Women In The 1920s

World War I sent women out of the home and into the workplace while men fought the war; this newly gained self-confidence carried over into the 1920s. It became socially acceptable for women to smoke cigarettes, as

The 1920s was a major turning point in American history. Known as “the roaring twenties”, the citizens of the United States enjoyed the new found wealth from the economic turnaround. The United States’ wealth more than doubled as the nation turned into a consumer society. Not all Americans were fond of the changes in society, and not all of the changes were good.

The 1920’s which was also called the Roaring Twenties was a era of economic prosperity and dramatic social change. The 19 amendment that was ratified on August 1920 gave the right of women to vote and the impact of World War I resulted in women questioning traditional morals and values, becoming rebellious. When men left for the war it caused women to have new jobs such as working in factories. Also, “the number of women attending college rose to 10% of the population by the end of the 1920's." Due to women having the opportunity to have jobs and go to college women became more mobile. The corset limited women to be mobile in this era which caused the production of coresets to quickly decline. Less women wearing corset made their figure to be more boyish and straight. The women of this era was called the Flappers, free spirited women, representing the new change of how women looked. The Flappers “lacked hips, breasts, and a defined waist”. They would dress in dresses above their knee and ankle showing more legs and having bare arms. They would also stray away from having long hair and cut their hair into a bob to symbolize freedom and independency. As a reason of women questioning traditional values they began to drink, smoke and be more sexual in this era. The 1920’s was also the age of Jazz which influenced women to go out and dance and women having more flamboyant and exuberant moves. In the 1920’s to be equal among men they had to have a figure of men,

One important theme of the women of the 1920’s that connects various aspects of the women is their sexuality. The women before those who became empowered in the 1920’s would never open up about their sexuality. The women prior to the 1920’s had an image of modesty and were viewed to be married to only one man. In 1920, the women began to express their sexual desires freely. Singers like Bessie Smith could paint a picture and bring anything to life with just her voice. One example by Bessie Smith “I’m Wild About That Thing”. In this song, Bessie Smith sings of how she loves her man and how happy he makes her. In her lyrics she says “Do it easy honey don’t get

The Roaring Twenties also know as a new era which was a great time for a revolution.We think of this “New Era” as a freedom for women. Now women were “breaking down the spheres of Victorian values (Zeitz). ” In 1920, the powerful women 's rights movement gave the women right to vote after so many years. Now they started to become more independent and had less restriction put into them.This time period gave rise to the flapper girls who smoke, drank, and had sex as they pleased.Many women became rebels, where they started to wear short dresses and tight bathing suits which exposed their skin, and put makeup on. All these actions taken were considered immoral and disrespectful. The early 20th century was a battle between modernism and

During World War I (1914-1918), women accepted the jobs that men had been working before they went on to fight for the U.S. Many women worked in factories, with heavy machinery, on farms, or even in offices as clerks. After the war, many women kept their jobs as clerks and secretaries. They obtained the right to vote in 1920 with the 19th amendment, which set loose the ideas of even more independence and a need to change the ideals of women. Post war prosperity gave way to credit being opened for the people to use through installment plans. Research showed,“Low prices and generous credit made cars affordable luxuries at the beginning of the decade; by the end, they were practically necessities” (“The Roaring Twenties”). Citizens were now allowed to buy goods they previously

The 1920's was a period of prosperity and confidence for many Americans. Women who were largely restricted to certain jobs were now granted more opportunities. They besieged the offices of publishers and advertisers; they sold antiques, sold real estate, opened smart little shops, and finally invaded the department store

The 1920’s was an era of dramatic political and cultural change, where many Americans lived in cities rather than farms. Many inventors came to be noticed as new cars were invented and as music entered the entertainment industry. A new style of music was invented mainly in the African American community, creating the Harlem Renaissance; which was an evolution of music and entertainment in Harlem, New York City. The women of America began to evolve in the 1920s, adding new styles to our fashion industry and changing the way women dress, act, and are portrayed in society for generations. Women were viewed before the 1920’s as innocent housewives, that made little to no money, as they often relied on their husbands’ for income. Women also had little to no rights, such as voting rights, which many women began to protest. Women of the 1920’s through the 1930’s influenced and impacted society by transforming their looks from innocent housewives to a sexually liberated generation of women, increasing the working rate to twenty-five percent by working in factories and the telemarketing business, and participating in the Women’s Suffrage Movement in which they protested for their rights which then influenced the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment.

