Service, Steinmetz, Ammerman1

Tori Steinmetz, Maddi Service, and Kendall Ammerman

B. Harkins
American History Hon (3)
13 December 2016
Flappers
Flappers, ultramodern and audacious young woman, originated in the 1920s. After the
war ended, the flapper trend emerged into society. Women in the 1920s wanted to remove the
social double standards placed on them. Many women celebrated the age of the flapper as a
female declaration of independence. Experimentation with new looks, jobs, and lifestyles
seemed crazy compared to the silenced women in the Victorian Age. Before the war, women
favored a shirtwaist-style dress but when the war ended dresses began to get shorter. Dresses
worn by flappers were boxy and hung straight from shoulder to knee, with no waistline, allowing
much more freedom of movement. Flappers hair was often chopped to chin length with a cloche
hat completing the look. The young women often wore long strings of beads and pearls. Being a
flapper was not all about fashion. It was about rebellion. Flappers did what society did not
expect from young women. They danced to Jazz Age music, they smoked, they wore makeup,
they spoke their own language, and they lived for the moment.
When the trend of the flapper emerged, social changes became less conservative throughout the
country; flappers were bold, confident, and sexy. During the era of flapper women gained
significantly more freedoms.

Service, Steinmetz, Ammerman2

In the 1920s, women began working outside the home; providing themselves with an
independent income. Before the 1920s, society believed the only profession suitable for women
was motherhood. Women were limited to the activities they could do. Many women were not
allowed to get jobs and provide themselves with an independent income. The 19th Amendment
passed in 1920 giving women the right to vote. All these factorsfreedoms experienced from
working outside the home, a push for equal rights, and disposable incomeexposed all people
to a new way of living. Particularly for women, personal fulfillment and independence became a
priority. Women were anxious to return to societys rules and roles after the war ended. In the
age of the Gibson Girl, young women did not date, they waited for one man to formally show
interest. Young women decided, after the war ended they would not spend their loves waiting to
find a man. In 1920, with the post-War economy booming and the United States back on its feet,
a new woman was born: the flapper. And for a decade, the trend of the flapper flourished.
Although flappers were more concerned about fashion and fun-seeking than government
legislation, Washington D.C. played a role in setting the cultural tone for the Roaring '20s by
enacting the 18th and 19th Amendments in 1920. The 18th Amendment, outlawed the sale
of alcohol and kicked off the Prohibition era. Of course, legally banning alcohol only drove it to
the underground, with covert bars or speakeasies were created. In August of 1920, the 19th
Amendment gave the new women and their flapper cohorts the right to vote Car ownership
during the 1920s soared, from 6.8 million American car owners in 1919 to 122 million in 1929.
The car became the flapper's ideal source of transportation into the city life. With that new
freedom and recognition, more women began to reject the Victorian code of obligatory piety and
domestication.

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The year of 1920 marked a milestone in the music department. Flappers, of course
needed some musical accompaniment for their speakeasy shows, dance parties and dates. In this
year, the first public radio broadcast was broadcasted. Radio was only one example of the mass
media boom that influenced flapper culture. Americans flocked to the movies by the millions,
and girls could see the flapper look and lifestyle glamorized on the big screen screen.
Hollywood tabloids published endless photos of the flapper look, fostering a new celebrity
culture, as well as popularizing the flapper style in the United States.
The stock market crash on October 29, 1929, silencing the roar of the '20s. Financial
collapse also signaled the end of the flapper era, as Americans faced widespread unemployment
and poverty. Nevertheless, the legacy of the flappers, remains one of the most iconic chapters in
women's and fashion history. Although the flapper lifestyle died in the Roaring Twenties, the
freedoms women received in that era were not lost. Many women may have returned to their

ideal job as a wife and mother but the societal freedoms gained during this era remained.
Being a flapper was not all about fashion. It was about rebellion. They danced to Jazz
Age music, they smoked, they wore makeup, they spoke their own language, and they lived for
the moment. Flappers did what society did not expect from young women. The outlook of
women was changed forever during the Flapper era and will continue to change for many years.