"Ion Luca Caragiale National College

Ploieti

The Changing Role

of Women
in

the 1920s

Coordinating teacher
Student
Apostol Valentina
Ioana-Elena

Vasile
Grade

12I
1

2013

Contents

1. Prcis............................................................................................................................. 3
2.

Introduction................................................................................................................. 4

3.

Opportunities of Women in the 1920s....................................................................... 5

4.

Expression of Women in the 1920s.......................................................................... 11

5. Achivements, Self Image and Female Role Models in the 1920s.......................... 23

6.

Conclusion.................................................................................................................. 28

7.

Bibliography.............................................................................................................. 29

1.Prcis
Because I am a woman, I must make unusual efforts to succeed. If I fail, no one will
say, "She doesn't have what it takes"; They will say, "Women don't have what it takes". (Clare
Boothe Luce)
The topic of my paper has drawn my attention because of the strength, determination
and ambiton that women of 1920s had shown during this period, in a way they never did
before. Therefore, I decided to study further the changes that occured in womens life during
such a memorable period of the US history, as the Roaring Twenties were, and I was
pleasently surprised by all their achievements, the most imporant of them being the political
freedom: the passage of the 19th Amendmant which gave women the right to vote for the first
time and, also, political equality between men and women. Afterwards, the role of women
became more important in society. They proved strentgh, capability, intelligence and, after the
WWI, they started to have an important role in the workforce of the country.

Also, I was impressed and intrigued, at the same time, by the way they chose to
express themselves and to use their independence. The unexpected change that occured in
fashion (the flapper look which was seen as something arguable, provocative and, somehow,
as a lack of respect for the American society), the presence of women in speakeasies, their
rebel behaviour which included drinking, smoking, dancing freely and generally doing
things that men usually did, were some of the radical changes that defined the women of the
1920s.
All in all, I believe that women, during this period, had persistently fought to achieve
the independence they needed, to gain their rights and not to be considered inferior to men
anymore. They proved their abilities and, in my opinion, they are real examples of ambition,
determination, courage for the previous generations, showing that women can do things as
well as men can. If a woman is sufficiently ambitious, determined and gifted - there is
practically nothing she can't do. ( Helen Lawrenson)

2. Introduction
1920s are also known as the as the Roaring Twenties , characterizing the decade's
distinctive cultural edge in New York City, Chicago, Paris, Berlin, London, and many other
major cities during a period of sustained economic prosperity. French speakers called it the
"annes folles" ("Crazy Years"), emphasizing the era's social, artistic, and cultural
dynamism."Normalcy" returned to politics in the wake of hyper-emotional patriotism during
World War I, jazz music blossomed, the flapper redefined modern womanhood, and Art
Deco peaked. Economically, the era saw the large-scale diffusion and use of automobiles,
telephones, motion pictures, and electricity, unprecedented industrial growth, accelerated
consumer demand and aspirations, and significant changes in lifestyle and culture. The media
4

focused on celebrities, especially sports heroes and movie stars, as cities rooted for their home
team and filled the new palatial cinemas and gigantic stadiums. In most major countries
women were given the right to vote for the first time. Finally the Wall Street Crash of
1929 ended the era, as the Great Depressionset in worldwide, bringing years of worldwide
gloom and hardship.
The spirit of the Roaring Twenties was marked by a general feeling of discontinuity
associated with modernity and a break with traditions. Everything seemed to be feasible
through modern technology.
In the 1920's, women began to grow more independent and this would change the role of
women's lives.
American women were transformed after World War I. They seemed to embody the
changes going on in the country itself. The United States went from a young industrial state
that was accumulating the capital to build factories and railroads to a world power with a
consumer economy that relied on its citizens to keep the boom going by borrowing money
and buying homes and cars. Meanwhile, the celibate settlement house worker was replaced as
a female prototype by the jazz-crazed flapper dancing the Charleston in a speakeasy.
Everything that had anything to do with consumption was in style. That included drinking,
smoking and sex - for women as well as men. - 'America's Women, 400 years of Dolls,
Drudges, Helpmates and Heroines' by Gail Collins

3.Opportunities of Women in the

1920s

Political freedoms
5

With the passage of the 19th Amendment in 1920 that gave women the right to vote,
women finally attained the political equality that they had so long been fighting for. A
generational gap began to form between the "new" women of the 1920s and the previous
generation.
The Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution:

