Social Changes In The 1920s

As a nation coming out of a devastating war, America faced many changes in the 1920s. It was a decade of growth and improvements. It was also a decade of great economic and political confidence. However, with all the changes comes opposition. Social and cultural fears still caused dichotomous rifts in American society.

Events that occurred in the 1920s altered society greatly, becoming an important part of modern day reality. The way society thinks in the 1920s is quite similar to modern society, illustrated through the ideology of the “American Dream”. During the 1920s, people aspired to grow to their fullest through achieving a high social status, and wealth. Likewise, in modern society, people continue to carry this idea as they aspire to have a good job; earn money; and obtain a high social status. This idea of opportunity of prosperity and success has continued on into the modern society, having a great impact. These impacts are also visible through the lessons carried on from events that occurred in the 1920s. Many mistakes were made in this era which are

Life Changes of Americans in the 1920's In the 1920's many American lives were improved greatly, but some lives were as bad as they had been before. The economy was booming, with cars being mass produced, and many other consumer goods such as radios, were widely available. Also more jobs became available, and many people recieved a par rise. However there were bad things such as racism about. Many ethnic minority groups were treated poorly.

In the 1920s a group of women started a new type of fashion dressing and acting against what society thought was acceptable. This group of activists formally named flappers invented of casual sex; they also were not afraid to not act womanly. They smoked, drank, and drove automobiles which were not usual things that you would see women doing back in their time. In the 1920s the flappers were about embracing youth, which is a sort of motto for today's children. The flappers were a big influence on today's living in not only...

Modern day women are not wearing corsets dresses as they did in the past generation, now there are woman with short shorts, miniskirts, and haircuts are different and short, the flappers back in the 1920’s reflect the women now. Ever since the flappers trended there new styles they made a huge impact on the world till this day. Often time’s flappers would go to parties and get drunk, flappers would select a man to go home with and have sexual intercourse with as well. Flappers were also a name for prostitutes back in 1920. Flappers had a strange way of dressing. These young women showed their skin, and had short hair. Even though these women were deliberately out of control, they made a huge impact on the world now. The impact is that they got to do what most women couldn’t do, for example they could not vote or do anything else. The number of working class of women increased by 25 percent, they got the right to vote, and they also became more independent. There dress styles’ and their impact on the world was significant to many b...

From coast to coast people were reading the exploits of a new type of woman called flapper. Prior to World War 1 Victorian ideals still dictated the behavior of American women and girls. Frederick Lewis Allen describes the traditional role of women. Women were the guardians of morality. They were made of finer stuff than men. They were expected to act accordingly. Young girls must look forward in innocence to a romantic love match which would lead them to the altar and to living happily ever after. Until the right man came along they must allow no male to kiss them. Flappers did the opposite. Flappers danced the Charleston, kissed their boyfriends while they played golf and sat behind the wheels of fast cars. The liberated usually young female disdained the traditions of her mother and grandmother before her. Flappers would smoke and drink alcohol, she cut her hair and wore short dresses. They also changed their views on courtship rituals, marriage, and child rearing. With these they could have the same freedom as men could. The time period also saw a highly physical change in women’s lives like how they dressed and looked. For the first time in American history women could choose to be free from long hair and voluminous clothing. Before the women changed they wore very restrictive clothing consisting of long skirts with layers of petticoats over tightly laced corsets that produced an hourglass figure with wide hips and a narrow waist.

Some people hated this idea of the Flapper and they blamed the war for these women’s new behaviors. After World War I, young women and young girls started to act free and go against their families. “Some people in society blamed the war for triggering this rebellion of youth and they claimed it had upset the balance of the sexes and, in particular, confuse women of their role in society and where they truly belonged” (Grouley 63). Some people hated the idea of the flappers and these women had become. These women, the flappers, in the 1920s felt free after the 19th amendment was passed. “Since the early twentieth century, the sexual habits of these American women had changed in profound ways” (Zeitz 21). Flappers drank, partied, and had romantic evenings with men. All of which were illegal for women. In addition, they were an embarrassment to society and they were able to get away with anything. “Flappers were a disgrace to society because they were lazy-pleasure seekers who were only interested in drinking, partying, and flirting” (Dipalo 1). For instance, Flappers went to clubs, drank, and hung out with men and were too lazy to do anything. Therefore, one consequence of the war was the creation of a new woman and this led to a movement like no other.

In the 1920s, a new woman was born. She smoked, drank, danced, and voted. She cut her hair, wore make-up, and went to petting parties. She was giddy and took risks. She was a flapper.

My lecture is specific to the middle-class of the Northeast, however they were not the only ones to experience the Flapper lifestyle, there were also a small percentage of women in other classes who experience this lifestyle. Furthermore, Flappers help us understand the impact of the WW1 and gaining the right to vote on middle class women in the 1920s. This lecture’s main takes away should be that Flappers were able to accomplish more with their rebellion than is commonly known or mentioned. And they represented liberation from women to morality imposed by men and freedom to be without being pushed down. For their time, Flappers were fighters without getting their hands dirty, but with a strong

The 1920s were an age of extraordinary social and political change throughout the United States. During this time, the capital doubled in the United States and fewer Americans lived in rural areas than before. Everything around the United States was happening the exact same way. People listened to the same music, dance the same way and also used the same “slang.” Furthermore, the “Roaring Twenties,” as they are also known, were the time of birth and start to a new class of women. Flappers were women who loved to enjoy themselves and had no regard towards bourgeois standards of behavior and have influenced today’s teen society in many aspects.