Flappers Impact On American Society

The 1920’s was a time of profound changes in the sociopolitical beliefs of the American People. After the inflation of government during World War one, President Harding called for a “return to normalcy”, which alluded to some American peoples reverting back to more primitive beliefs. Although, other Americans turned to more progressive beliefs, and began to express and indulge themselves in an unprecedented fashion. The American people reacted in different ways when faced with the various sociopolitical changes that came about during the 1920’s. Many Americans reverted back to beliefs similar to the beliefs of Americans before the Progressive Era.

Flappers of Yesterday “I have even heard it said in praise of the modern women that she does not look upon marriage as her aim in her life, but looks forward to entering to a profession and earning her living independently of male support.” A powerful quote from a writer named Sheila Kaye-Smith (DiPaolo 6). She is talking about the women of the 1920’s started to change and becoming a different person, thinking different ways, and act out differently. With that others had different opinions on how the felt the change in women 's minds in the 1920’s. Although people saw flappers as a disgrace, they were a new kind of feminist with their independence, behavior, and lifestyle.

The Roaring Twenties affected the daily lives of Americans and their traditions. Social and cultural changes swept over the United States. Women became bolder and started acting more pronounced, while Prohibition attempted to ban alcohol. Writer and artists also began creating a different style. Flappers of the Roaring Twenties were basically just women rebelling against society.

The Flapper Revolution A woman must have freedom to wear and act how she feels- a simple thought that must’ve been missed when amending our constitution. In the workplace, at the home, and in society in general, women are, and always have been, held to a standard of what to wear, how to wear it, and how to portray themselves publicly. They must conform to the ideas of society and live by them, no matter how uncomfortable or disgusting these social rules make them feel. During the roaring twenties a revolution began and women took a stand against the common standards they had been held to.

Imagine Paris circa 1925. This is the city of light, the creative capital of the world: automobiles are accessible, modern art as well as jazz music is starting to take off, and the Great War is over. Back in America, women have the right to vote, the economy has never been better, and prohibition is in full swing. Despite all these developments, most positive, many have never felt so empty. However still, literary geniuses such as T.S. Eliot, Ernest Hemingway, and F. Scott Fitzgerald all found inspiration after WWI in Paris; the city that, at this time, beckoned many artists on account of its wealth of inspiration.

During the 1920s, women defied tradition and became flappers. Ceasing being housewives, these flappers began flaunting their independence by attending speakeasies, therefore, illustrating their newly attained risqué attitudes. Along with this deviation in conduct, they became symbols of the unorthodox time period. Symbols represent many themes and messages. In The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald effectively uses symbolism to support the novel's theme stating money cannot buy happiness.

New media such as the film industry also gave men a “new definition” into the “male appearance” and its importance and variations in the public eye. Masculine appearance now rejected the clothed modesty of the Victorian Age, to the point that by 1930, men no longer wore swimming clothes that “covered the upper part of the body,” a celebration of the male physique and in many cases their sexuality that evolved through the 1920s. Instead of written rules and dictations of courtship, new social mores now declared that “the peer group” would now define “appropriate sexual behavior,” that courtship as a manner of relationships between men and women would now fade as the concept of dating would take its place. This “driving [of] courtship” into

The fight against women’s oppression has gone through many challenges throughout the decades, one of the most iconic changes being the flapper era. Flappers are well known for embracing their new freedoms such as; drinking, smoking, dancing, being more sexually promiscuous, and not adhering to the expectations that their previous feminist mothers had recently laid just a decade earlier. As flappers gained and used these new freedoms and advancements, many of their conservative elders started to worry about the implications of their new carefree actions. To deal with the flapper's new behavior, the elders began describing flappers as a phase in life that was okay for young adults to go through , while still expecting them to settle down and become a wife and care for the home later in life.

One of the biggest factors that caused the roles of women in the united States to change during the 1920’s was the work they did during World War I. While the men were serving overseas, the women stepped into the men’s jobs and made up the majority of the labor force at that time. This allowed women the chance to show that they can do some of the same jobs that men could do. After the war, the number of women in the workforce increased by twenty-five percent. This opened up more opportunities all over the country to earn their place in providing for their families. Another thing that changed for women, during the 1920’s was “flappers”.

dancing to grab attention from viewers. There was a high demand for the ‘flapper’ style dress in the 20’s and mass production allowed this type of dress to be made quickly. This image is linked to the social drivers of change in that wealthy women started to go out more and were mixing with different races/classes/sexes which is something that was quite abnormal and people were worried about this. The ‘flapper’ dress is quite practical for dance and allows movement of the legs and arms.