Prohibits any U.S. citizen to be denied the right to vote based on sex.
Ratified on August 18, 1920.
Boosted womens confidence.
It made them feel less like property
Made them feel like they had a purpose in society

The 19th amendment sparked women to speak up for themselves and take on a new
role in society and not just the role as the homemaker.
Suffragists transformed the National American Woman Suffrage Association into the
League of Women Voters (LWV) in 1920. Carrie Chapman Catt and other leaders of the LWV
saw enfranchised women as individuals with their own relationship to the state, and they set
out to train these women in good citizenship.
Prior to the 19th Amendment, feminists commonly thought that women could not
pursue both a career and a family successfully, believing that one would inherently inhibit the
development of the other. This mentality began to change in the 1920s as more women began
to desire not only successful careers of their own but also families. The "new" woman was
less invested in social service than the Progressive generations, and in tune with
the capitalistic spirit of the era, she was eager to compete and to find personal fulfilment.

The achievement of suffrage led to feminists refocusing their efforts towards other goals.
Groups such as the National Women's Party (NWP) continued the political fight, proposing
the Equal Rights Amendment in 1923 and working to remove laws that used sex to
discriminate against women. But many women shifted their focus from politics to challenge
traditional definitions of womanhood.
U.S. Womens movements inspired women worldwide:
-The Matrimonial Causes Act
-Put into force in the UK in 1923

The Working Woman in the 1920s

When women won the right to vote in 1920, it was only the first of several big changes to
take place in society during the "Roaring '20s." Women made up 22 percent of the American
labor force, and the number of working women grew throughout the decade. Although women
lacked any legal protection against discrimination, they made striking gains in the workforce
compared to previous generations.
Therefore, the 1920s saw significant change in the lives of working women. World War I
had temporarily allowed women to enter into industries such as chemical, automobile and iron
and steel manufacturing, which were once deemed inappropriate work for women. Black
women, who had been historically closed out of factory jobs, began to find a place in industry
during World War I by accepting lower wages and replacing the lost immigrant labor and in
heavy work. Yet, like other women during World War I, their success was only temporary;
most black women were also pushed out of their factory jobs after the war. In 1920, seventyfive percent of the black female labor force consisted of agricultural laborers, domestic
servants, and laundry workers.
Legislation passed at the beginning of the 20th century mandated a minimum wage
and forced many factories to shorten their workdays. This shifted the focus in the 1920s to job
performance in order to meet demand. Factories encouraged workers to produce more quickly
and efficiently with speedups and bonus systems, increasing the pressure on factory workers.
Despite the strain on women in the factories, the booming economy of the 1920s meant more
opportunities even for the lower classes. Many young girls from working-class backgrounds
did not need to help support their families as prior generations did and were often encouraged
to seek work or receive vocational training which would result in social mobility.

Jobs for women in 1920s:

Entertainment - Before 1920, almost all professional musicians were men, according
to the University of Minnesota. The success of jazz composer Lil Hardin and singer
Bessie Smith encouraged other women to pursue musical careers, which led to more
women working in radio and theater. Silent films featured a number of female
actresses, including Greta Garbo, Louise Brooks and Clara Bow. Bow was famous
during the decade for personifying the "flapper" -- a young, fun-loving woman of the
Roaring '20s -- on film.
White Collar - As it became more acceptable for women to work, some women found
office jobs as typists and file clerks. These positions, which had been career stepping
stones for men, became dead ends when women took the jobs, according to the
Australian and New Zealand American Studies Association. The growth in the beauty
industry opened up opportunities for women as sales clerks; the cosmetics industry, for
instance, used women to sell lipstick and makeup to other women and eventually grew
into a multimillion-dollar industry.

Farming - America had much more of a rural, farm economy in the 1920s than it does
today, and farm women worked hard. Many farm families concentrated on feeding
themselves and making items they needed, rather than selling to others, according to
Shirley Eagan on the West Virginia History website. Farm women washed, ironed,
cleaned, made coffee and hominy, baked, and churned butter. Many farms didn't
receive electricity until the 1940s, so housework had to be done by hand, and cooking
required wood for fuel.
Others - Some women worked in the same fields women had been working in for
decades, such as nursing, teaching and domestic work. Other women moved into new
areas of blue-collar labor, NCPedia states; North Carolina textile mills and tobacco
factories began using female workers, for instance. In many cases, employers who did
take women refused to hire black women, or segregated them from white workers.

