Why I Left for the City

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,

Flappers were not in fact only concerned with standing out and being noticed. They were not simply fashion and image-driven, selfish women, but were strong, self-willed, independent young feminist citizens who were fighting passionately for their right to stable equality amidst a prominently male-driven world. These women pushed aggressively for their social, professional, and sexual freedom which they felt were hard-earned and well overdue. Many flappers wished to pursue positions in careers which would otherwise be deemed unacceptable for the average women of the time. They hoped that by breaking away from social normality's that they could eventually obtain equality in all important aspects of life while hopefully also allowing them entry into many professional fields which would normally be unaccessible to women.

It was very popular to be a flapper. That was the cool thing to do and people saw flappers as these New Women. The older women would never "personify a lifestyle condemned by conservatives as undermining morality and religion" especially through the way the acted and dressed.

The flapper had an indisputable look. The long locks of Victorian women fell on the floors of beauty parlors as young women cut their hair to shoulder length. Hemlines of dresses rose fiercely to the knee. The cosmetics industry prospered as women used makeup in large numbers. Flappers constrained their chests and wore high heels. Many women celebrated the age of the flapper as a female “declaration of independence”. Experimentation with new looks, jobs, and lifestyles was incomparable with the woman in the Victorian Age. The flappers chose activities to please themselves, not a father or husband. But critics were quick to elucidate the shortcomings of “flapperism.” The political agenda grasped by the previous generation was largely ignored until the feminist revival of the 1960s. Many wondered if flappers were trying to express themselves or act like men. One thing was certain: Despite the political and social gains or losses, the flappers of the 1920s sure managed to have a good time.

Flappers are known to be women who wear both dresses and hair short. Briefly they are women who rebel against their stereotype. They want equality just the same as the men and yet they do not do anything that could possibly help them achieve that goal.

Breaking cloths laws were not the only morally black thing that flappers dealt in. flappers were young and reckless taking every chance to diverge from social norms. Flappers burbank alcohol and smoked cigarettes as casually and a man would, shown here in the excerpt from ´Me and My Flapper Daughter´, I was sure my girls had never experimented with a hip-pocket flask, flirted with other women's husbands, or smoked cigarettes. My wife entertained the same smug delusion, and was saying something like that out loud at the dinner table one day. And then she began to talk about other girls.

A flapper was a modern woman of the 1920’s with bobbed hair, short skirts, and dramatic make-up. (sparknotes.com) The flapper was also used to represent a new type of young woman. It represented a woman that was bold, rebellious, and energetic. Only a small percentage of American women were flappers. The image of the flapper had a huge impact on the rest of the nation’s fashion and behavior. Most women began to cut their hair short. It was called bobbing. Many parents wouldn’t allow it. To the older generation, it seemed taboo to have short hair. Some of the daughters of these people felt old-fashioned for not having their hair cut short. (Hakim, 42) Before the twenties, it was rare for a woman’s ankle to be glimpsed upon beneath long skirts. Yet, during the ’20’s, the ankles were highly visible as the hemlines for women’s skirts rapidly went up and up, as

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.

Flappers did not emerge until 1926 (“Skirts only revealed the knee briefly between 1926 and 1928, and this was the only period when evening dresses were short in line with day dress lengths. This was the flapper fashion era.”)

Flapper by Joshua Zeitz is a book that tells an epic story about the American women during the time of the 1920’s. For a better understanding, a flapper would typically be a young girl who blurred the gender roles by taking on a more masculine lifestyle. They wore their hair short, drank and smoked frequently, and explored their sexuality. With this behavior, it didn’t destroy their femininity; it just simply provided the society’s perception of what a woman should and should not be.

The “new woman” was a groundbreaking theory dispelling the belief of what people thought women were supposed to become and how to behave. Also known as Flappers, they no longer followed the rules of their mothers and grandmothers (Mullins-Dilkes). A Flapper meant that you were a glamorous young girl, showing off your wealth, and were frivolous and able to buy whatever you

The book Flapper by Joshua Zeitz is a book on the modern woman and the correlation to the 1920’s flapper. It talked about the political, social, and economic qualities of the 1920’s that created the modern woman and the infamous 1920’s flapper. The government and its president were mentioned especially when it came to making war look good through the new form of advertisement. The movies, books, stars, and style were by far the most popular subject of the book. The one percenters and the women who wore knock-off Chanel and plastic gold were both described in great detail. In Flapper the political, economic, and social qualities of the 1920’s proved that the the infamous flapper and the modern woman were one in the same.

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”.

Sauro, Clare. "Flappers." Encyclopedia of Clothing and Fashion. Ed. Valerie Steele. Vol. 2. Detroit: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2005. 88-89. World History in Context. Web. 16 Nov.

So if I did move to New York it is possible that I might get the slightest bit homesick but it wouldn’t really be about missing my literal home, it would be more about missing friends and family. I think the whole travel aspect of it is why I would like to move to New York. I absolutely love travelling. I have also never been to America before so I would see the whole thing as a big adventure really. Experiencing new things, pouring myself into a whole world that seems strange and wonderful yet at the same time completely