Flappers and the new American woman : perceptions of women from 1918 through the 1920s
After the end of World War I in 1918, the Flapper shocked society by flagrantly defying the traditional passive and gentile image of femininity. She danced the Charleston, with bared knees, bobbed hair--and without a corset! The New American Woman also danced--though to a more sedate tune. She represented Mrs. Consumer, more aware of her decision-making ability and her purchasing power than her mother had ever been. And she was, for the first time ever, a fully enfranchised citizen who cast her vote in the polling booth. The media of the times influenced women's paths: magazine advertisements showed them how to dress and how to look younger to please their husbands; books advised them on proper etiquette and how to be truly beautiful; and movies offered entree to exotic new worlds. Many, however, looked beyond the stereotypes, using their new-found power and abilities to fight for a variety of causes.--From publisher description
Print Book, English, ©2008
Twenty-First Century Books, Minneapolis, MN, ©2008
Nonfiction
144 pages : illustrations ; 27 cm.
9780822560609, 0822560607
71243984
Prologue: Armistice Day, November 11, 1918
Modern girls and the media
Happy housewives and delicate women
Morals and manners
Beauty in the eye of the beholder
The backlash against modern times
Epilogue: Change and continuity and what comes next