The 1920s saw the emergence of the co-ed, as women began attending large state colleges
and universities. Women entered into the mainstream middle-class experience, but took on a
gendered role within society. Women typically took classes such as home economics,
"Husband and Wife", "Motherhood" and "The Family as an Economic Unit". In an
increasingly conservative post-war era, it was common for a young woman to attend college
with the intention of finding a suitable husband. Fueled by ideas of sexual liberation, dating
underwent major changes on college campuses. With the advent of the automobile, courtship
occurred in a much more private setting.
Despite women's increased knowledge of pleasure and sex, the decade of unfettered
capitalism that was the 1920s gave birth to the 'feminine mystique'. With this formulation, all
women wanted to marry, all good women stayed at home with their children, cooking and
cleaning, and the best women did the aforementioned and in addition, exercised their
purchasing power freely and as frequently as possible in order to better their families and their
homes.

Newfound Social Freedoms

Womens Christian Temperance Union was pivotal in bringing about national Prohibition
in the United States of America, believing it would protect families, women and children from
the effects of abuse of alcohol. Womens Organization for National Prohibition Reform
(WONPR) was founded in 1929 to rescue Americas families and communities from the ten
9

years of alcohol prohibition. These women had been important in bringing about alcohol
prohibition, yet once they saw the damage this was having on their homes, families and
communities, they united to bring an end to this failed and unconstitutional legislation.

On the other hand, women took up smoking in the twenties with the same suddenness
they cut their hair and raised their skirts. They smoked in restaurants, in speakeasies, in the
country clubs where they went to play golf and bridge, and in private homes during that new
invention, the cocktail hour. For the younger generation, smoking was another example of
"freedom" and women's right to enjoy the same pleasures as men. But they got a prod from
the mass media. Magazine ads urged weight-conscious flappers to "reach for a Lucky instead
of a sweet". Cigarettes, which had frequently been marketed as a health aid that would cure
nervousness or aid indigestion, became a weapon in the war against fat. - 'America's Women,
400 years of Dolls, Drudges, Helpmates and Heroines' by Gail Collins

10

Also, the image of flappers were young women who went by night to jazz clubs where
they danced provocatively, smoked cigarettes through long holders, and dated freely, perhaps
indiscriminately. They rode bicycles, drove cars, and openly drank alcohol, a defiant act in the
American period of Prohibition. The cocktail hours rise to popularity. Women also played
sports; womens baseball became popular in the 1920s; such baseball teams were New Yorkbased.

11

4. Expression of Women in the

1920s

Flappers : A Practical lifestyle

Actress Louise Brooks (1927)

A flapper onboard ship (1929)

Flappers were a "new breed" of young Western women in the 1920s who wore short
skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then
considered acceptable behavior. Flappers were seen as brash for wearing excessive
makeup, drinking, smoking, driving automobiles, and otherwise flouting social and sexual
norms. Flappers had their origins in the liberal period of the Roaring Twenties, the social,
political turbulence and increased transatlantic cultural exchange that followed the end
of World War I, as well as the export of American jazz culture to Europe.
Etymology
The slang word flapper, describing a young woman, is sometimes supposed to refer to
a young bird flapping its wings while learning to fly. However, it may derive from an earlier
use in northern England to mean teenage girl, referring to one whose hair is not yet put up and
whose plaited pigtail flapped on her back; or from an older word meaning prostitute.
The word appeared in print in the United Kingdom as early as 1903 and United States
1904, when novelist Desmond Coke used it in his college story of Oxford life, Sandford of
12

Merton: "There's a stunning flapper". In 1907 English actor George Graves explained it to
Americans as theatrical slang for acrobatic young female stage performers.
By 1908, newspapers as serious as The Times used it, although with careful
explanation: "A 'flapper', we may explain, is a young lady who has not yet been promoted to
long frocks and the wearing of her hair 'up'". By November 1910, the word was popular
enough for the author A. E. James to begin a series of stories in the London
Magazine featuring the misadventures of a pretty fifteen-year-old girl and titled "Her Majesty
the Flapper". 1911, a newspaper review indicates the mischievous and flirtatious 'flapper' was
an established stage-type.

