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 * Women of the 1920s**

__ Traditional Women __ Before World War I, the typical woman was inspired by Charles Dana Gibson’s drawings. These women were known as the Gibson Girl. Her hair was loose on the top of her head, and she wore long straight skirts with a high collared shirt. Femininity was very apparent, but the Gibson Girl broke through many gender barriers because her outfits allowed her to partake in sports such as golf, roller skating, and bicycling. Although being included in the sports world, these women were very old fashioned, as we would call it today. They did not date and they also waited until a “proper” man paid her interest and was seen to have good intentions. Couples rarely went out in public together before they were married and usually sat in the parlor of the woman’s house with her parents discussing current events and the weather.

Many men had died during the war and women began to think that they shouldn’t have to wait around for the perfect man. They wanted to live their lives on their own time and to see what could happen as time went on. Their skirts became short and their hair became shorter, the age of the flapper had arrived.



__Flapper Style__ The hair of the flapper also became very short. The Gibson Girl had prided on her long locks of hair but for this modern woman short hair was the new wave in fashion. The usual cut was called the “bob”, which was a short style that never went below the chin. Along with the new short styles that these women were sporting, make-up now graced the faces of these rebellious women. Make-up had only been worn by women of loose standards in the past, but was now a basic part of every woman’s attire. The basics of the flapper’s cosmetic bags included rouge, powder, eye-liner, and lipstick.

During the era there was an increased use of make up and it was fashionable to perform the rites of make up in public. Instead of disappearing to the powder room women got out their engraved compact and applied lipstick and powder in sight of a whole restaurant or nightclub or tearoom. Ox blood lipstick was used lavishly, but rouge was still used sparingly.

The attire of the flapper was something completely new in America for women during the 1920s. The inspiration of the look was for these women to look like little boys. Female clothes became looser and more shapeless in fit. The bust was suppressed, the waist disappeared, the shoulders became broader and hair shorter and shorter. Narrow boyish hips were preferred. The silhouette emphasized a flattened chest and womanly curves were eliminated as the line became more simplified. To achieve the look of the little boy, women would bind their chests with tight bits of cloth so that they would appear flattened. The flapper was a large part of the Jazz Age and they needed to be able to dance around freely, they no longer wore their corsets and pantaloons, but traded them in for new undergarments of the time that were called “step-ins”. Along with binding her chest and purchasing new undergarments, this woman also wore stockings that were made of rayon (artificial silk) and folded them over her garter belt. Feet, ankles and calves formerly hidden and encased in black stocking were suddenly on show. Young women always wore black wool stockings until the end of World War I.

The "bob" and "step ins"

Waists of the dresses that these women wore were dropped dramatically to the hip instead of the higher waist that had been so popular in the years before. With the waist line dropping on these dresses, the hems were slowly creeping up. In the first couple of years the hem of these dresses only crept up about an inch or two from the original length that was seen in store windows; but from 1925 to 1927 the hem of the new dresses just barely reached below the knees. How scandalous!



__ Flapper Activities __

Attitude was an aspect that was never seen in a woman. The normal woman was submissive and never really showed her own personal voice to the people that she talked to. The flapper contained a new attitude, one in which she voiced her thoughts, hopes and desires, including for the first time sexual desires.

Flappers were northern, urban, single, young, middle-class women. Many held steady jobs in the changing American economy. The clerking jobs that blossomed in the Gilded Age were more numerous than ever. Increasing phone usage required more and more operators. The consumer-oriented economy of the 1920s saw a burgeoning number of department stores. Women were needed on the sales floor to relate to the most precious customers — other women.

The 1920s was the Jazz Age and one of the most popular past-times for flappers was dancing and they went to night clubs to dance the Charleston, Bees Knees, and Pedal Pusher dances. Women also started to drink which had been only an activity that men did- some even carried hip flasks. In the 1920s, drinking was illegal, so this was very risky and that was another reason flappers dared to drink.

For the first time since the train and the bicycle, a new form of faster transportation was becoming popular. Henry Ford's innovations were making the automobile an accessible commodity to the people. Cars were fast and risky - perfect for the flapper attitude. Flappers not only insisted on riding in them; they drove them.

Unfortunately for their parents, flappers didn't just use cars to ride in. The back seat became a popular location for the new popular sexual activity, petting. Others hosted petting parties. Though their attire was modeled after little boys' outfits, flappers flaunted their sexuality. It was a radical change from their parents and grandparents' generations.

In the 1920s, flappers broke away from the Victorian image of womanhood. They dropped the corset, chopped their hair, dropped layers of clothing to increase ease of movement, wore make-up, created the concept of dating, and became a sexual person. They created what many consider the "new" or "modern" woman.



__Women’s Rights__

In the early nineteenth century, women were considered second-class citizens whose existence was limited to the interior life of the home and care of the children. Women were considered sub-sets of their husbands, and after marriage they did not have the right to own property, maintain their wages, or sign a contract, much less vote.

In 1878 a Woman's Suffrage Amendment was introduced to U.S. Congress. With the formation of numerous groups, such as the Women's Christian Temperence Union (WCTU), the National Council of Jewish Women (NCJW) ,the National Association of Colored Women (NACW) and, the Women's Trade Union League, the women's movement gained a full head of steam during the 1890's and early 1900's. The U.S. involvement in World War I in 1918 slowed down the suffrage campaign as women pitched in for the war effort. However, in 1919, after years of petitioning, picketing, and protest parades, the Nineteenth Amendment was passed by both houses of Congress and in 1920 it became ratified under the presidency of Woodrow Wilson.

__Works Cited:__

http://students.umf.maine.edu/mccormka/public.www/history/index.htm

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http://www.history.com/content/womenhist/the-history-of-women-s-suffrage

http://ushistory.org/us/46d.asp