions. These occupations were educators, medical attendants, specialists, secretaries, or phone administrators. Ladies got less pay than the men regardless of the possibility that they were doing likewise work.

“A woman is human. She is not better, wiser, stronger, more intelligent, more creative, or more responsible than a man. Likewise, she is never less. Equality is a given. A woman is human.”(Nazarian, 7) Women portrayed a prominent role in history. In the early 1920s women's roles where to stay at home to cook, clean, and take care of the children. However during World War 1 women were to go to work and produce war time essentials. They where also given the chance to vote, and this is when women began to be seen as equals. Women wanted to stand on equal ground with men. In the 1920s women started a new generation by the way they dressed, and acted in society. Women fought for individuality and wanted to be seen more as humans. In the 1920s women’s roles changed society, such that women now have a more prominent, unordinary role then before; which created a different view on women. The rules that women fought against changed society’s views on them forever.

During the late 19th and 20th century, many political and social events like the persons case, suffrage, and both world wars aided in transforming Canada 's meaning and purpose for a woman. Many political figures like Emily Murphy and Alberta 's Famous Five played large roles in characterizing the rights and freedoms of a woman. Secondly, the roaring twenties was a time for females to challenge their traditional roles and prove that they have much broader capabilities than to stay at home. Finally, women began to fill the gap of men in the workforce and assisted overseas during the world wars. Both world wars served to shift gender roles in Canada since women in Canada participated in non-traditional roles and gained political rights.

During the Roaring Twenties, the topic that was interesting to me was the change in women’s behavior. This was due to the “Postwar Prosperity in the urban areas in which helped to release long-suppressed impulses” among women. The Flapper replaced the Victorian woman. The Flapper women change their appearance. During this period one of the best know writers named F. Scott, Fitzgerald called “Bernice Bobs Her Hair” (pg.12). The short story explores women’s feelings. Compared to the Victorian women Flapper women had short cut hair, short dresses, and sack-like dresses. In the 1920’s women embraced new fashion, personal freedom, and challenged the traditional roles of women. Flappy women were more open to their sexuality and less worried about