The 'Roaring Twenties'

I - Women in 1920s America

Advances in Women's Situation in the 1920s [VOICES]

Interpretation 1:

This advert represents female empowerment in 1920s America.  The vote.  A career.  Spending power.  A women who gets what she wants. 

Going Deeper

The following links will help you widen your knowledge:

Basic account from BBC Bitesize

  Essay: How much did life change for women in the 1920s?

Podcast:

Giles Hill on the roaring twenties

The Exploress: A Lady's Life in 1920s America: Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

YouTube:

How did life change for women?  - from History Revision Success

AQA-suggested Interpretations of Women in 1920s America:

Fredrick Lewis Allen, Only Yesterday (1931)

F Scott Fitzgerald's novels

Doris Fleischman

and it is worth also looking at

The Lynds' sociological study of 'Middletown'

It is arguable that women's situation made significant advances in 1920s America:

1. Voting and public engagement

   • The 19th Amendment to the U.S.  Constitution was ratified in 1920, granting women the right to vote.  Thereafter, all politicians were forced to take female opinion into account in their campaigns and policies. 

   • Some women entered politics and held senior positions (see panel).

   • Former suffrage campaigners formed themselves into the Woman's Joint Congressional Committee, which lobbied successfully for laws such as a Maternity and Infancy Protection Act (1921), equal nationality rights for married women (1922), and the Child Labor Amendment (1925).

   • A wide range of clubs and women's organizations, such as the League of Women Voters, advocated for women's rights and provided support networks for women entering public and professional life.

   • Some women gained political experience and organizational skills in the temperance movement.

   • Hundreds of girl evangelists (aged 5-20) preached against the new morality, to millions of people in churches and tent-meetings; some criss-crossed the continent many times.  Some, such as Betty Weakland and Uldine Utley, became famous; at age 14, Utley filled Carnegie Hall every night for a fortnight.

 

2. Opportunities from Education

   • More women were attending high school and college, gaining better education and qualifications.  Higher education for women expanded, providing them with the skills and knowledge needed to pursue professional careers. 

 

3. Inventions and household appliances

   • Smaller modern houses, the advent of new household appliances like washing machines and vacuum cleaners, canned food and telephoning for groceries reduced the time women spent on domestic chores, freeing up time for other pursuits, including reading, education and employment. 

 

4. Contraception

   • Campaigners Margaret Sanger and Ethel Byrne opened the first birth control clinic in 1916 (when arrested, Byrne went on hunger strike) and contraception was legal after 1918 if prescribed by a doctor.  Sanger established the American Birth Control League in 1921, and contraceptives soon become more freely available, freeing women from childbirth and child-rearing, and from the worries of poverty. 

 

5. Employment

   • Many women had during the war taken over jobs traditionally reserved for men (such as manufacturing).  The post-World War I economic boom created new job opportunities for women, and 1920-29 the number of working women increased by 25%; many went to be teachers and secretaries, but also into retail, advertising & marketing, and manufacturing. 

 

6. Societal changes

   • The Lynds in ‘Middletown’ found significant, permanent changes in women’s attitudes, notably towards divorce.  

   • Flappers dumped the old restrictive fashions, corsets etc. in favour of short skirts, short hair, and the flat-chested 'garconne' look.  Many of them wore men's clothing.  They smoked, drank, used make-up, played tennis, and danced wildly in jazz clubs.  Some were openly lesbian, others were sexually active.  Although there were few full-on flappers, the exposure they received – particularly icons such as Clara Bow – had a huge lesser effect on women’s fashions, attitudes and self-concept.

   • Movies, radio, and magazines in the 1920s played a significant role in shaping women’s perceptions of women.  They gave women independent and assertive role models, and gave advice on jobs and relationships.

   • The prohibition laws (1920-1933), counter-intuitively, improved women’s situation; younger women found it easier to go to a speakeasy than a saloon.

Limitations of Women's Progress in the 1920s [DUMB]

Interpretation 2:

This advert represents female disempowerment in 1920s America.  Vote and career trivialised into an advertising gimmick.  Women stereotyped as selfish, materialistic and slaves to ornaments, underwear and soap.  Feminist aspirations have been vanquished by capitalist commercialism.

Source B

A 'flapper', wearing trousers and pushing a car along with the men.  How representative is it?  Is it a posed photograph?

It is arguable that women's situation showed little progress in 1920s America:

1. Discrimination

   • Higher education opportunities were restricted.  Women were encouraged into subjects considered appropriate for their gender, such as teaching, nursing, and home economics. 

   • Most working women were in low-paid jobs, and they were paid less than men for the same job.  10 million women were working in 1930 ...  but this was still only a quarter of the females aged 15 and over; the rest worked for free in the home and on the farm.

   • Women still faced significant gender discrimination in the workplace.  Many employers would not hire women for skilled positions, and trade unions often excluded women or did not support women’s rights.  Women in traditionally male-dominated occupations faced hostility and discrimination.

   • Many women, particularly those from poor and rural backgrounds, and in the South, did not benefit from the 1920s.  Working-class women often endured poor working conditions, long hours, and low wages.

   • African American, Latina, and Native American women faced extra restrictions due to racism and racial segregation and inequality.

   • Women continued to face high levels of domestic violence, sexual harassment, and assault, with limited legal recourse or support.

 

2. Under-representation in Politics

   • Despite gaining the right to vote, women were still vastly underrepresented in political office.  Few women held significant political positions, and their influence on policy-making remained limited. 

   • Women campaigned in vain after 1920 for an Equal Rights Act.

   • Fewer women voted than men, and most voted the same way as their husbands.

    

3. Marriage and Reproductive Rights

   • Traditional gender roles generally persisted, with most women not just expected but HAPPY to prioritize marriage, motherhood, and domestic responsibilities over personal ambitions.

   • In many states, married women had limited legal rights and were still considered the property of their husbands.  This included restrictions on owning property, signing contracts, or having legal custody of their children.

   • Access to contraceptives and information about family planning was still limited, especially for poor and rural women.  Contraception was not legal until 1970.

 

4. Backlash and diminishment

   • There was a conservative backlash against the feminist movement.  Many Americans were scandalised by the flappers – organisations such as the Anti-Flirt Association tried to persuade young Americans to behave 'decently'. 

   • The ‘flapper’ was largely an invention of films and writers such as F Scott Fitzgerald.  Whilst they ‘flirted’ with men, they were portrayed as silly, shallow, obsessed with beauty, fashion, and getting a man. 

   • The flapper image may have symbolized liberation, but by the end of the 1920s it had been appropriated merely as a vehicle to sell cosmetics and other luxuries to women.