Women of the 1920s

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The 1920s were a time of partying and freedom for many people of the time. It was a relief for the fromtheirthefrom on the were interested were interested beginning of beginning the education form of World War I and a new starting age. F. Scott Fitzgerald mentions and writes about the 1920s in his book, The Great Gatsby. The whole book revolves around the general terms of the 1920s from alcohol prohibition to modern technology and innovations. In his book, he writes about a man who tried to achieve his American Dream despite it still being so far away.

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However, because the American Dream was too far away, it ended up in a large tragedy. In The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald also mentions the new women of the 1920s.

The 1920s was a new era for everyone. It was a time of happiness and freedom after the fallout of World War I. Though, it was also a time of violence and criminal activity.

While women were dressing differently and going out to parties, gangs were taking over the streets in search of money from selling illegal alcohol. While people were trying to complete their American Dream, others were piling into The United States and facing discrimination (Tucker). The 1920s had an extreme arrangement of differences from the era, despite having the famous nickname of “The Roaring Twenties”. In The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald on page 61, Fitzgerald talks about the prohibition of the 1920s and that many people thought of Gatsby as a bootlegger.

This showcases that along with “The Roaring Twenties” of the era, there was also crime on the streets nearly all the time. F. Scott Fitzgerald also mentions the society of the 1920s in The Great Gatsby through one of the main characters, Tom. Through this character, F. Scott Fitzgerald shows the differences in what people think about immigrants and other races in the social status. Therefore, despite the partying nature and freedom of the 1920s, there was still much going on within the world of the era.

Despite all being women, blacks and immigrants were not treated as fairly as whites and women in the United States. According to the text, “Although a broad group of women supported the suffrage campaigns, they were far from united.” (Dumenil). This text suggests that there were still a lot of differences among interested women who were all fighting for equality among men. Irish women that came to America among the thousands of other immigrants tried joining in on the women’s suffrage movement. As the 19th Amendment came into the act, these women began to get jobs as nurses. proof, when However, they still faced discrimination (Carpenter). In The Great Gatsby, on page 13, F. Scott Fitzgerald writes about one of the main characters theagainstnoneagainstin the other races and immigrants. Through the character of Tom, he writes, “It’s up to use, who are the dominant race, to watch out or these other races will have control of things.” This statement from the book shows that other races were being discriminated against, a common issue of the 1920s. It wasn’t any different for the women, either. “With few exceptions, black women were excluded from white-dominated suffrage groups.” (Dumenil). Dumenil’s statement shows that even though women were trying to gain their rights during the early 1920s and late 1910s, they were still showing discrimination and differences toward others. However, despite the differences, all women were beginning to change their political sense slowly (Benner).

Despite the discrimination they had to face, in ink women were beginning to take over the political scene just as much as white women. They had a certain advantage over white women, as they had the Republican party. They even managed to make their organization, known as the National League of Republican Colored Women (Dumenil). As many women began to realize that political decisions affected their daily lives as well, they began to join the political scene more and more. As the 19th Amendment was passed and gave them the right to vote, women continued to put themselves more into the political sense of the world. As the decade of the 1920s progressed, women were being represented. Benner writes in her article, “More emphasis began to be put on the social improvement, such as protective laws for child labor and prison reform.”, which suggests that women were putting themselves more into politics. They were beginning to influence the political agenda, and although they still didn’tmuch power they were beginning to slowly gain political equality among men. However, not all women enjoyed the fact that they were getting their say inon political topics. Some women weren’t exactly together with getting their o rights in the political field (Benner). On page 13 of The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald writes, ‘Tom’s getting very profound.” This quote from Daisy in the book suggests that not all women were, on their whole whone, whole political agenda and that some were even opposed to being in the mix of politics.

