Roaring Twenties and Women

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Women before WW1 Women after WW1

Limitations/Exceptions Limitations/Exceptions
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Roaring Twenties and Women

• How far did the role of women change in the 1920s?

This ppt originally appeared on the Langley
Secondary School website at http//www.langley-se
c.solihull.sch.uk/documents/history/revision/roari
ng_20s_women.ppt. This site went down in July
2010, so I have copied it here.
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In General

• Women desired the right of suffrage (vote) and
  felt that womens equality began there.
• By 1920 women had gained the right to vote in
  many countries including the United States,
  Britain, Germany, Sweden, and Austria

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The Flapper

• Shorter skirt.
• Low neck-line
• Shorter Hair / No hat
• No sleeves, no gloves
• Heels
• No corset
• Make-up
• Jewelry

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Women before WW1

• Women formed half the population of the USA .
• Before the war middle-class women were expected
  to lead restricted lives.
• They had to wear very restrictive clothing and
  behave politely.
• They were not expected to wear make-up.
• There relationships with men were strictly
  controlled. They had to have a chaperone with
  them when they went out with their boyfriend.
• They were expected not to play sport or smoke in
  public.
• In most states they could not vote.
• Very few jobs were open to women.
• Working women were in low paid jobs like
  cleaning, dressmaking and secretarial work.

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Women after WW1

• The war gave women experience of skilled factory
  work.
• In 1920 women got the vote in all states.
• The car made them freer.
• Domestic work was made easier by new electrical
  goods like vacuum cleaners and washing machines.
• Younger women wore more daring clothes.
• They smoked in public and drank with men without
  chaperones. They even kissed in public.
• In urban areas women took on more jobs. In 1929
  there were 24 more women working than in 1920.
• Women became financially independent.
• Women were less likely to stay in unhappy
  marriages. In 1929 there were twice as many
  divorces as in 1914.

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Limitations and Exceptions

• Women were still paid less than men, even when
  they did the same job.
• In politics, women in no way achieved equality
  with men. Only a handful of women had been
  elected by 1929.
• There was a strong conservative tradition in USA.
  A combination of traditional religion and old
  country values kept most American women in a much
  more restricted role.

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THE US EXAMPLE

• Women used politics and womens organizations to
  win the right to vote
• Women protested in front of the White House and
  faces prison time for it.
• In prison women continued the protest going on
  hunger strikesthey were force feed and put in
  straight jackets

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Conclusion

• Young middle class women in the cities the
  flappers experienced massive changes to their
  roles in American society.
• However, the majority of women experienced only
  minor changes and their lives remained very
  similar to how they had been before the war.
• Some women living in the more traditional rural
  areas were outraged by the actions of the
  flappers in the cities and opposed many of the
  images of women in films, novels and magazines.

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Task 2
Its the Roaring Twenties lifes one big party!
It might be roaring for you, but life's more of a
miaow for me!

• Work in pairs. Write a script for this
  conversation. You will need at least seven more
  scenes.
• Your conversation must focus upon the way your
  lives are during the 1920s.