Discrimination Of Women In The 1920's
“The 1920s saw the development of a distinct, lively youth culture and of a society that was much more youth-oriented than ever before.” (“A Changing Society”) This change was the result of women having more opportunities in their lives to become more independent and stray from their former lives of being stuck as a wife whom only cleaned and took care of the kids. During the 1920s and 30s, women were able to get better jobs, and change their lifestyle in order to become more independent, however, they still faced discrimination on a daily basis when it came to others point of view.
At the time, current fashion trends and styles were set by famous women, who influenced others to follow in their footsteps, leaving fashion standards to constantly …show more content…
change. Over time, new trends such as wearing makeup, cutting their hair into a bob, and abandoning their corsets became part of a woman's daily life style, leading up to the common term Flapper (O’Neal).Dictionary.com describes Flappers as “a fashionable young woman intent on enjoying herself and flouting conventional standards of behavior” as well as “a young woman, especially one who, behaved and dressed in a boldly unconventional manner.” . New fashion trends and standards were being set by Greta Garbo and Clara Bow, whom both had a major power in hollywood (O’Neal). Garbo, famous for her films, and books written about her later on, had women throughout the United States in the 1930s copying her onscreen hairstyles and clothes, hoping to look just as stylish as she did (Baughman). Clara Bow, was also well known for her many popular films, and style, many people at the time described Bow as a Flapper, because of her bold fashion pieces. With high standards for how they should live, women were constantly changing the way they looked and acted.
Over time, women's lifestyle began changing in ways where they were able to spend their time the way they pleased, and choose to live their lives the way they wanted. As women were beginning to become more accepted into society, they began going to the movies more often, driving cars, and drinking (O’Neal). Similar to these activities, dance marathons became more popular over time among the female population. The marathons could last for days, as people danced for the ending prize money, or even publicity (O’Neal). For marathons that lasted days or even weeks some contestants, both men and women, were left with life lasting injuries, and on a rare occasion, few died, thus eventually leading up to the outlaw of dance marathons in some states (O’Neal). In the United States, more and more birth control clinics began opening. Margaret Sanger opened the first clinic in New York, giving many women the right to choose how they want to control their lives (O’Neal). Sanger was able to gain publicity for her actions in 1913 by publishing bothe the Women Rebel newspaper and the Birth Control Review (“Margaret Higgins Sanger"). By 1930, there were about 55 clinics opened throughout the United States(“Margaret Higgins Sanger"). Both birth control clinics and extra activities allowed women to independently live their lives, choosing the path they wanted to take.
After gaining the right to vote in 1920, more opportunities were offered to women, allowing them to gain more control of their life, and become more independent, however working conditions had not yet improved greatly.
Women were employed more often, yet they were still largely employed in lower paying jobs, while men continued to be employed with jobs that had higher wages (O’Neal). In the late 1930s, a women’s annual pay was only $525 while a man's annual pay was $1,027, during the Great Depressions, women's pay dropped even lower (cite this). Poor working conditions were also a continuous problem during this time, along with long hours. More than half of working women worked more than fifty hours per week, and and over one fith of wrking women had over fifty-five hour working weeks (cite this). The 1930s census stated that, “‘Almost eleven million women, or 24.3 percent of all women in the country, were gainfully employed. Three out of every ten of these working women were in domestic or personal service. Of professional women three-quarters were schoolteachers or nurses..’” (cite this). Clearly as time went on, more women were being employed into more important and higher paying jobs, and employment rates grew, because, “Women in the 1930s in fact entered the workforce at a rate twice that of men—primarily because employers were willing to hire them at reduced wages. In unionized industries, however, women fared better.” (cite this.). Although, in the beggining of this era, women started off unemployed, with few jod oppprotunities, over time, they began to populate the workforce more, until they were eventually able to gain more
respect.
Although more opprptunities were opening for women, they continued to face social criticism in their daily lives. When women joined the workforce, many people were against it because they believed women were taking away jobs from men, and that women at the time still belonged at home to tend to her family rather than working (cite this). Local magazines supported this oppinion too. In 1936, a poll was placed in Fortune magazine, asking, "Do you believe that married women should have a full time job outside the home?" (cite this). In the ends, 15% of the respondents approved and thought women deserved more independenve, however, 48% dissaproved, and thought women belonged in their homes (cite this). The remaining 37% gave the idea “conditional approval”, meaning depending on the situation, for the most part, they approved (cite this). The 33% between those whom definitly approved and those who disaproved, is a large difference when put into perspective. Even when women were moving up in the workforce, they continued to face disaproval, making them need to work even harder to gain approval, and be accepted into society.
