Postwar Social Changes
Postwar Social ChangesChapter 16, Section 1The Roaring
Twenties
Flappers
Whether working in factory, school, store, or office, the
incomes of working women gave them liberties they had not
previously had. They could purchase new and more daring clothing
styles in the latest fashions - shorter hemlines, more casual
designs, less constrictive undergarments, and brighter colors -
which combined with short or "bobbed" hair to create the look of
the "flapper" generation. One young Chicago typist was fired by her
boss when she showed up to work with her hair "bobbed." Within a
day, she reported, he called her back because he needed her typing
skills. Within a week all the other women in the office had bobbed
their hair also. 1922 photo. 3Womens LivesFlappers were highly
visible, but actually a very small percentage. Most women saw
limited progress in the postwar years. While some women found
careers, the home was still the most important job. Labor-saving
devices became common in middle-class homes in the 1920sWashing
machines, vacuum cleaners, and canned foods made chores less
time-consuming
The "flapper image" and the increasing number of women in the
workplace did not diminish the traditional role of women as
homemakers and mothers. Technological developments in the 1920s
did, however, change some of the ways in which women carried out
those roles. Magazine articles and advertisements emphasized
cleanliness and efficiency. This model kitchen for 1920
demonstrates an all-electric stove that freed women from some of
the drudgery of cooking, and uncluttered and smooth work surfaces
to meet the new 1920s interest in and standards for good hygiene.
1924 photo by Morris Rosenfeld. 6Iron Jawed Angels
EmancipationWomen pursued careers sports, arts, pilots,
newspaper reporters, novelists, etc but most professions were still
dominated by men.Scopes (Monkey) Trial
Prohibition
Speakeasies
Trends in LiteratureA loss of faith (T.S. Eliot, The Waste Land;
Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Rises)Many authors moved to Paris
(Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald)Gertrude Stein: The Lost
GenerationVirginia Wolfe: Mrs. DallowayFinnegans Wake: James
JoyceThe Great Gatsby
Harlem Renaissance
Josephine Baker
Billie Holiday
Jazz Age
Scientific Discoveries
Albert Einstein
Enrico Fermi
Nuclear physicist Quantum theoryManhattan project
Alexander Fleming
Sigmund Freud
New Trends in Art
New Trends in Art
Abstract Art
Dadaism
Art Deco
Art Deco
SurrealismAutomatic Drawing & Automatic Painting
SurrealismFrottage
SurrealismGrottage
