The 1920s brought revolutionary change and a newfound liberation for women. There was a shift in the way in which women perceived themselves, they began to live their lives for themselves rather than for their families. Women became increasingly involved in the workforce, allowing them to gain individual financial power--as they brought in their own income and no longer had to rely on their husbands to do so--which gained them the ability to live more luxurious and independent lives. These changes were limited to women in urban areas where job opportunities flourished; in the more rural areas women, for the most part, remained without these new social freedoms. There were also great political strides made for women in the 1920s as the 19th Amendment was passed. This amendment granted suffrage to women, this was a milestone in the fight to balance political power between men and women. This change in mindset as well as new financial and political freedoms led to the emergence of flappers and vamps. These were women that fully embraced this new liberation. They dressed in skin baring clothes and cut their hair short thus breaking the traditional physical image of a women. Flappers were women that would push their boundaries but would not cross the line where as vamps completely disregarded these boundaries and would do whatever they pleased. This decade was an era that brought revolutionary change and liberation for women politically, socially, and financially.
I think your blog did a great job covering the advances in the rights and freedoms of women during the 1920s. While this was a time of reform for everyone, it was specifically important as they gained the right to vote with the 19th Amendment which they had fought to gain for so long. One aspect I think you can add to this blog to further your point about great strides women made in politics is the first women being elected to the US Senate happening in 1922. Rebecca Felton, a Democrat from Georgia, was appointed to be a senator. While officially she was only sworn into office for one day, this still made history and paved the way for future women to believe that they could be senators now that they had more rights and respect from the general public.
ReplyDeleteMore information can be found here: http://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/First_Woman_Senator_Appointed.htm
This is a very interesting blog post. Advancing of women's rights is always a significant part of any reform-heavy section of history. In this case, it is very interesting that rural women were unable to succeed and experience this reform whereas urban women took it new levels. This post also brings up the question of when rural people experienced these reforms.
ReplyDeleteThis was an interesting analysis of the topic from a number of different angles. Since so much of this liberation was tied to financial power, it would be interesting to know if there was a backslide in this liberation in the Great Depression that followed the twenties.
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