Frederick Lewis Allen, in his famous chronicle of the 1920s Only Yesterday, contended that women’s “growing independence” had accelerated a “revolution in manners and morals” in American society (95). The 1920s did bring significant changes to the lives of American women. World War I, industrialization, suffrage, urbanization, and birth control increased women’s economic, political, and sexual freedom. However, with these advances came pressure to conform to powerful but contradictory archetypes. Women were expected to be both flapper and wife, sex object and mother. Furthermore, Hollywood and the emerging “science” of advertising increasingly tied conceptions of femininity to

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 Roaring Twenties also know as a new era which was a great time for a revolution.We think of this “New Era” as a freedom for women. Now women were “breaking down the spheres of Victorian values (Zeitz). ” In 1920, the powerful women's rights movement gave the women right to vote after so many years. Now they started to become more independent and had less restriction put into them.This time period gave rise to the flapper girls who smoke, drank, and had sex as they pleased.Many women became rebels, where they started to wear short dresses and tight bathing suits which exposed their skin, and put makeup on. All these actions taken were considered immoral and disrespectful. The early 20th century was a battle between modernism and

As a whole, the 1920’s was a symbol for social rebellion. Prior to the 1920’s, women were conservative in regards to how they dressed; most never showed any ankles or anything scandalous. During this time period, women began to now change. After watching several actresses in theaters act in movies, women began to act like the actresses that they watched. These women, called “Flappers,” drank, smoked, and dressed in what was scandalous back then. Women also rebelled against their traditional domestic roles. Before the 1920’s, women would just pretty much strictly stay at home or work in factories with poor conditions. During World War I though, women stepped up and had to work the higher paying jobs that the men worked, which opened many new doors to women. They now had jobs

The movie industry unquestionably started to boom by the mid 1920s. Movies had a capital investment of 2 million dollars and had theatres that could fit over 5,ooo. Now do not get me wrong we can not forget about musicals that were just as popular.(Maitland 100-101). Musicals and movie theatres were great ways that people would spend their free time. Also another popular thing going on was the introducing of radio broadcasting in 1920 it was a great way to start off the Decade. Radio broadcasting was a new way for people to keep in touch with what was going on and it was ranked in money of over 600 million by 1929.( Maitland 102-105).Those were just a few of the things that were popular, the 1920s was filled by the start of a lot of new

The twentieth century witnessed many changes in the daily lives of women, from the domestic roles to the public. The new women's movement advocated for equal rights, while newly formed women's organizations were on the rise of a new generation. The male-controlled social structures were slowly being transformed throughout the world. Followed closely by World War I, these social changes, which had been made at the beginning of the century, developed further as women were propelled into the workforce, after many of their husbands and fathers were called into war, exposed them to the previously male-dominated profession and into political situations. By the middle of the twentieth century, women's activities and concerns were being recognized

In the 1920s women became more independent and started to slowly gain rights (“Women of the Century”). Women’s suffrage was finally granted in 1920, which was a huge step towards equality for men and women. For the first time, women were able to vote on issues that mattered to them, which was extremely important in order to gain more rights. In 1923, the Equal Rights Amendment was first introduced, although it would not be passed in Congress until almost fifty years later. Despite these steps of progress, the Great Depression caused some setbacks. Due to the large numbers of unemployment, women were discouraged from “taking jobs” away from men (“Women of the Century). Some states even went so far as to pass laws prohibiting the hiring of women. World War II began quickly after this which greatly increased the number of women in the work force.