Roaring Twenties and Women

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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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Task 1

• Read pp. 196-197 and make notes in a table (see
  below)

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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.
• The 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 of skilled
  factory work.
• In 1920 women got the vote in all states.
• The car made they 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.
• The media portrayed women in a different light
  sex sold much better than anything else!

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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.
• Most middle class women concentrated on managing
  the homeTheir daughterswere far more likely to
  prepare for careers as mothers and housewives.

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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.