The Role Of Flappers In The 1920's

It was the 1920s. A woman was walking down the street in her new dress and her short haircut. She was getting whistles from the men and envious, hateful whispers from the conservatively dressed women she passed by. The woman could hear the word “flapper” spreading amongst both genders. Flapper was the word to describe the “new woman” of the twenties. This woman was more liberal with her clothing. A flapper wanted to lose the persona of a housewife and gain the look of an independent woman. Now, almost a hundred years later, a woman with the same look and dress would be looked at as the “normal” in social situations. If a woman were to wear that same outfit to work, she might get the same reaction as the woman in the twenties. The way women

This look was associated with what people would refer to as “flapper style”. This look also brought short haircuts and cigarette-smoking women. Deborah Saville describes this style of clothing as “[w]earing a dress without a brassiere that exposes [a woman’s] arms and back and exotic scarf wrapped around a thickly styled bob…” (Dress 75). Women also preferred loose clothing. For example, “by the 1920s, streamlined women’s fashions favored…fitted bust to midthigh, minimized women’s breasts and hips” (Designing Women 40). This was a normal outfit for a night out with friends or to a party. This outfit was the result of the “Sexual Revolution” that took place during the twenties. Women were fascinated over how free the flapper was. Jazz was also another major part in fashion for the twenties. A great example of jazz fashion was the “Miss Jazz” costume. As stated in the book Twentieth-Century American Fashion, “’Miss Jazz’ was a long thin dress of black and silver geometric shapes worn with a tall hat similar to a wizard’s hat”

Women have to be as conservative as possible if they want to have a respectable job. Based on the research by Lippa, Preston, and Penner, it declares that the “women’s population increased most dramatically over time in higher status occupations…” (6). Women started putting the knowledge they gained about professional dress into action, and they were going out to get the “high status” job. Professional wear is the opposite of social wear. Pantsuits and skirts past the knee are acceptable. Wearing anything above-the-knee would be considered “unprofessional”. In the work setting, women can easily lose respect if they come to work in anything that shows too much skin. It can also lead to what is considered to be “workplace bullying”. Workplace bullying is everything that can be categorized as bullying or abuse, and that includes sexual harassment. Carol Jones states in her research that “[o]ne of the most significant barriers to professional participation is sexual harassment” (qtd. in Alonso-Almeida 166). That can lead to serious consequences and questionable doubt about the job for women. McIntoch states that “when women experience workplace bullying…benefits of working are diminished” (762). In contrast, women can actually use the way they dress to advance in the professional world. Some women have exploited their bodies in short, tight professional wear to secure a