Flappers In The Early 20th Century

Flapper

In the early 20th century a flapper was a woman who was urban, young, single and middle to upper class. “Flappers” partook in the trend of shorter hemlines and colourful dresses with stockings. And along with shorter dresses they typically wore a hairstyle called a bob, which is a sporty cheek-length haircut. “Flappers” wore bright lipstick and make up, which was previously only worn by prostitutes. “Flappers” pushed boundaries for the early 20th century; they would ride bikes, drive cars and play sports. The person in this novel who best represents a “flapper” is Jordan Baker. She is an independent woman for the time and the description of her clothes are similar to one of a “flapper,” “I had on a new plaid skirt also that blew a little in the wind and whenever this happened the red, white, and blue banners in front of all the houses stretched out stiff and said

When America joined the war in 1916 manufactures had to keep production going and support the war. In order to producing mass amounts of material, new technologies were developed and employment opportunities opened up for women and African-Americans. In the absence of able-bodied men women became the main population in factories. At this time industry boomed and so did the economy. However, once the soldiers returned from war (like Gatsby), there was less need for workers in factories and many woman stopped working, even so there still were not enough jobs for the men. As a result unemployment rose and this planted the seeds of the coming Great Depression. However, the immediate affects of “The Great War” were nowhere near the affects it had on poverty stricken Europe. Therefore, this is why in the early 20th century WWI was referred to as “The Great War” because there had never been a war on that scale before and people thought nothing like that could ever happen