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Liberal Youth Culture in the Roaring Twenties. Essential Question : What cultural conflicts arose in 1920s America? What role did the emergence of a new liberal youth culture play in these conflicts?. Urban v. Rural America. 1920s: first time US population is more urban than rural
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Liberal Youth Culture in the Roaring Twenties Essential Question: What cultural conflicts arose in 1920s America? What role did the emergence of a new liberal youth culture play in these conflicts?
Urban v. Rural America 1920s: first time US population is more urban than rural Urban – city (New York City is an urban area) • Urban Life: movies, concerts, speakeasies, museums, good wages (more freedom and change) Rural – countryside (farmers live in rural areas) • Rural Life: farming, less $, more traditional, more religious (less freedom and change) • Urban stereotypes about rural Americans: they are stodgy, backwards, and need to be more open to changing views • Rural stereotypes about urbanAmericans: they lack morals and family values, they are materialistic, and fickle
Traditionalism v. Modernism Traditionalism – the belief that it is usually best to keep things the way they are • Traditionalists in the 1920s often… • Lived in rural areas and favored religion over science • Favored prohibition and found jazz and flapper culture distasteful • Viewed material culture and new technology as damaging to society Modernism– the belief that it is often best to try new ways of doing things • Modernists in the 1920s often… • Lived in urban areas and favored science over religion • Disliked prohibition and found jazz and flapper culture exciting • Viewed material culture and new technology as representing progress
Youth v. the Older Generation • Youth • Cars, music, dances, dating (for fun, not just to marry), radio • “Flappers” – women who wore their hair short, colored it, and wore short dresses and make-up • Men often dressed as Rudolph Valentino’s “Sheik” character • Older Generation • Often viewed youth culture as reckless and immoral • Tried to control behavior in clothing, movies, books, etc.
“The Lost Generation” • Even some young writers and intellectuals believed this new society was cold, materialistic, and impersonal - without opportunities for personal fulfillment • Ernest Hemingway’s novel, A Farewell to Arms, tells about his generation’s contempt for war and its desire to move on from it • F. Scott Fitzgerald explores the shallowness of the youth culture in novels like The Great Gatsby and The Other Side of Paradise
“The parties were bigger… the pace was faster… the shows were broader, the buildings were higher, the morals were looser and the liquor was cheaper.” • F. Scott Fitzgerald, Tales • of the Jazz Age (1922) Anything Goes
Flappers, Jazz, and Speakeasies
Flapper Culture • Who were these wild young women? • How could you recognise them? • Why did people disagree about them?
The MODERN Woman Origins In 1920, Frances Marion produced a movie called "The Flapper.” Other movies using the flapper name and image followed. Young women in America and Europe adopted this new look and attitude. Prohibition created a gray area between the law-abiding citizens and those who had a disdain for authority. The work of writers such as F. Scott Fitzgerald also helped to popularize this new “look” for women. Behavior Flappers behaved quite differently than their mothers. They took jobs outside the home and danced in provocative ways. They smoked cigarettes, rode bicycles, and drove cars. They drank alcohol openly and dated anyone and everyone, which was very uncommon for the time period. They flirted and went out all the time.
The Jazz Age The musical innovation of the decade! Started in New Orleans with African rhythms and songs, followed the Mississippi to northern cities Both black and white music lovers frequented nightclubs to hear Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday and others
PROHIBITION The Volstead Act was enacted by Congress to ensure the proper enforcement of Prohibition 18th Amendment Prohibits manufacture, transport, and sale of all liquor after January 16, 1920
There was a place in America during Prohibition, where people gathered to drink and dance and forget their woes. Would-be customers were often met at the door of an unmarked building by steely eyes peering through a small slot. Once inside, these ordinary folks carried on with reckless abandon and rubbed shoulders with notorious gangsters like Al Capone and John Dillinger. They called this place a speakeasy.