By 1912, the London theatrical impresario John Tiller, defining the word in an
interview he gave to the New York Times, described a 'flapper' as belonging to a slightly older
age group, a girl who has "just come out". Although the word was still largely understood as
referring to high-spirited teenagers gradually in Britain it was being extended to describe any
impetuous immature woman. The use of the word increased during World War I, perhaps due
to the visible emergence of young women into the workforce to supply the place of absent
men; a Timesarticle on the problem of finding jobs for women made unemployed by the return
of the male workforce is headed "The Flapper's Future". Under this influence, the meaning of
the term changed somewhat, to apply to "independent, pleasure-seeking, khaki-crazy young
women."
By 1920, the term had taken on the full meaning of the flapper generation style and
attitudes. In his lecture that year on Britain's surplus of young women caused by the loss of
young men in war, Dr. R. Murray-Leslie criticized "the social butterfly type the frivolous,
scantily-clad, jazzing flapper, irresponsible and undisciplined, to whom a dance, a new hat, or
a man with a car, were of more importance than the fate of nations."

13

As the adoption of the term in America coincided with a fashion among teenage girls
in the early 1920s for wearing unbuckled galoshes a widespread false etymology held that
they were called "flappers" because they flapped when they walked, as they wore their
overshoes or galoshes unfastened, showing that they defied convention in a manner similar to
the 21st century fad for untied shoelaces.

Actress Alice Joyce, 1926

Evolution of the image

The first appearance of the word and image in the United States came from the popular
1920 Frances Marion film,The Flapper, starring Olive Thomas. Thomas starred in a similar
role in 1917, though it was not until The Flapper that the term was used. In her final movies,
she was seen as the flapper image. Other actresses, such as Clara Bow, Louise
Brooks, Colleen Moore and Joan Crawford would soon build their careers on the same image,
achieving great popularity.
In the United States, popular contempt for Prohibition was a factor in the rise of the
flapper. With legal saloons and cabarets closed, back alley speakeasies became prolific and
popular. This discrepancy between the law-abiding, religion-based temperance movement and
the actual ubiquitous consumption of alcohol led to widespread disdain for authority. Flapper
independence was also a response to the Gibson girls of the 1890s. Although that pre-war
look does not resemble the flapper style, their independence may have led to the flapper wisecracking tenacity 30 years later.
Writers in the United States such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Anita Loos and illustrators
such as Russell Patterson, John Held, Jr., Ethel Hays and Faith Burrows popularized the
flapper look and lifestyle through their works, and flappers came to be seen as attractive,
14

reckless, and independent. Among those who criticized the flapper craze was writercritic Dorothy Parker, who penned "Flappers: A Hate Song" to poke fun at the fad. The
secretary of labor denounced the "flippancy of the cigarette smoking, cocktail-drinking
flapper." Harvard psychologist reported that flappers had "the lowest degree of intelligence"
and constituted "a hopeless problem for educators."
A related but alternative use of the word "flapper" in the late 1920s was as a
media catch word that referred to adult women voters and how they might vote differently
than men their age. While the term "flapper" had multiple uses, flappers as a social group
were distinct from other 1920s fads.

Behaviour
Flappers' behavior was considered outlandish at the time and redefined women's roles.
In the English media they were stereotyped as pleasure-loving, reckless and prone to defy
convention by initiating sexual relationships.Some have suggested that the flapper concept as
a stage of life particular to young women was imported to England from Germany, where it
originated "as a sexual reaction against the over-fed, under-exercised monumental woman,
and as a compromise between pederasty and normal sex". In Germany teenage girls were
called "backfisch", which meant a young fish not yet big enough to be sold in the
market. Although the concept of "backfisch" was known in England by the late 1880s, the
term was understood to mean a very demure social type unlike the flapper, who was typically
rebellious and defiant of convention. The evolving image of flappers was of independent
young women who went by night to jazz clubswhere they danced provocatively,
smoked cigarettes and dated freely, perhaps indiscriminately. They were active, sporting, rode
bicycles, drove cars, and openly drank alcohol, a defiant act in the American period
of Prohibition. With time, came the development of dance styles then considered shocking,
such as the Charleston, the Shimmy, the Bunny Hug, and the Black Bottom.