Women of the 1920s and 30s gained independence through better jobs, and changing their lifestyle in order to be the best version of themselves, however, on a daily basis, they faced discrimination when it came to how they were seen by others in their societies. Even with their newly gained freedom, some women were still thought of as less than men, causing them to have to work twice as hard to gain their respect.
At the time, current fashion trends and styles were set by famous women, who influenced others to follow in their footsteps, leaving fashion standards to constantly …show more content…
change. Over time, new trends such as wearing makeup, cutting their hair into a bob, and abandoning their corsets became part of a woman's daily life style, leading up to the common term Flapper (O’Neal).Dictionary.com describes Flappers as “a fashionable young woman intent on enjoying herself and flouting conventional standards of behavior” as well as “a young woman, especially one who, behaved and dressed in a boldly unconventional manner.” . New fashion trends and standards were being set by Greta Garbo and Clara Bow, whom both had a major power in hollywood (O’Neal). Garbo, famous for her films, and books written about her later on, had women throughout the United States in the 1930s copying her onscreen hairstyles and clothes, hoping to look just as stylish as she did (Baughman). Clara Bow, was also well known for her many popular films, and style, many people at the time described Bow as a Flapper, because of her bold fashion pieces. With high standards for how they should live, women were constantly changing the way they looked and acted.
Over time, women's lifestyle began changing in ways where they were able to spend their time the way they pleased, and choose to live their lives the way they wanted. As women were beginning to become more accepted into society, they began going to the movies more often, driving cars, and drinking (O’Neal). Similar to these activities, dance marathons became more popular over time among the female population. The marathons could last for days, as people danced for the ending prize money, or even publicity (O’Neal). For marathons that lasted days or even weeks some contestants, both men and women, were left with life lasting injuries, and on a rare occasion, few died, thus eventually leading up to the outlaw of dance marathons in some states (O’Neal). In the United States, more and more birth control clinics began opening. Margaret Sanger opened the first clinic in New York, giving many women the right to choose how they want to control their lives (O’Neal). Sanger was able to gain publicity for her actions in 1913 by publishing bothe the Women Rebel newspaper and the Birth Control Review (“Margaret Higgins Sanger"). By 1930, there were about 55 clinics opened throughout the United States(“Margaret Higgins Sanger"). Both birth control clinics and extra activities allowed women to independently live their lives, choosing the path they wanted to take.
After gaining the right to vote in 1920, more opportunities were offered to women, allowing them to gain more control of their life, and become more independent, however working conditions had not yet improved greatly.
Women were employed more often, yet they were still largely employed in lower paying jobs, while men continued to be employed with jobs that had higher wages (O’Neal). In the late 1930s, a women’s annual pay was only $525 while a man's annual pay was $1,027, during the Great Depressions, women's pay dropped even lower (cite this). Poor working conditions were also a continuous problem during this time, along with long hours. More than half of working women worked more than fifty hours per week, and and over one fith of wrking women had over fifty-five hour working weeks (cite this). The 1930s census stated that, “‘Almost eleven million women, or 24.3 percent of all women in the country, were gainfully employed. Three out of every ten of these working women were in domestic or personal service. Of professional women three-quarters were schoolteachers or nurses..’” (cite this). Clearly as time went on, more women were being employed into more important and higher paying jobs, and employment rates grew, because, “Women in the 1930s in fact entered the workforce at a rate twice that of men—primarily because employers were willing to hire them at reduced wages. In unionized industries, however, women fared better.” (cite this.). Although, in the beggining of this era, women started off unemployed, with few jod oppprotunities, over time, they began to populate the workforce more, until they were eventually able to gain more
respect.
Although more opprptunities were opening for women, they continued to face social criticism in their daily lives. When women joined the workforce, many people were against it because they believed women were taking away jobs from men, and that women at the time still belonged at home to tend to her family rather than working (cite this). Local magazines supported this oppinion too. In 1936, a poll was placed in Fortune magazine, asking, "Do you believe that married women should have a full time job outside the home?" (cite this). In the ends, 15% of the respondents approved and thought women deserved more independenve, however, 48% dissaproved, and thought women belonged in their homes (cite this). The remaining 37% gave the idea “conditional approval”, meaning depending on the situation, for the most part, they approved (cite this). The 33% between those whom definitly approved and those who disaproved, is a large difference when put into perspective. Even when women were moving up in the workforce, they continued to face disaproval, making them need to work even harder to gain approval, and be accepted into society.
Women of the 1920s and 30s gained independence through better jobs, and changing their lifestyle in order to be the best version of themselves, however, on a daily basis, they faced discrimination when it came to how they were seen by others in their societies. Even with their newly gained freedom, some women were still thought of as less than men, causing them to have to work twice as hard to gain their respect.