With a cigarette hanging out of her mouth, a short dress, and even shorter hair, the flappers of the 1920s reimagined the possibilities for young women. After a decade of jazz music, bootleggers, flappers, and prosperity, the Roaring twenties brought about an array of changes to American culture. For example, the subculture of flappers rocked societal expectations of women with their short skirts, loud lifestyles, and even shorter hair. Continue reading to see how flappers of the 1920s completely redefined the standard ideal of womanhood.
Flappers: A Definition
Flappers were young women well known for their blatant disregard for traditional and societal behaviors. The flapper movement was born from WWI and the harsh reality that life was short. The loss of so many men in the war directly influenced the flapper lifestyle. Flappers embraced a lifestyle of living life to the fullest with a complete disregard for societal norms. This type of lifestyle was marked by feminine independence and was often seen by others as vulgar and dangerous.
Flapper Alice Joyce in 1926. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
The Significance of the 1920s to Flappers
The 1920s was a unique decade for women. After decades of fighting, women finally won the right to vote with the passing of the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920. Women began taking up causes for equal rights and access to birth control. However, most of the young girls of the 1920s were preoccupied with having fun. The flappers of the twenties embraced a different lifestyle than previous generations.
Painting of the actress Dorothy Dickson on the cover of Theatre Magazine, 1920. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
Flappers were young women who came from urban areas in the north of the country. These women were typically well-educated, attending high school and even college. They fixated on books with heroines and tomboy characters that shirked traditional feminine responsibilities. Though flappers spent their evenings in jazz clubs smoking and drinking, many of these women were quite accomplished. For example, flapper and performer Josephine Baker embraced civil rights and became a well-known activist.
Flappers Characteristics
The flapper culture developed new trends in fashion and lifestyle, which became iconic of the era. In the next sections, you can know more about the characteristics of the flapper way!
Julia Farnham in Flapper Dress. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
Flapper Fashion & Hair
Prior to the 1920s, women's fashion still consisted of floor-length dresses that covered everything. Corsets provided tiny, cinched waists, and a woman's hair was generally kept long. The conservative feminine dress conveyed the moral climate of the era. However, the 1920s Flapper girl completely redefined fashion with short skirts and dresses and low-cut tops. Flappers also traded in their long feminine hairstyles for a shorter bob. In steep contrast to the heavily cinched dresses of the previous decade, the silhouette of a flapper dress favored straight and slim lines.
Portrait of Olive Borden in a cloche hat 1927 Source: Wikimedia Commons
Some of the most popular changes in fashion were the cloche hat and the moon manicure. For example, the cloche hat enjoyed its defining fashion moment throughout the twenties. Women reveled in the design of the cloche hat due to its low brim which forced women to walk with their chins up, giving them a confident look. Women also began experimenting with nail polish and new cosmetics. In their nails, they wore vibrant colors in half-circle patterns, becoming known as the moon manicure.
Did you know?
In the era of the flapper, Margaret Sanger helped provide birth control to women, influencing a new wave in women's rights!
Flapper Behavior & Attitude
At the center of the flapper subculture was an increasing disdain for the constraints of societal norms. Flappers were characterized as living a reckless and fast-moving life of debauchery. Based on American gender norms, women were not supposed to participate in drinking or smoking, as these activities were reserved for men. Flappers showed complete disregard for these moral norms and misogyny as they openly drank and smoked in public. To add to their lifestyle, flappers even drove cars and smoked, which the previous generation of young women avoided.
Woman hiding flask in garter. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
Gender norms throughout the twenties embraced a double standard for men's and women's sexual behavior. It was socially acceptable for men to date and kiss different women and drink and smoke in public. However, when women push back when they embraced similar sexual standards as their male counterparts. This societally imposed double standard would continue throughout the decades and even gain momentum in the fifties.
The Fashion Police
Yes, the fashion police was a real thing! For example, the Chicago police in the 1920s had the duty of protecting public morals. They consistently patrolled the beaches and measured the distance between the bottom of the bathing suit and the knee. Not following these rules could even lead to jail time. Author, Catherine Gourley, describes such a law in Utah:
Grundy and the fashion police were hard at work in the 1920s. Politicians in Utah proposed a new State Law in 1921: any woman who wore in public a skirt 'higher than three inches above the ankle' could be arrested and imprisoned."1
Model wearing a bathing suit, 1921. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
Famous Flappers
The flapper archetype of the Roaring Twenties had, of course, its icons: outstanding women at the forefront of an emerging counterculture. Here are three legends of the era.
Clara Bow, "The It Girl"
Clara Bow Source: Wikimedia Commons
Clara Bow, one of the most famous flappers of the 1920s, was a silent-film actress who idealized the flapper lifestyle. Bow received her nickname of the "It Girl" by playing in the movie It, which proved to be incredibly successful. The actress continued to be the embodiment of sex appeal. Bow went on to star in roughly thirty movies throughout the 1920s. While successful in silent movies, Bow did not transition easily into movies with sound due to her heavy Brooklyn accent; however, she did enjoy some success in "talkies"–movies with sound. She retired from acting in her late twenties.
Zelda Fitzgerald
Zelda Fitzgerald was the shining example of a flapper. Even at a young age, Zelda embarrassed her family through her free-spirited lifestyle. Her husband, the celebrated author F. Scott Fitzgerald, wrote "The Great Gatsby" in 1925, which epitomized 1920s culture. The couple quickly started a life of partying, with Zelda fully embracing the flapper lifestyle. Zelda embraced some creative outlets such as writing articles and painting. She published an autobiographical account of her adventures abroad, naming the book "Save Me the Waltz." Though Zelda's creativity could be seen throughout her sharp writing her mental health declined, and she died in a fire at Highland Hospital in 1948.
Portrait of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Fitzgerald. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
Did you know?
The first Miss America pageant was held in New Jersey in 1921. Margaret Gorman, a sixteen-year-old, won the pageant!
Colleen Moore
Colleen Moore, a popular American actress, completely personified the flapper subculture. Moore's comedic talent was displayed in movies such as Irene and Orchids and Ermine. Unlike Clara Bow, who struggled to transition from silent film to talkies, Moore became successful in both types of film. While Moore embraced flapper life, she was also a writer and investor. She combined these two talents when she wrote and published How Women Can Make Money in the Stock Market, an investment guide for women.
Colleen Moore, 1923. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
Talkies:
A film that includes sound, mainly dialogues, in contrast with a silent film in which dialogues were written on the screen or omitted altogether.
Flappers' Significance to the American Culture
Throughout the 1920s, flappers were seen as an immoral and risqué part of society. Yet, flappers were responsible for completely redefining womanhood in America. The end of World War I had brought with it new freedom for women, which was embraced by the flapper subculture. Most of the society generally believed that flapper culture would lead to complete "societal depravity."2
Photo of a girl in "flapper" garb, 1922. Source: Wikimedia Commons.
The drastic lifestyle created by flappers indicated more complicated changes to the ideal American woman. These women pushed gender and economic boundaries from the very start. They began working outside the home, predominantly in office jobs. Yet, with their acquired income, women increased their purchasing power. For example, in believing wholeheartedly in materialism, flappers fueled America's consumer society. Due to the evasion of domestic responsibilities, these young women were considered to be the first truly independent group of American women. While the era of the flapper was fast and furious, it came to a crashing halt with the economic difficulties of the Great Depression in the 1930s.
Flappers - Key takeaways
- Flappers were young women well known for their blatant disregard for traditional and societal behaviors. The flapper movement was born from WWI and the harsh reality that life was short.
- Flappers were young women who came from northern, urban areas. These women were often well-educated, attending high school and even college.
- Flapper characteristics:
- smoked and drank in public
- wore short dresses and short hair
- drove cars and began embracing male sexual standards
- earned their own money
- Flappers were considered the first truly independent generation of women due to the evasion of domestic responsibilities. These young women flipped gender norms upside down when they embraced traditional male activities. They also fueled American consumerism as they began working, which increased female purchasing power.
1. Catherine Gourley,
Flappers and the new American woman, 2008
2. Christine Myrvang, How flappers rebelled through feminism and consumerism, 2015
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