History Brief: 1920s Flappers

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A brief video explaining who the flappers were and what they were like.

Transcript:

Women were experiencing a new sense of freedom and independence in the 1920s. Who were these women? How did they express this newfound freedom?

Women had gained the right to vote in 1920 with the passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. This amendment seemed to usher in the new decade. A decade in which a new breed of liberated, modern woman became one of the most celebrated icons of the era. The new woman became known as a “flapper”.

Flappers were young women who abandoned the traditional Victorian-era values of their parents and grandparents. The word “flapper” came from the United Kingdom. It was a slang term for an impetuous teenage girl.

Flappers were known for a distinctive appearance and manner of dress. They cut their hair short, wearing a haircut known as a bobbed cut. They also wore straight, loose-fitting dresses with bare arms and low necklines. The dress length usually stopped just below the knee. At the time, such a short dress or skirt would have been considered risqué. This allowed the young women to perform new dance steps such as the Charleston or the Shimmy. When dancing, the length of their dresses would allow for an occasional glimpse of the bare knees, which would have been scandalous just a decade before.

Large amounts of jewelry was also part of the flapper costume. Several layers of beaded necklaces, pins, rings, and broaches were all common. Flappers typically wore large amounts of makeup, including lipstick, eye-liner, and blush. Makeup became increasingly more common throughout the decade as manufacturers continued to make a wider variety of cosmetics.
Stockings also went out of fashion, and many older women were shocked when they saw young flappers out in public with bare legs.

However, being a flapper was more than just a choice of clothing and jewelry, it was a way of life. The flappers engaged in many different types of behavior that, at the time, were not deemed as lady-like. They rode bicycles, they drove automobiles, they listened to jazz music, smoked cigarettes, drank alcohol, and danced.
There were many slang terms that became associated with the flapper culture. Terms such as “the bee’s knees”, “the cat’s pajamas”, and “that’s so Jake” were all known to mean “fantastic!”. “The big cheese” might be used to describe an important person, while “broad”, “dame”, or “doll” were all used to describe a woman.

Not everyone was a fan of flappers. There were many people who were outspoken against them, and felt that they were ruining the nation. Some critics felt that their style of dress was not only improper, but “near nakedness”. They were often criticized as being flippant, unintelligent, and reckless.