Women in the 1920's The Flapper Lifestyle

1. Women in the 1920's The Flapper Lifestyle ‘In the 1920’s, 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’

2. The Rise of the Flapper • In 1920, just 6 months after Prohibition became law, women in America were given the right to vote. • During WW1, millions of women had taken over jobs previously held by men, and this gave them a sense of independence. • Though it was suffragettes who were on the front line of the fight for the vote, most historians agree it was this freedom that sparked the ‘flapper phenomenon’. • For many people, these women became the real heroines of the Jazz-Age.

3. The Rise of the Flapper • Flappers were the fashionable, independent young women of the 1920’s. • They rebelled against the way women had been treated, hating the fact that men had the best jobs and earned more money. • They also hated the traditional role of women as a wife and mother. • Named because of their tendency to let their boot laces ‘flap’ around their ankles, flappers were easy to recognise. • Before WW1, women wore long hair tied under a hat, a long dress covering their legs and arms, little make-up and a tight corset around the waist.

4. Flapper Fashion • The new energetic dances of the Jazz-Age also required women to be able to move freely, which corsets did not allow – and so many flappers stopped wearing them altogether. • Some went to nightclubs without chaperones, and even had sex before marriage. • A survey in 1900 showed nearly 80% of college students had not had sex before marriage, in 1920 another found only 31% had not. • These liberated women wore short skirts, revealing tops, had short, bobbed hairstyles and wore lots of make-up. • They smoked cigarettes and drank alcohol in public.

5. The Flapper Role Model • Louise Brooks was one of the famous flappers of the age. • She was an actress, appearing in 24 films between 1925 and 1938, as well as a model. • She embodied the flapper image, having short hair, a short skirt and wearing make-up. • Clara Bow became THE flapper of the 1920’s. • She appeared in 58 films between 1922 and 1933. • Seen as the leading sex symbol of the ‘Roaring 20’s’, she was known to be ‘wild, sexy, and carefree…’.

6. Opposition to the Flapper Lifestyle • Many older people saw flappers as an example of the evils of modern life. • ‘The low cut dresses, the stockings and short skirts are born of evil and are carrying the present and future generations of this country to destruction’. • (President of Florida University, 1922) • Mothers formed the Anti-Flirt League to protest against the acts of their daughters. • ‘The music is sensuous, the female is only half dressed and the motions may not be described in a family newspaper. Suffice it to say that there are certain houses appropriate for such dances but these houses have been closed by law’.  • (The Catholic Telegraph)