Changing Role of Women in The 1920s Essay Example

đź“ŚCategory: Gender Equality, History, Social Issues
đź“ŚWords: 905
đź“ŚPages: 4
đź“ŚPublished: 12 March 2022

The 1920s brought a new wave of women. In the past, women were meant to be perceived as prestigious, conservative, and modest. The 20s brought new drastic independence for women. The woman went from staying home with their nine children, to working fifty hours a week! Without this era for a new type of lady, we wouldn't be the progressive society we currently are. In the duration of the 1920s, the image of a woman was redefined to a working, loving, and free-spirited person. 

First, World War 1 brought new privileges to women allowing them to work as they pleased after the war efforts. When the war started women went into the workforce to help the common society since there were limited people to do the jobs. As “Women Go To Work” explains, once the war ended the women had a new perspective and enjoyed being independent. The women did not have everything, but they were given more opportunities. The number rose from 8.3 million women in the workforce to over 11 million by 1930 (1). Women definitely did not have the highest paying jobs, but more so “in factories or as clerical workers in offices. Significant numbers also worked as domestic servants or farmworkers'' (A Changing Society 79). African American women did not have it as easy though. They still faced discrimination because of their race, therefore if they worked it was even lower-paying jobs. Most importantly women were given a choice to work or not. In the past, this would have seemed unimaginable (A Changing Society). Due to the war in past years, there was a prominent opportunity for working women. Not only did women have freedom in the workforce, they now also have new freedom in families. 

Women in the 1920s were having fewer children and now we're focusing on forming strong relationships with their kids. In the 20s a new perspective on how a family should arise. It shifted from a large, strict, family to help around at the house, to now a smaller family who openly shares emotion. The difference from the past families to the 20s families was very drastic. Women going to work affect this change. When women went to work society shifted from a male dominant to a more equal society:

“As the country became more industrialized, though, children no longer represented an economic advantage. Most families in the 1920s were smaller, with two or three children being the norm. Both the lessened need for extra labor and the new laws abolishing child labor meant that children stayed out of the workforce longer” (A Changing Society 83). 

The role of being a mother also changed in the 20s. Previously mothers were meant to be strict and discipline their children. Instead now families were centered around forming close relationships and not just being related but displaying affection. “A Changing Society” mentions loving families becoming known as the “compassionate” family. Not everyone followed this approach but the majority did. In the 1920s families made a dramatic change for the better: “Families were smaller and were now more focused on emotions; attachment and the nurturing of children. Young people were not pressured to enter adulthood as they had been in previous years, and they spent more time in school” (A Changing Society 75). As women focused on smaller families, many focused on the prevention of kids in total. Birth control became very popular in the 1920s as well. Birth control was more accessible for wealthy white women. The ability to avoid pregnancy was huge for younger women in their 20s. They discovered something that lets them live their lives with more confidence surrounding unexpected pregnancies. During this time period, birth control became more accessible for all kinds of women which played a positive role in the economy. This empowered women to live their lives freely and confidently. Having a free and confident persona resembles what it means to be a flapper girl of the 20s. 

Flappers were now popular and they represented a free-spirited, sexual woman who held her own opinions. Jackie Hatton explains that the word “flapper” now represents a youthful woman post-wartime. This was a huge leap from Victorian values. In the Victorian era, the clothes were tight and heavy. Flappers wore loose and short dresses, they flattened their chest and cut their hair short. American Flappers wore more makeup and became less reserved. In the Victorian era, their attitudes were very modest and many of these women had not even kissed a guy before marriage (112). This is far from what a flapper girl of the 1920s was. Flappers were rebellious and bent the rules of society, they “began to drink, smoke, and talk slang” and they had sex with multiple men (Hatton 112). Flappers were sexual and promoted feminism. They did not want to be held down by the men, flappers took control of their lives. These women were newly independent rebels of the past decade.  The roles of men and women changed: “[C]loseness of contact between the two sexes in situations of danger changed the relations between men and women, at least for short periods of time” (The Evolution of the Flapper 114). These women were bold and changing and redefining what it means to be a woman of the 20s. Flappers would look into men's eyes with confidence and seductiveness. Being a Flapper wasn’t just a style but a way of life. 

The 1920s redefined what it means to be a woman. In the ’20s women could work and make more of their own decisions. These women could now use birth control and choose to have smaller families. They also were sexual and free. All of these qualities of a woman in the 1920s were very different from the preceding generations. This big leap for the independence and individuality of a woman set the stage for women currently in the 2020s.

+
x
Remember! This is just a sample.

You can order a custom paper by our expert writers

Order now
By clicking “Receive Essay”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement. We will occasionally send you account related emails.