Preview

Women's Roles in the 1920s

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
603 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Women's Roles in the 1920s
Women’s Roles

The 1920’s was an era that of which changed women’s roles dramatically. Ways women’s roles were changed in the 1920’s are: their sex lives and how they expressed their sexuality, women’s work, and the relationship between husband and wife along with the tradition of family.

The first way women’s roles changed were their sex lives and how they expressed their sexuality. Clara Bow was a role model to women across the country during the 1920’s. Bow, a silent film actress, was best known for her hair and her more revealing stage outfits. Clara Bow showed a very bold personality, pushing the envelope for women’s behaviors and what was socially acceptable for women. Her fans often mocked her clothing style and drastic hair changes, daring to be different. Because of the actions of Bow, a door was created for women everywhere to express themselves in a way that had never been expressed before. Women began to pursue this flapper self-image and refused to conform to the feminist advocacy because it was “old fashioned.” Women saw inspiration to change their lives and didn’t slow down from there, they “argued that they would be the first generation of women to have it all: education, career, marriage, and children.”(170) Because of these courageous women, men have accepted the “new woman.”

Another example to how women’s roles changed in the 1920’s was women’s work. More and more women across the nation strived to be independent and have it all just like any man could. Women’s work was a controversial topic everywhere to depict where exactly women’s place in the work force may be. Typically working women of the twenty’s held a job in retail or clerical work and most popular, a secretary. Because women found such gratification from working independently, the role as a homemaker became less appealing. Until the 1920’s women weren’t given the option to become anything more than a homemaker and now that they do, they aren’t turning



Citations: Page: Wheeler, Becker, Grover. 1865. decemeberhttps://reader.cafescribe.com/reader/Reader.html March 2013

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    “It is the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a conviction, things begin to happen.” From 1848 to 1920, the women in America decided it was about time for a change. Did you know that the legislature of Tennessee changed his vote in the nineteenth amendment to a ‘yes’? Do you know why? Women’s rights were an important part of our history;discover why here.…

    • 755 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    For starters, gender roles in the 1920’s were challenged after the ratification of the 18th and 19th amendments to the constitution in 1918-1919 and it brought about the successful women's movements of the 19th century. In addition, it also marked a period of new freedom for women in America’s modernizing culture. Women promoted education to teach women about sex and sexuality in order to allow them to seize greater control of their own lives and bodies…

    • 821 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    In the years 1890-1925, the role of women in American society had changed politically, economically, and socially. Women were no longer considered the servant of men. She was considered an important part of society, but wasn’t able to lead in areas dominated by men. In this time period this is when things started to change for the women.…

    • 491 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Before 1920 a few women attended seminary or an academy for women to learn and be educated but women were not allowed to attend universities and college campuses; this was for men only and women believed they too could benefit from obtaining a degree and becoming part of the work force, helping their families and being able to move up the ladder economically. This was considered by many women as the beginning of a long fight to establish their rights and place in the world. Women believed they deserved the same opportunities as men in regards to education. Women for years attended the seminary and academies that they were allowed but continually fought to attend a college or university, even fighting to attend co-educational colleges with men; this was an upward climb but women were determined to become part of society and their families as equals.…

    • 908 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    This period (1940’s) was a time of many tumultuous changes for the nation in general, such as World War 1 and the Great depression. Each of these factors significantly influenced women’s roles in both the family and the work force. Expectations of women were greater and more settled in the 1940’s. Young women then were expected to marry at a young age, usually around eighteen years of age. Although you may think that that was too young of a time to marry, in my opinion it kept women from running around with many kids and no father. At least they were a family. Women were expected to work hard in factories and domestic services. However, most women were having duties at home doing chores, babysitting, educating their children and run the house while the husband was not there. Society thought that doing these things would be a “successful women” (Sophia Cassey,) which they were somewhat right. If you look at these women, they became very successful hardworking women, making money and still taking care of home and nothing has changed.…

    • 1143 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Women in the 1920s

    • 522 Words
    • 3 Pages

    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.…

    • 522 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The roles of women took a big turn and have developed into new roles for them today in modern society. According to Erika Cox in Life in the 1950’s, “Life in the early 1950’s was still very strict. Women were still obligated to the status of housewives and men were the main breadwinners in the family.” In the 1950’s and 60’s housekeeping and raising a family were considered ideal female roles. Women were expected to be perfect, in every way. Everyone wanted the perfect TV family and a wife who would gladly wash the dishes and do the housework. In 1950s Daily Life, Kayla Allen writes “Women were the ones who had to cook and clean. They had dinner on the table before their husbands came home from work. That lets them know that their wives are concerned for their needs.”For example, other than women having dinner ready, they also had to take care of the children, keep the house organized, and happily wait for their husband to come home from work. In our television programming of today, we see women taking the jobs of men. Women are now able to get an education and become police officers, join the military, and many other things. Females are now able to take the role of a female along with the role of a male. They have now become the housewife and the breadwinner in the family.…

