The Flapper
The Flappers
Women during the Victorian age were considered as incompetent (pretty much like children), were supposed to submit to men, be morally perfect and were socially controlled by many cultural rules. But the Roaring Twenties would see a new type of woman called "the flapper" which would change many things to women 's condition. What was socially acceptable and the attitudes of women changed radically due to the flappers and their influence can still be felt nowadays.
From the end of World War 1 up to the Great Depression (1929), the United States knew a fantastic time of prosperity. Through the 1920s the country faced huge economical, political and cultural changes which went from prohibition to the Harlem Renaissance, and from a whole set of new technologies and devices to the beginnings of professional sports. Ernest May described in his book War, Boom, and Bust, this period in those words: "the fast changing pace, the new thoughts, and the emphasis on good times, sex, and wild-living made the 20s roar". Laura Mulvey, in The Flapper Phenomenon, wrote: "It was during what we might call the Flapper period, or the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties that American popular culture began to capture the imagination of the world. . . . [America] was inventing its own modernity. . . . "
Before those "Roaring Twenties", the feminine ideal was the Gibson Girl. Still very Victorian in its manners she was considered as socially perfect since the beginning of the 1890s up to the 1920s. The Gibson Girl was the model to be followed. It was inspired by the Charles Dana Gibson 's drawings which can be described like this:
She was taller than the other women currently seen in the pages of magazines, infinitely more spirited and independent, yet altogether feminine. She appeared in a stiff shirtwaist, her soft hair piled into a chignon, topped by a big plumed hat. Her flowing skirt was hiked up in back with just a hint of a bustle. She was poised and patrician.
Women during the Victorian age were considered as incompetent (pretty much like children), were supposed to submit to men, be morally perfect and were socially controlled by many cultural rules. But the Roaring Twenties would see a new type of woman called "the flapper" which would change many things to women 's condition. What was socially acceptable and the attitudes of women changed radically due to the flappers and their influence can still be felt nowadays.
From the end of World War 1 up to the Great Depression (1929), the United States knew a fantastic time of prosperity. Through the 1920s the country faced huge economical, political and cultural changes which went from prohibition to the Harlem Renaissance, and from a whole set of new technologies and devices to the beginnings of professional sports. Ernest May described in his book War, Boom, and Bust, this period in those words: "the fast changing pace, the new thoughts, and the emphasis on good times, sex, and wild-living made the 20s roar". Laura Mulvey, in The Flapper Phenomenon, wrote: "It was during what we might call the Flapper period, or the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties that American popular culture began to capture the imagination of the world. . . . [America] was inventing its own modernity. . . . "
Before those "Roaring Twenties", the feminine ideal was the Gibson Girl. Still very Victorian in its manners she was considered as socially perfect since the beginning of the 1890s up to the 1920s. The Gibson Girl was the model to be followed. It was inspired by the Charles Dana Gibson 's drawings which can be described like this:
She was taller than the other women currently seen in the pages of magazines, infinitely more spirited and independent, yet altogether feminine. She appeared in a stiff shirtwaist, her soft hair piled into a chignon, topped by a big plumed hat. Her flowing skirt was hiked up in back with just a hint of a bustle. She was poised and patrician.
Bibliography: Erika Mitschrich "Frivolity and the Flapper." The Peak Publication Society . 23 Jan. 2006. 26 Mar. 2006. "The Flapper 's Role in the Changing of Women." 26 Mar Flapper. Wikipedia. 24 Mar. 2006. 26 Mar. 2006 < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flapper> "Gibson-Girls." About. The New York Times Company. 26 Mar. 2006. Jennifer Rosenberg "Flappers in the Roaring Twenties." About Kathleen L. Nichols "The Flapper Era." 15 Aug. 2004. Pittsburg State University. 26 Mar. 2006. "The "Roaring Twenties"." Schools History Roaring Twenties. Wikipedia. 23 Mar. 2006. 26 Mar. 2006 Thomas Gladysz "The Jazz Age – Flapper Culture & Style." Geocities