Women in the 1920s
Veronica Robinson
Women in the 1920s The Nineteenth Amendment, passed in 1919, guarantees all American women the right to vote. The struggle to achieve this milestone was a long and difficult one, beginning win the 1800s with petitioning and picketing (ourdocuments.gov). Although, once it was passed, women felt a sigh of relief, as their voices were finally heard, just in time for a new era that was the 1920s. The 1920s were a time of questioning and contradictions when people, especially women, questioned the ideals of society, leading to conflicts in areas such as religion and politics among others and conflicts between modernists and fundamentalists. Ever since the Nineteenth Amendment passed in 1919, so many doors opened for women. They felt that their voices could finally be heard. It boosted a newfound confidence that made women feel like they could take a part in this culture change. Also advancing in this time period was Science. New discoveries were made, such as methods for birth control. Since women did feel more freedom to express themselves and share their ideas, the modern woman’s pleas for relief from constant childbearing was heard and accepted by many women who faced the same problems. Margaret Sanger, a supporter of the Birth Control movement, writes, “Thousands of letters are sent to me every year by mothers… All of them voice desperate appeals for deliverance from the bondage of enforced maternity” (Hoffman, 202). She then goes on to write a volume of letters from women, asking, or rather, begging for her advice and information about birth control. This newfound freedom of expression also felt more comfortable with the power of their sexuality. Women drank and smoked, as well as talk politics, with men, and “though few women became politicians, millions became flappers. In six years, hemlines went from ankle, where they had been for centuries, to the knee” (Hoffman, 193). Paula S. Fass writes in her essay, “Sex and Youth in the Jazz Age”,
Women in the 1920s The Nineteenth Amendment, passed in 1919, guarantees all American women the right to vote. The struggle to achieve this milestone was a long and difficult one, beginning win the 1800s with petitioning and picketing (ourdocuments.gov). Although, once it was passed, women felt a sigh of relief, as their voices were finally heard, just in time for a new era that was the 1920s. The 1920s were a time of questioning and contradictions when people, especially women, questioned the ideals of society, leading to conflicts in areas such as religion and politics among others and conflicts between modernists and fundamentalists. Ever since the Nineteenth Amendment passed in 1919, so many doors opened for women. They felt that their voices could finally be heard. It boosted a newfound confidence that made women feel like they could take a part in this culture change. Also advancing in this time period was Science. New discoveries were made, such as methods for birth control. Since women did feel more freedom to express themselves and share their ideas, the modern woman’s pleas for relief from constant childbearing was heard and accepted by many women who faced the same problems. Margaret Sanger, a supporter of the Birth Control movement, writes, “Thousands of letters are sent to me every year by mothers… All of them voice desperate appeals for deliverance from the bondage of enforced maternity” (Hoffman, 202). She then goes on to write a volume of letters from women, asking, or rather, begging for her advice and information about birth control. This newfound freedom of expression also felt more comfortable with the power of their sexuality. Women drank and smoked, as well as talk politics, with men, and “though few women became politicians, millions became flappers. In six years, hemlines went from ankle, where they had been for centuries, to the knee” (Hoffman, 193). Paula S. Fass writes in her essay, “Sex and Youth in the Jazz Age”,