15

Cover of the Saturday Evening Post, February 4, 1922, entitled Flapper byEllen B.T. Pyle

Overturning of Victorian roles

Flappers also began working outside the home and challenging women's traditional
societal roles. They were considered a significant challenge to traditional Victorian gender
roles, devotion to plain-living, hard work and religion. Increasingly, women discarded old,
rigid ideas about roles and embraced consumerism and personal choice, and were often
described in terms of representing a "culture war" of old versus new. Flappers also advocated
voting and women's rights.
In this manner, flappers were a result of larger social changes women were able to
vote in the United States in 1920, and religious society had been rocked by the Scopes trial.
For all the concern about women stepping out of their traditional roles, however, some
say many flappers weren't engaged in politics. In fact, older suffragettes, who fought for the
right for women to vote, viewed flappers as vapid and in some ways unworthy of the
enfranchisement they had worked so hard to win. Others argued, though, that flappers' laissezfaire attitude was simply a natural progression of feminine liberation, the right having already
been won. Dorothy Dunbar Bromley, a noted liberal writer at the time, summed up this
dichotomy by describing flappers as "truly modern", "New Style" feminists who "admit that a
full life calls for marriage and children" and also "are moved by an inescapable inner
compulsion to be individuals in their own right.

16

Appearance
In addition to their irreverent behavior, flappers were known for their style, which
largely emerged as a result of French fashions, especially those pioneered by Coco Chanel,
the effect on dress of the rapid spread of American jazz, and the popularization of dancing that
accompanied it. Called garonne in French ("boy" with a feminine suffix), flapper style made
girls look young and boyish: short hair, flattened breasts, and straight waists accentuated it.
By at least 1913, the association between slim adolescence and a certain characteristic look
became fixed in the public's mind. Lilian Nordica, commenting on New York fashions that
year, referred to a thin little flapper of a girl donning a skirt in which she can hardly take a
step, extinguishing all but her little white teeth with a dumpy bucket of a hat, and tripping
down Fifth Avenue.
At this early date, it seems that the style associated with a flapper already included the
boyish physique and close-fitting hat, but a hobble skirt rather than one with a high hemline.
Although the appearance typically associated now with flappers (straight waists, short
hair and a hemline above the knee) did not fully emerge until about 1926, there was an early
association in the public mind between unconventional appearance, outrageous behaviour, and
the word "flapper". A report in The Times of a 1915 Christmas entertainment for troops
stationed in France described a soldier in drag burlesquing feminine flirtatiousness while
wearing "short skirts, a hat of Parisian type and flapper-like hair".
Despite the scandal flappers generated, their look became fashionable in a toned-down
form among respectable older women. Significantly, the flappers removed the corset from
female fashion, raised skirt and gown hemlines, and popularized short hair for women.
17

Among actresses closely identified with the style were Olive Borden, Olive Thomas, Dorothy
Mackaill, Alice White, Bebe Daniels, Billie Dove, Helen Kane, Joan Crawford, Leatrice
Joy, Norma Shearer, Laura La Plante,Norma Talmadge, Clara Bow, Louise Brooks,
and Colleen Moore.

"Where theres smoke theres fire" by Russell Patterson, showing a fashionably

dressed flapper in the 1920s

Apparel
Flapper dresses were straight and loose, leaving the arms bare (sometimes no straps at
all) and dropping the waistline to the hips. Silk or rayon stockings were held up by garters.
Skirts rose to just below the knee by 1927, allowing flashes of leg to be seen when a girl
danced or walked through a breeze, although the way they danced made any long loose skirt
flap up to show their legs. To enhance the view, some flappers applied rouge to their
knees. Popular dress styles included the Robe de style. High heels also came into vogue at the
time, reaching 23 inches (58 cm) high.
Hair and accessories

18

French actress Polaire in 1899

Boyish cuts were in vogue, especially the Bob cut, Eton crop, and Shingle bob. Finger
Waving was used as a means of styling. Hats were still required wear and popular styles
included the Newsboy cap and Cloche hat. Jewelry usually consisted of art deco pieces,
especially many layers of beaded necklaces. Pins, rings, and brooches came into style. Hornrimmed glasses were also popular.

Cosmetics
As far back as the 1890s, French actress Polaire pioneered a look which included
short, dishevelled hair, emphatic mouth and huge eyes heavily outlined in kohl.[55] The
evolving flapper look required "heavy makeup" in comparison to what had previously been
acceptable outside of professional usage in the theatre. With the invention of the metal lipstick
container as well as compact mirrors, bee stung lips came into vogue. Dark eyes,
especially kohl-rimmed, were the style. Blush came into vogue now that it was no longer a
messy application process.
Originally, pale skin was considered most attractive. However, tanned skin became
increasingly popular after Coco Chanel showed off a tan after a holiday it suggested a life of

19

leisure, without the onerous need to work. Women wanted to look fit, sporty, and, above all,
healthy.
Semiotics of the flapper
Being liberated from restrictive dress, from laces that interfered with breathing, and
from hoops that needed managing suggested a freedom to breathe and walk, encouraging
movement out of the house, and the flapper took full advantage. The flapper was an extreme
manifestation of changes in the lifestyles of American women made visible through dress.
Changes in fashion were interpreted as signs of deeper changes in the American
feminine ideal. The short skirt and bobbed hair were likely to be used as a symbol
of emancipation. Signs of the moral revolution consisted of premarital sex, birth control,
drinking, and contempt for older values. Before the war, a lady did not set foot in a saloon;
after the war she entered a speakeasy as thoughtlessly as she would go into a railroad station.
Women had started swearing and smoking publicly, using contraceptives, raising their skirts
above the knee and rolling their hose below it. Women were now competing with men in the
business world and obtaining financial independence and, therefore, other kinds of
independence from men.
The New Woman was pushing the boundaries of gender identity, representing sexual
and economic freedom. She cut her hair short and took to loose-fitting clothing and low cut
dresses. No longer restrained by a tight waist and long trailing skirts, the modern woman of
the 1920s was an independent thinker, who no longer followed the conventions of those
before her. The flapper was an example of the prevailing conceptions of women and her role
during the Roaring 1920s. The flappers' ideal was motion with characteristics of intensity,
energy, and volatility. She refused the traditional moral code. Modesty, chastity, morality, and
traditional concepts of male and female were seemingly ignored. The flapper was making an
appeal to authority and was being attached to the impending "demoralization" of the country.
The Victorian American conception of sexuality and other roles of men and women in
society and to one another were being challenged. Modern clothing was lighter and more
flexible, better suiting the modern woman such as the flapper who wanted to engage in active
sport. Women were now becoming more assertive and less willing to keep the home fires
burning. The flappers' costume was seen as sexual and arose deeper questions of the behavior
and values it symbolized.
End of the flapper era
The flapper lifestyle and look disappeared in America after the Wall Street Crash and
the following Great Depression. The high-spirited attitude and hedonism were less acceptable
during the economic hardships of the 1930s.

20

Media
The Rockettes

The first form of the radio, city rockettes were formed called the Missouri Rockets.

Inspired by the John Tiller Girls in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1922 John tiller formed a
group of amateur dancers that sparked his interest in music and theatre.
Founded by Russell Markert in 1925 who said, If I ever got a chance to get a group of
American girls who would be taller and have longer legs and could do really
complicated tap routines and eye-high kicks... they'd knock your socks off!"
Showman Roxy Rothafel discovered the dance troop and brought them to perform at
his Roxy Theatre in New York City, changing them to the Roxyettes.
Girls from the Tiller Girls and the St. Louis girls preformed together to create the
rockettes.
Rockettes are known for their long legs, tall and slender figures, and dark hair. They
all looked the same to keep the sense of unison.
Rockettes were a way for women to be a part of society and have the public notice
them. It allowed the women to feel spontaneous but structured at the same time.

21

Broadway

Jazz provided a form of rebellion for women, such as dance halls, jazz clubs, and
speakeasies.
Jazz provided jobs for women such as women like Bessie Smith and Ma Rainy who
paved the way for women to pursue careers in the popular performing arts.
Jazz did not just give women a career for singing the blue, but playing the blues such
as Lil Hardin.
Jazz was the start as the Flapper Girl or otherwise known as Jazz babies.
Flapper girls wore short dresses with high stockings and long beaded necklaces.
Flappers were rejected by society because their appearance and the way they presented
themselves while dancing was to provocative.
Frederick Allen stated that "Women were the guardians of morality; they were made of
finer stuff than men and were to act accordingly"
Jazz was an outlet for women to be seen as individuals and get noticed by the
advertising companies.
New York and Chicago were cultural centers for Jazz.
Bessie Smith

22

Radio Shows

Large radio broadcasts were introduced in1922.

It was another way that women could voice their opinions and have the public hear
them.
Radio shows were another outlet of rebellion, it allowed worldwide notification about
the cultural changes the 20s were experiencing.
Women would star on the comedy shows hoping to get noticed by producers to star in
movies.
Radio shows were also the beginning of many popular jazz singer careers, such as Ma
Rainy. Ma Rainy was first discovered with her husband Pa Rainy because it was the
only way they would allow her onto the show.
Flapper girls would star on radio shows also, even though no one could see them
dancing the radio talk show host would talk about them and crack jokes and have them
respond to a little skit.
Radio shows were a job for women that let them have their 3 seconds of fame.

Dancing

Charleston was one of the most popular dances at the time.

The dance was mostly associated with the flapper girls.
Women danced to the Charleston as a form of mocking the citizens who supported the
Prohibition act.
They knew that people who disapproved of the dance found it to be inappropriate and
immoral so they kept dancing to it to outrage them more.

23

5. Achievements, Self Image &

Female
Role Models of the
1920s
Before the 1920s women typically never left the house, they stayed home and did
domestic chores like cooking, cleaning and taking care of kids. However, after the end of the
1910s, and the beginning of 1920, the 19th amendment was passed and women began to have
more freedom and rights. They began to be involved in politics, which only men could do.
Women started nursing careers at hospitals, instead of just being a stay home mom. Some
minority of women, however, did not like the change in their roles because if the Equal Rights
Amendment was to be passed, then they would lose their protective legislation law, which is a
law passed to protect women from hazards or difficulties of paid work.
Over all, women had more opportunities in jobs and careers, but they had less pay and
worked significantly harder than men did. White-collar positions were respectable for the
women work force. The women in the working class proved that they were capable of
economic independence and could make their own money to survive. The women
employment rate in the 1920s rose by 50.1%.

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Female Empowerment in the 1920s

During the 1920s, women had gained many respect and power through their freedom and
rights. The Equal Rights Amendment was passed in 1923, which gave women and men the
same rights. The 19th Amendment was also passed around that time, in 1920, giving the
women the right to vote freely. In 1925, the first female U.S. governor Nellie Tayloe Ross was
sworn into office, her effectiveness at her duty surprised many men and women, which gave
women more respect and praise from men. The World Expo of Womens Progress, the first
womens worlds fair, opened in Chicago in 1925. The expo featured womens ideas, work,
and raised money to support womens Republican Party organizations.
Women began to compete in Olympic field events like running, distance running, and
other track events. Women also began to wear and dress in different clothing and styles, they
had the power and freedom to do so and the men of that time enjoyed this change in cloth.
Women did things that men would normally do like smoking, and drinking.

Birth Control Movement

The freedom that women got in the 1920s made them question the trend of having babies
and keeping the family going. The majority of women did not want to have child and wanted
to create something to stop childbirth, called Birth Control. Magaret Sanger and her Birth
Control League, the BCL, battled for birth control using scientific and intellectual fields and
backed up with many women who also wanted Birth Control. The birth control movement of
the 1920s had a goal of taking the power away from commercial advertisers and placing that
power in the hands of physicians. The whole movement began with women wanting to have
more freedom over their bodies, their sexuality, and their life choices. They wanted to live life
without becoming mothers, they wanted to enjoy life.
Finally, the Supreme Court made distributions of contraception information, or birth
control, legal in 1936. But the first birth control pill was not developed until 1960, from then
on the pill was used widely among women in the US who did not want to be moms.
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Role Models
Nellie Tayloe Ross

Nellie Tayloe Ross was born near Amazonia, in Andrew County, Missouri, in 1876.
She was active in the Cheyenne Womans Club, a club that focused on intellectual selfimprovement during the 1910s. Nellie later married in 1902 to William Bradford Ross, who
later became a leader in the Democratic Party in Wyoming. William Ross ran for governor
several times but lost to Republicans. Finally in 1922, he was elected Governor of Wyoming.
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He held office for a year and a half, but died of surgery complications in 1924, and left the
office empty. Nellie was nominated on October 14, 1924 to succeed William as the Governor
of Wyoming. She, however, had little involvement with politics and little involvement with
woman suffrage campaign, she was hesitant, but wanted to complete what her husband has
left behind. Nellie was sworn into office January 5th, 1925, despite Republicans
disagreement, as the first woman governor of the U.S. Ross wanted to prove to the public and
show them that woman could hold high position jobs. She lost her re-election because she was
a Democrat in a heavy populated Republican state. Nellie also believed that she should have
and would have never pursued a political career, but only because of her husband that she did.
She thinks that women belonged at home to care for the family. During office, she advocated
and supported the prohibition.

