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 * Women of the 1920s**

__ Traditional Women __

Before World War I, the typical woman was 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 that showed little skin. These women were very old fashioned, as we would call it today. They did not date and they waited until a “proper” man came to marry her. 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 and have fun. Their skirts became short and their hair became shorter, the age of the flapper had arrived.

__Flapper Style__

Flapper was the nickname of young women in the 1920s. Flappers cut their hair into a “bob” style which was very short- always above the chin. Flappers also started to wear make-up like blush, eye shadow, powder, eye liner and bright red lipstick. Before the 1920s, the only women that would wear makeup were prostitutes, so they were really breaking traditional rules. Flappers even dared to apply make up in public!



The clothes of the flapper were something completely different in the 1920s. Female clothes became looser and more shapeless in fit. The bust was suppressed, women no longer wore corsets around their waist, and they showed off their arms and even shoulders. Feet, ankles, and calves, which had been hidden by long dresses the Gibson Girls wore, now were exposed. By the end of the 1920’s, flappers’ dresses came to just above the knee!! Flappers needed shorter dresses in order to dance to the new sounds of the era- Jazz.

__ Flapper Activities __

Flappers were northern, urban, single, young, middle-class women. Many held steady jobs. Women got jobs as phone operators as the phone became more popular throughout the 1920s. Flappers also worked in department stores selling new fashion and inventions to customers.

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.

Also in the 1920s, more people could afford a new form of faster transportation. Henry Ford's innovations were making the automobile an accessible 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- as flappers started dating more men. Flappers created what many consider the "new" or "modern" woman.

__ Women’s Rights __

In the early 1800s, women were considered second-class citizens whose jobs should be to raise families and take care of the home. Women did not have the right to own property, maintain their wages, or sign a contract, much less vote.

In 1878 a Woman's Suffrage (right to vote) Amendment was introduced to U.S. Congress. By 1919, after years of petitioning, picketing, and protest parades, the Nineteenth (19th) Amendment was passed by both houses of Congress and in 1920 it became ratified under the presidency of Woodrow Wilson- women could finally vote.



__Works Cited:__ http://students.umf.maine.edu/mccormka/public.www/history/index.htm [] [] http://www.history.com/content/womenhist/the-history-of-women-s-suffrage

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