    • 1243 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    America has been through many challenges and has enjoyed even more achievements between the times of 1877 to the 1930. In this space of time women have come out of their homes to work and even more importantly they fought for the right to vote. African American men, Native Americas men, and Anglo-Saxon men all had the right to vote but women did not have any constitutional right until they came together and won it. In 1890, only 4% of children between the ages of 14 years and 17 years were enrolled in school by 1930 this number raised to 47%. This increase in number was the result of standard education.…

    • 825 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Feminism in 1920s

    • 597 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The 1920s was a very important decade to women’s history. The 19th amendment, stating the right to vote can’t be denied on basis of sex, was passed in congress in 1920 and with female working population was only increasing yearly. Women may not be able to have equal opportunities as men in education and the labor force but society was affected with women becoming increasingly independent and initiative in the work force. Traditionally families changed and frowned upon practices become tolerated as well as specific work fields being introduced to women were what changed in society from women who became less reliant on men.…

    • 597 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A woman in the 1920’s had experienced many different societies and faces of the U.S. Following the First World War, social issues gained more recognition and the nineteenth amendment granted women the right to vote in 1920. This changed the way women were viewed and the way they viewed themselves. In America, a Narrative History by David E. Shi and George Brown Tindall, the history of the nineteen-twenties in the U.S. make it clear that this era brought about a new generation of American women. This new generation was coined “the new women”. During the roaring twenties, women freely expressed their independence through fashion, music, and parties,…

    • 926 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Before the 1920s, Americans didn’t discuss women’s sexuality, and men did not view women as sexual beings. However, the start of the women’s rights movement led to women feeling more independent. As Paula Fass suggests in her essay, experimentalism and the restructuring of gender roles and relationships resulted from this independence. Along with the surge of flapper dresses and bobbed haircuts came petting. As expected, petting and the idea of premarital sex being more accepted by society led to a clash between old and new ideals. An article published in 1930 shared women’s thoughts on petting. They claimed that the lack of clear boundary lines in the sexual lives of young adults left their views on petting muddy. The difference in morals between the younger generation and their parents’ generation led to this confusion. However, the popularization of dating still occurred because of the experimentalism going on at the time, and young American women viewed petting as a “safe yet not sorry” way of sexual activity. While petting gained popularity, opposition referred to those participating in it as cheap, or promiscuous. The conflicting ideals between generations led to confusion in young…

    • 1038 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As we remember the women who entered the workforce during WWI. Many things had changed after the war which led to many controversies and fighting for social equality with men. Some of these events are called: The first female Member of Parliament, The Persons Case and of course the Famous Five.…

    • 356 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gender Roles were very traditional back in the early to mid 1900’s and still has a continued effect today. It can be observed that many of the same gender roles/stereotypes found in A Dolls House can be observed in the early to middle 1900’s North American culture: Women are expected to be housewives, rely on men financially, and to be independent at their duties. Through out the early to middle 1900's gender roles were present but not noticed much until the mid 1900's, simply because women were always expected to be stay at home mothers, and housewives. Traditionally, men were to work and provide financial support to the family. Like what Torvald did in A Dolls House Men were the laboring individuals who were responsible for putting the…

    • 662 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    April 21, 2010 at 6:10 am In the beginning of the book Claudia wakes up in her bedroom with a man that she has just spent the night with and her room is filled messy and is filled with things like empty bottles of alcohol and ash trays.
Her room also didn’t comply with typical feminine ideas at the time because it was described as messy and also had an empty bottle of alcohol and a full ashtray. This didn’t go along with the typical roles of women because they were expected to be clean and sensible.
She has a very masculine way of speaking, it’s very to the point.…

    • 337 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The number of women in the workforce has spiked, creating a dramatic increase compared to working women in the 1900s. Women now are becoming more and more independent financially, no longer having to rely on a romantic partner or family member to live on their own. Many women even work as hard, if not harder, than some men, making them the main provider for their families. In today’s world, many women are seen as strong people who go after what they want, not waiting on a man to tell them to go get whatever they desire. As previously stated, women could not vote before 1920. Now, women can not only vote, but are granted the same liberties that are given to men. Women are becoming the smartest people on the planet, going to school, and many attending a university to further their educational desires, just as men have been doing for years. Additionally, women today are not made to stay home and be housewives, however, society still seems to generalize women as stay-at-home moms. This may be true for some, but most women work full or part-time jobs year around. It’s as if women in today’s world feel the need to use and be thankful for the independence that their ancestors were not rightfully given. Today, it is easy to say that all women have some sort of career, hobby, and or social life. Ladies of the twenty-first century live much fuller and more fulfilling lives in comparison to those of the elder generation. Eventually, women became more independent, being able to lead their own lives without needing help from…

    • 807 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays