The Role Of Flappers In The 1920's

Flappers of the 20’s changed the standards of femininity forever in many ways. The major thing that these flapper girls did was make femininity marketable. Before the flapper generation, many women took part in the political realm and fought to have the same rights that men had. However, these flapper women wanted nothing to do with politics like their mothers, grandmothers, and great grandmothers did. These women found politics boring, and these women only wanted to have fun.

The radio show would be hosted by students from a women’s college in New York City, exploring the lifestyle of flappers and informing young women in New York about the latest trends in beauty and fashion, as well as women’s issues, relationships, and entertainment. Following World War I, changes in the political and social climate during an era of postwar prosperity fostered the emergence of the “flapper,” a woman who publicly embodied a new moral order for women in the 1920s. Flappers boldly challenged outdated social standards after experiencing the freedoms of leaving home and having greater mobility in the workforce, earning enough for a disposable income, and prioritizing personal fulfillment. The flapper represented the shifting social

Alberta's "Famous Five" were a group of accomplished Canadian women involved in the Persons Case of 1927. At the time, The Constitution stated what requirements had to be met for a person to be delegated into the Canadian Senate, and other government jobs. For years, it had been a given that by a "person" they meant a man. The five women challenged Parliament and asked them whether or not women were seen as persons. When the case went to the Supreme Court of Canada in 1928, it was ruled that the Constitution meant "persons" as in men. However, when the British Privy Council heard of this decision, they vetoed it, and so ruled that women were indeed persons and eligible to be appointed to the Senate. In Canada, this was an important step forward for the women's rights movement.

Many will find it hard to believe that under ninety years ago, women were not considered persons under the Canadian government. This may still be the case had it not been for Alberta’s Famous Five. The Famous Five were a group of strong female activists in the early nineteen hundreds who fought for women’s rights. They consisted of cabinet minister Irene Parlby, legal expert Henrietta Muir Edwards, novelist Nellie McClung, prohibitionist Louise McKinney and magistrate Emily Murphy. They all worked individually in their provinces in the west of Canada, advocating for their causes, whether it be suffrage, prohibition or for women to be recognized by the government. They played an integral role in the first wave of the feminist movement and led this change in Canadian society. The Famous Five promoted social change for Canada by providing women with role models, protesting against substances and elevating the status of women.

The famous 5 are a group of women that have made a huge impact for equal rights for Canadian women. They were led by Judge Emily Murphy, along with Nellie McClung, Henrietta Muir Edwards, Irene Parlby and Louise McKinney. They are five women from Alberta that all believed in the rights of women and children. In the late 1880s and 1890s they fought against the prejudice of their day to fight for women’s suffrage and general human rights. Each woman was a leader to bring equal rights for women, so they could be considered people by the government and be given rights, including the right to vote and own property.

Before flappers came along women were very modest. They were brought up to be "lady-like" and did not even date men unless their parents came along. They would wear clothes that were long and fancy and would cover their bodies head-to-toe, because they were not allowed to even show their ankles. Flappers went against all theses customs. Their irresponsible actions included: around kissing men, dancing on men provocatively, and just not caring about what the rules were. Women had limited freedom in the 1900s until the Flappers came along and changed many things for women through the way they dressed and acted, creating the "New Woman" or the 1920s.

This is a book essay on “Flapper: A madcap Story on Sex, Style, Celebrity and Woman who made America Modern”, by Joshua Zeitz. Growing up in the 1900’s you could possibly see women in Broad hats, and tall stiff trailing skirts. The thing about this time was not only were their dresses stiff but so were the rules that the parents and society was given to the upcoming generation. Soon there came this rambunctious type of girl and she was called a Flapper. The life of a Flapper would be characterized by smoking, drinking, and revealing skin; but I’m here to explain how the new woman changed American culture, and society in the 1920’s.

We chose our topic because it had tons of factual information, interesting points, and lots of evidence. During our lifetimes, we both danced and thought a project including that type of information would really be interesting to dig into. Based on our strengths and weaknesses, we thought doing a performance would be the best and this topic really incorporated a play. This topic took place during the Roaring 20’s and thought the flappers topic about the lifestyles of women would be captivating. One of us has a family member in the dance industry that pushed us to dig deeper into dancing history. This made us want to explore origins of the flappers history.

Fashion changed the mentality of Americans in many ways as well. The most common type of girl in the 1920s was flappers. The term “flapper” first appeared in Great Britain after World War I, it was a word used to describe young girls (Rotenberg). It then began popular in the 1920s. Flappers were northern, urban, single, young middle class women, many held steady jobs (“Flappers”). Flappers engaged in active city night life. Speakeasies were common destination for the flappers (“Flappers”). It was a place where they could completely be themselves. The flapper movement began when young women decided that they were not willing to waste away their young lives waiting idly for spinsterhood; they were going to enjoy life (Rosenberg). Many people disliked flappers. The flapper attitude was characterized by stork, truthfulness, fast living, and sexual behavior (Rosenberg). Flappers were usually younger women. The flappers were viewed disdainfully by an older generation as wild (“1920s dress fashion rise and fall”). The flappers’ style was very rare and

The Persons case was one of the most defining moments for Canadian women in history. Not only did it allow for women to work in the government but it opened so many doors for other issues involving women and their rights. The Persons Case was a constitutional ruling that gave the right to Women to be able to be appointed into the Senate. The case was started by the Famous Five, a group of women’s right activists, consisting of Emily Murphy, Irene Marryat Parlby, Nellie Mooney McClung, Louise Crummy McKinney and Henrietta Muir Edwards. In 1928, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that women were not “persons” according to the BNA act. Therefore, they were not eligible to hold a position in the government. The Famous Five were not pleased with this law that was degrading to women so, they appealed to the Privy Council of England and in 1929, the Court’s decision was reversed. The Persons Case enabled women to work for change in

The flapper life caused many terrible issues to arise within the families that would result in the girl's rebellion. Young female adults and women during these times had one three options: they could accept the rules set down for them, they could rebel, or they could find a way to compromise or circumvent traditional standards (Ruiz

The Roaring Twenties also know as a new era which was a great time for a revolution.We think of this “New Era” as a freedom for women. Now women were “breaking down the spheres of Victorian values (Zeitz). ” In 1920, the powerful women's rights movement gave the women right to vote after so many years. Now they started to become more independent and had less restriction put into them.This time period gave rise to the flapper girls who smoke, drank, and had sex as they pleased.Many women became rebels, where they started to wear short dresses and tight bathing suits which exposed their skin, and put makeup on. All these actions taken were considered immoral and disrespectful. The early 20th century was a battle between modernism and

The 1920’s which was also called the Roaring Twenties was a era of economic prosperity and dramatic social change. The 19 amendment that was ratified on August 1920 gave the right of women to vote and the impact of World War I resulted in women questioning traditional morals and values, becoming rebellious. When men left for the war it caused women to have new jobs such as working in factories. Also, “the number of women attending college rose to 10% of the population by the end of the 1920's." Due to women having the opportunity to have jobs and go to college women became more mobile. The corset limited women to be mobile in this era which caused the production of coresets to quickly decline. Less women wearing corset made their figure to be more boyish and straight. The women of this era was called the Flappers, free spirited women, representing the new change of how women looked. The Flappers “lacked hips, breasts, and a defined waist”. They would dress in dresses above their knee and ankle showing more legs and having bare arms. They would also stray away from having long hair and cut their hair into a bob to symbolize freedom and independency. As a reason of women questioning traditional values they began to drink, smoke and be more sexual in this era. The 1920’s was also the age of Jazz which influenced women to go out and dance and women having more flamboyant and exuberant moves. In the 1920’s to be equal among men they had to have a figure of men,

The Famous Five decided to appeal to the decision made by the Supreme Court of Canada with the support of Prime Minister Mackenzie King. The Famous Five appealed to the Judicial Committee and Privy Council of England. In 1929, the British Privy Council declared women as “persons”. They stated that the constitution is a “living tree” and should change according to the time (Creating Canada, page 154). In conclusion, the victory of the Persons Case contributed to the importance of women and opened the door to many rights.

Flappers in the 1920s where the girls and women that dressed less modestly. They also disobeyed the rules that most women and girls followed. They did what others would not ever think of doing in this time period.