Women in the 1920s

Young Women Change the Rules In the rebellious, pleasure-loving atmosphere of the 1920s, women wanted to break from tradition, forget the hardship of the war years. Began to assert their independence, reject 19th century values and demand the same freedoms as men

Rebellion: Fashion and Behavior Women: Short hair, short dresses (no more petticoats), waistless dresses (no more corsets). The first one-piece swimsuits appeared. Young women began to smoke and drink in public, date casually and talk openly about sexuality. Began to view marriage as more of an equal partnership.

The Flapper image, however iconic to the 1920s, was the exception rather than the rule…… The flapper was more of an image of rebellious youth rather than a widespread reality. While traditional norms and values were challenged in the 20s, churches and schools protested the new casual dating, dancing, smoking and drinking. The “double standard” (a set of principles granting greater sexual freedom to men than to women) appeared during the 20s and continued to influence the women’s liberation debate for the rest of the 20th century Women continued largely to view themselves as primarily responsible for home and family, an image which was reinforced not just by community organizations (religion and education), but also by marketing (new consumer goods to make the homemaker’s life easier).

Expanded Employment opportunities The end of WWI meant that employers began to replace women workers with men (traditional values) Expansion in public education over the past few decades meant that more women were able to pursue “professions”. Eg. Teachers, nurses, librarians. Women largely employed in clerical jobs, retail/service jobs, domestic worker jobs, assembly line jobs. By 1930, 10 million American women were earning wages.

Expansion of women’s opportunities did not necessarily indicate a massive increase in the number of women in the workforce on a permanent basis Many women were expected to leave their jobs once they were married Expansion of opportunities did not also necessarily mean that those opportunities were open to women of all races.

The Gender wage gap that we are still dealing with today was very much in evidence in the 20s, and throughout the 20th century

The changing family Birth rates had been dropping for about 20 years, but began to fall faster during the 20s Technological innovations and the growth or ready-made consumer products freed many middle class and upper middle class women from traditional housekeeping responsibilities, or simplified them greatly, giving them more time for leisure and family-focused attention Working class women found their lives much more difficult; many of them could not afford the kinds of time-saving gadgets that made women’s responsibility for housekeeping easier. Children and adolescents adjusted to new roles as well. Advances in education and labor regulations meant that kids were in school and socializing with one another rather than working full-time hours alongside their parents. For the first time, peer pressure began to exert more influence than families in many cases, and adolescent rebellion and resistance intensified, and came to characterize the pop culture of the 1920s (a theme that would continue throughout the 20th century)

The Changing Family: The Dropping Birth Rate Main reason for the falling birth rate: new availability of birth control information. 1914 – Margaret Sanger launched a publication called “The Woman Rebel” which provided clear, frank descriptions of birth control methods. She was indicted for breaking “obscenity laws” (1873 Comstock Law) 1916 – Margaret Sanger opened the first birth control clinics in the U.S. One in downtown Manhattan, and one in Harlem. She was convicted of violating New York State law for distributing contraceptive materials to women. 1918 – A New York judge rules that doctors may prescribe contraception legally 1921 – founded the American Birth Control League which fought for the legal rights of physicians to give birth control information to their patients all over the U.S. This organization eventually evolved into “Planned Parenthood”.

Suffrage helps set the tone for women of the 1920s Passage of the 19th Amendment was a huge victory that allowed women to turn their attention to higher Progressive ideals. However, one of the things that the 19th and early 20th century suffrage movement was criticized for was the primary focus on white, middle and upper middle class women Organizations like the WCTU, NAWSA and the NWP were known to have excluded women of color, thus the creation of organizations like the NACW. The YWCA expanded their membership after WWI to include Native American Clubwomen. Susan B. Anthony and the 15th Amendment 1913 March on Washington, white suffrage groups ask black suffrage groups to march at the back of the parade.

Homework: Reading assignment Read the following article and write a two-paragraph reflection, due Friday January 27: Summarize the main points of the article Comment on the ways that the women involved in last week’s “Women’s March on Washington” might learn from American history to form a more cohesive and successful movement that will lead to progress for all women in the United States. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/09/us/womens-march-on-washington- opens-contentious-dialogues-about-race.html?_r=0 Crash Course U.S. History #31: WOMEN’S SUFFRAGE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGEMscZE5dY