Just as they were beginning to become equal noproofthene the political side of things, women were also beginning to become equal with men in other ways. The changings of women originally started with the development of the term, ‘feminism’. It never existed until the 1910s, until wheninwh we were interested women were pushing for their right to vote. As the suffrage continued, which would eventually lead to women gaining the 19th amendment, women were changing (Cruea). Women were beginning to take up the term ‘Real Womanhood’. “Real Womanhood offered women “a vision of themselves biologically equal [to men]... (Cruea)” This statement shows that women were turning away from their old ways and changing into a new women. Women were beginning to partake in exercise, activities, and sports. They were even beginning to even be encouraged to do so. On page 18 of The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, he writes that one of the female characters, Jordan, has a tournament the next day. This suggests interested beginning women in the 1920s were taking part in sports, even becoming a sensation from it. Along with joining activities that usually only men would do, women were changing to become more reliant on themselves. They were beginning to take up roles at home that their husbands would normally do, such as pumping water and sweeping floors. Women were also beginning to become more independent on the marriage side of things. The statement, “Real Womanhood encouraged a woman to marry “a man who was hardworking, compassionate, and moral…” suggests that women were beginning to choose their husbands more wisely and becoming more independent from them (Cruea). Instead of getting married to have someone support them, whereas they could get married to someone who would abuse them or gamble all their money, women were interested interested beginning to take care of themselves through independence and education. This soon leads women to look for better education (Crea).

As women began to seekwere all-women wom out for interestoneoforeducation of interested interestedsortof in of interested in on, not all universities were allowing high school women graduates to enter. For the ones who did, women were not always welcomed with open arms either. “The University of North Carolina opened housing to female graduates in 1921, but they were not made welcome.” Benner writes in her article, “Women in the 1920s”. This states that many were against the idea of women having some sort of education. Before the 1920s, high school students were rarely expected to go to college. If they managed to attend, sorted an all-women’s college or a private college of some sorts (Benner). Women were seeking education to become independent, because of the risks that came with many marriages. The statement, “A woman’s primary interest was securing a “bearable future”, as opposed to “bliss” (Cruea).” suggests that before the idea of Real Womanhood, women were expected to try and find themselves a husband for a “bearable future”. Along with acquiring an education, women of Real Womanhood were encouraged to gain themselves a job. Work became a crucial role in the new women of the 1920s as it taught women self-reliance. It allowed for women to be more indepeofbuent oosorto themselves rather than others, more particularly rather than a man (Cruea). As stated in the text, “At first I was flattered to go places with her because she was a golf champion… (Fitzgerald 57)” This statement shows that one of the characters in the book, The Great Gatsby, was seen as a national champion and therefore had her job but independence. Not only did American women seek jobs, but also immigrant women began to follow the transition of new women. Irish women who flooded into The United States began to take up jobs as well, more specifically the roles of nurses and other medical interns of some sort (Carpenter). In all, women of the 1920s were well on their road to more independency and reliance on themselves. Due to their ability to become more independent, they were also beginning to be themselves more and more as the 1920s continued to progress.

As their o feminism began to kick in and they were growing independent from men, women were turning to having fun, contributing to the name of the 1920s. Women of “The Roaring Twenties” received a new name, one by the name of the “flapper”. It was authors such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and artists such as John Held Jr. that brought the term of the “flapper” to The United States, naming them as such from the way their clothing would make “flapping” flipping, influencing women named womennamewomen named though noises when they walked by (Rosenberg). Women of the 1920s became different from previous generations of women. These women of the 1920s were changing the tradition of women, becoming more independent and free. They became known as the “new” or “modern” woman. Instead of long, flowy dresses,s they turned to getting rid of their corsets and cutting their clothes. No longer were they dressing up in dresses made fit for balls in the Victorithdancedan Era, but clothing that was easy to move in. Along with cutting their clothing and allowing mobility, they were also cutting off their hair. Instead of keeping the long, silky hair that most women had, they were turning to bobs and boy haircuts. They began to wear makeup, painting their eyes and lips nearly every time they went out. These women even created the concept of dancing, the very reason why they made their clothing more mobile (Rosenberg). When women began to go out, they were attending parties and danced freely at them. On page 42 of The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald writes “I was on my way to get roaring drunk from sheer embarrassment when Jordan Baker came out of the house…” This quote tells the audience that one of the women had attended a party that was being thrown at the house. Dancing and partying became one of the biggest past-time for so-called flappers. They popularized dances that would have been considered “wild” by the previous generations. Along with the varied dancing and revealing clothing, women were showing their freedom and independence through drinking and smoking. “The flapper attitude was characterized by stark truthfulness, fast living, and sexual behavior (Rosenberg).” This statement shows that women of the 1920s were becoming riskierEven thougthouginfluence women and living for a thrill. They took up the act of smoking for the ability to cling to their youth and for the risks that came along with it. However, it wasn’t the most surprising act that women of the 1920s did. They drank alcohol, too, despite the ban that was heavily set on the drink.