The Film Chicago In The 1920's

Many portray the 1920s as a time of lighthearted leisure and prosperity. When in fact this period consisted of significant economic , social and cultural conflicts. Technological innovations sparked the economy and life post war was significantly different with the introduction to what we know as the “New women” the new women also sparked many social conflicts. Along with the New women tension between religion and science also sparked many important conflicts during the time we know as the Jazz Age.

In the mid-1800s, many Americans had concerns about the issues occurring and the impact they made on the United States. To put an end to these numerous issues, many Americans decided to form groups, organizations, and also individuals. They would come up with a variety of strategies to make a change.

Back in the 1920 's women started becoming extremely significant in the society. Before then, women rarely found jobs that accumulated a high enough income to raise a family. However this act of sexism changed in the early years of the 1920 's, women began to get involved in male dominated jobs. This time it worked, women were finally getting their say in political issues and they eventually got the chance to speak up. The government realized the types of distress and discomfort women went through to keep a healthy lifestyle for their young ones. The technological enhancements the government gave most urbanized households gave women of the 20 's intense ease. Some may argue that women were nothing

Adding on to other limitations, women almost had no freedom in their marriage. Before the women’s rights movement, when a woman is married the “husband and wife are one person” but “that person is the husband” (Doc 7). Once a woman is married, her rights and property were governed by the husband. Married women could not make wills or dispose of any property without their husband’s consent to do so. This showed that they were invisible even in their marriage, The women’s movement promoted the support which eventually resulted in the Married Women’s Property Act. The act states what a married woman can’t and can do in a marriage (Doc 6). Something they must do is to take their husband’s name after marriage. Lucy Stone was an abolitionist and

The 1920s represented the post-suffrage era when women made drastic social and cultural changes that affected the American women way of life. Women began to seek more rightsand equal representation through changes in social values. However, women still observed their primary responsibility for caring for the household; and also depended on men for monetary support (Martin, 1926). The essay brings into perspective, various transformations that took place in the 1920s, resulting in the diversion of the traditional norms.

Misogyny is the dislike of, contempt for, or prejudice of women; Washington Irving has been accused of misogyny because of the treatment of women in his stories and their content. Washington Irving was a writer during the 1800’s, and some of his most popular works include “Rip Van Winkle” and “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.” Within these tales and other works of Irving’s, aspects of misogyny is discernible, though there is debate about whether the author himself was a misogynist. I believe that the misogyny that is shown throughout a select few of Irving’s works is due in part to the time period, not entirely Irving, himself.

The 1920’s were a period of tension between the traditionalists and modernists. The tension between these two groups was aroused by the economical advancements, social developments, and cultural changes in the 1920s. These tensions were manifested by the economic outburst and the passing of certain laws. Socially, Congress passed the 19th Amendment which allowed women the right to vote. Economically, the introduction of the automobile, radio, and the airplane brought prosperity in America. Culturally, the 18th Amendment banned the sale and drinking of alcohol in America.

The Roaring Twenties, characterized as a progressive era toward changes and advances, it was a start for freedom and independence for women. Women gained political power by gaining the right to vote. They changed their traditional way to be, way to act and dress to gain respect, and the liberty of independence. Society had different ways of ideals and the ways women were willing to do were disapproved of, and it was wrong for lots of different people, including women from the older generation. In the 1920’s women went through a lot of changes that made them a free spirit, changes that made them what they are now and having the liberty of being independent.

What do you know about “being in the shoes” of women in the 1920s ? The 19th amendment gained women the right to vote. With more freedom came fashion/style with flappers, skirts, hats, hairstyles and many more styles or fashion that started a movement. Following the roles of women after the war the result were sexually liberated. In the 1920s women succeeded well but not without some struggles. Along the way with 19th amendment being so hard for them gaining the right to vote, women’s roles seeing that there not good enough for other than housework and the fashion or style movement with being able not to express yourself the way you should.

The 1920s was a time of great change. From fashion to politics, this period is known as one of the most explosive decades in American history. After WWI, America became one of the world’s most formidable superpowers. The rise to power prompted the 1920s to become a decade of evolution for women’s rights, African American’s rights, and consumerism.

The level of influence a time period has on a country is defined by its political, economic, and social change. The 1920s was one of the most influential decades in the history of the United States. Corrupt politicians, tax cuts for the rich and new opportunities for women signify the influence of the Roaring 20s.

Despite this, women were able to make a huge impact on America through social reforms. Many young women went against the beliefs of their parents. Prior to the Roaring Twenties, America was in a Victorian era. Women wore dresses that were floor-length, their hair was long and premarital sex was almost non-existent. During the 1920’s however, some women became what are known as “flappers”. This was a special fashion that segregated that subculture of young women from the older generations. In order to symbolize their independence and rebellion, flappers wore dresses with a hem that stopped at the knee, they often bobbed their hair (cut their hair short), smoking cigarettes, driving cars and visiting speakeasies to drink bootleg alcohol. Not only this, but many people revolted against sexual taboos in this era. According to Newman and Schmalbach, “Some were influenced by the writings of the Austrian psychiatrist Sigmund Freud, who stressed the role of sexual repression in mental illness. Others, who perhaps had never heard of Freud, took to premarital sex as if it were-like radio and jazz music-one of the inventions of the modern age… [Also] the use of contraceptives for birth control was still against the law in

Recognizable for looser moral behavior, the flapper wore revealing clothing desiring a body type focused on androgyny and cut her hair into a short style framing the face. Typically found in urban areas and practiced by “young, single women,” the flapper forcibly distorted the divisions “between working class and middle class femininity,” yet this was not a purposeful social cause such as what led to the passage of the 19th Amendment. Concerned mostly with individual actions and rebellions, the flapper stayed “oblivious to the problems” of the 1920 and was not a “political identity” at all but rather a youth movement that did not include or consider the feminists of the previous decade that pushed for female suffrage; in fact not equate their “femininity with gender equality” in American society. As the Great Depression hit, however, the behavior of men and women changed drastically. This economic downturn led to a return to traditional forms of femininity with the safety of marriage, and though criticized under the eyes of “revolutionaries,” remained the unshakeable basis for American society until the 1960s. And yet American men and women in the Great Depression of the 1930s faced serious questions regarding their gender roles in marriage and the home as the crisis

In the early 1800’s, Americans were beginning to reform and revolutionize the world they lived in. At this time, America was recovering from the aftermath of the financial and emotional effects of the War of 1812 and the Bank Wars. Considering the cleanliness of drinking water was not high, many people resorted to drinking distilled liquids. The amount of economical stress placed on men in the time lead them to overuse these distilled drinks, also known as alcohol, leading to issues within the home, such as abuse and women’s control of the household. Two main reforms that took place to correct these issues were the Cult of Domesticity and the Temperance movement. The Cult of Domesticity was a reform where women wanted to be represented

America gained its independence in 1776 with the expectation that every American should have liberty and equality. However, American women did not have the right to vote until 1920, which was almost more than 140 years after the United States was established. Women could do little to protect themselves and promote their careers due to being treated unequally and inferior to men. During the 19th and the early 20th century, women were working hard and fighting for gender equality, so that more and more women could live a better life with basic civil rights in their hometowns. In reality, women’s equality was challenged by traditional conventions in the fields of biological difference in sexes, religion and gender roles, and different perspectives towards these conventions of different people made women’s civil rights controversial.