Amelia Earhart

Amelia was born in Atchison, Kansas, with the full name as Amelia Mary Earhart. She
had a younger sister (2 years younger), name Grace Muriel Earhart. Amelia had a hard early
life with her family, once wealthy, her father could not make ends meet to hold up the family,
and the family quickly broke apart. During 1917, after a visit to Amelias sister, Graces
college in Canada, she decided to train as a nurse aid in Toronto and served as a VAD
(Voluntary Aid Detachment) for the war until the Armistice in 1918. In 1919, Amelia went to
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be a pre-med student in Columbia University. 1920, Amelia abandoned her pursue for health
studies and reunited with parents in California. She quickly took an interest in flying and that
she knew that I myself had to fly. Amelia took flying lessons with Anita Neta Snook, and
purchased her own prototype of the Kinner Airster airplane, naming it The Canary She
quickly set a woman record altitude level of 14,000 feet, and became the 16th women to
receive a pilots license. She was very fond of flying. In 1926, a call from Captain H.H.
Railey asked Amelia if she like to be the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Her love for
flying caused her to want more than just flying across the Atlantic, she wanted to fly solo. She
first take off attempt at flying across the world failed as the plane (Lockheed Electra 10E) was
unbalanced in weight and crashed causing heavy damage. After repairs, Amelia, along with
her navigator Fred Noonan lifted off on June 1, 1937. First woman to fly solo across the
Atlantic, but not the Pacific.

Gertrude Ederle

Gertrude Ederle was born in 1905, New York City, New York, and was raised in a family
of hardcore swimmers. Gertrude was born with measles, resulting in hearing loss and was
advised to stay out of water as the wetness will worsen the effect, but she didnt listen. She
became a competitive swimmer in the early 1920s in the Womens Swimming Association
facility in Manhattan and quickly began to swim in the Olympic Level; she was breaking
women AND men records left and right. Gertrude competed in the 1924 Olympics in France
was received 1 gold and 2 bronze. After her success at the Olympics, she wanted to challenge
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herself at a swim across the English Channel, a grueling 35 miles of water after she had went
off course for some time. Gertrude had an earlier attempt but failed because her coach in the
over watch boat dragged her into the boat because he thought she was struggling. She became
the first woman to ever swim across the channel, with bad weather conditions in 14 hours, 31
minutes, which is 2 hours faster than the mens record. When she got back to NYC, the news
spread and she quickly became a celebrity and her story was sensational. She was then nick
named Americas best girl and had many marriage proposals from men, she turned them all
down. She proved to men that women can perform as well as, if not, better than what men can
achieve. Women swimmers became more common after Gertrude. Gertrudes hearing
worsened and soon lost her hearings around 1940s.

6. Conclusion
In conclusion, women had a major role in 1920s society, mainly because they
obtained political independence and equal rights with men. Afterwards, they started to involve
in almost all the aspects of life: politics, media, fashion, education and so on.
Through their work, intelligence and perseverance, they succeeded to empancipate and
proved themselves and the world they were as capable as men of doing things that, till then,
were allowed only to them. Also, the changes they had imposed in fashion (flapper dresses,
accessories, hairstyles) have been adopted by many women all over the world and remained
memorable in history.
In this period of prosperity, well-known as the Roaring Twenties, on the background of
Jazz music and Charleston dance, women had played an important role in society; all the
changes that had taken place during 1920s left significant traces in history. The Roaring
Twenties women are great models of ambition, determination, courage and, also, fashion
icons.

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7. Bibliography

www.wikipedia.com

http://doloresmonet.hubpages.com/hub/WomensFashionsofthe1920FlappersandtheJazz-Age

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/schooladventures/womenofthecentury/decadeby
decade/1920s.html

Quotes about women and smoking/drinking in the 1920s

Equal Rights Amendment Home Page

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