Tuesday, January 14, 2014

FLAPPERS IN THE JAZZ AGE, THE ROARING 20s.

Anne Greene here.  

The flapper became the symbol of young women who championed new ideas about womanhood. Women no longer submitted to strict Victorian morality. Instead, they changed the social status of women by transforming the concept of the ideal woman.

 

In previous decades, the Gibson Girl, with her long luxurious hair, her hourglass figure, and elegant tailored gowns, had been the model of femininity. She was corseted, educated and accomplished, and her first priorities were finding a husband and starting a family. The Gibson Girl used flirtation and femininity to achieve her ends.

 

Flappers rebelled against this model of womanhood.

 

 

Flappers cut off the long hair their mothers had prized, favoring the short bob. They rejected the waist-constricting corset, and the hourglass figure it created. Their loose-fitting dresses, with drop waists and knee-length skirts, created a more boyish silhouette, which some women enhanced by binding their breasts. Flappers wore makeup, which had previously been associated only with prostitution. Make-up's new popularity also changed the way it was used; instead of attempting to imitate nature, flappers used cosmetics to create small bow mouths and pale skin. This was a stark contrast to the rosy look their mothers had prized. However, young women in the 1920s wanted not only to look different from their mothers, they wanted to act differently too.


Flappers rejected traditional rules of propriety in favor of a more modern, fast-paced lifestyle. They were frank and socially liberated, some acting in ways that shocked their elders. Young women engaged in activities previously limited to men, such as smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol – even though Prohibition made drinking illegal. They listened to jazz music and danced new, energetic dances, like the Charleston and the Black Bottom, despite objections that these dances were wild and obscene. They loved automobiles finding their speed and risk a perfect fit, and insisted on driving.

 

Young women in the 1920s distinguished themselves from their Victorian counterparts in their attitudes about sex. Flappers followed Freud and believed that both women and men had sexual desires that were natural, not shameful. Older generations found this interest in sex immodest, but flappers saw it as an expression of women's right to a full life. They criticized Victorian ideas about gender roles, seeing them as impediments to women gaining social equality with men.

 

Flapper culture instigated some baby steps towards a more liberal society, but many of the attempts to make changes in acceptable behavior and gender roles failed. Most young women who cut their hair and dressed like flappers did not go to the extremes of flapper behavior. This made flapper culture more acceptable to the population, but watered down its message of social change.

 

Flappers wanted more equality with men in the business world as well as the social world. Women had just won the right to vote and wanted the right to work in the non-traditional women’s jobs like teaching and shop work.

 


I’m writing a book set in the 1920s about one such flapper. The working title is CUPID GOES BARNSTORMING. Gloria is an orphan trying to make a living. Here's a picture of my heroine.

 

If you had been living in the 1920s would you have remained at home like the Gibson Girl or would you have wanted wider spaces? Leave a comment for a chance to win my new book just released, MARRIAGE BY ARRANGEMENT.

ANNE GREENE delights in writing about wounded heroes and gutsy heroines. Her second novel, a Scottish historical, Masquerade Marriage, won the New England Reader Choice award, the Laurel Wreath Award, and the Heart of Excellence Award. The sequel Marriage By Arrangement released November, 2013.  A Texas Christmas Mystery also won awards. She makes her home in McKinney, Texas. Tim LaHaye led her to the Lord when she was twenty-one and Chuck Swindoll is her Pastor. View Anne’s travel pictures and art work at http://www.AnneGreeneAuthor.com. Anne’s highest hope is that her stories transport the reader to an awesome new world and touch hearts to seek a deeper spiritual relationship with the Lord Jesus. Buy Anne’s books at http://www.PelicanBookGroup.com. Or at http://www.Amazon.com. Visit http://www.anneswritingupdates.blogspot.com for great information on writing an award-winning novel. Talk with Anne on twitter at @TheAnneGreene. Visit Anne’s Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/AnneWGreeneAuthor. 

 

28 comments:

  1. I was a bit of the kind of kid to do the exact opposite of what i was expected to do from the git go, so I imagine I would've cut my hair and shortened my skirt at the first sign of rebellion in the air! All my life I have always loved the fashion of the roaring 20's and every thing I owned and wore would be layered in fringe and dripping with pearls! Thanks for such a fun post, Anne!

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    1. I almost forgot: kam110476 (at) gmail (dot) com

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    2. Kam you sound like a kick! Fun! Yep and I would have been right there with you. Didn't we give our mother's gray hair?

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  2. Fun post - I didn't know some of those details about flappers. I think I am a mix of both. I loved having a shorter haircut and defying traditional girly things when I was younger - BUT I totally adored fancy dresses and being a "lady". I know, it totally doesn't go together, but it's true. I am a tad of a rebel so I probably would have tried the flapper style for a while just to see!
    lattebooks at hotmail dot com

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    1. Susan, good to see you here. I think the flappers were so much happier without their corsets! They could actually breathe. But I'm sure many of them loved those fringed dresses and fancy shoes as they did those fast dances.

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  3. I have a picture of my grandmother dressed as a flapper. She married late in life and had my mohter and her siblings in her late 30s and early 40s. Although she dressed the fashion of the day she was always very conservative. She married a man who had only a fourth grade education and they were gloriously in love for many years. My grandmother went back to work once her three children weregrown. It was fun to read your post.

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    1. And its ever so much fun writing about that happy age between wars and stock market crashes when the air was filled with optimism. I love the styles and the fun and the happiness of that time.

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  4. I loved hearing the details about the Flapper and the Gibson girls. I would have probably gone the Flapper route. One of those girls that wanted to "spread her wings".

    mauback55 at gmail dot com

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    1. Ain't we got fun! That was one of their songs. I'll be writing much more about the 1920s on the 14th of each month and offering a free book each time. If you don't win today, come back and visit me next month! But, of course, you might win today, so come back and visit and enjoy the 1920s with me!

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  5. I'm not quite sure how I would have been. I guess I probably would have wanted to try out my wings so to speak. But in the end I think I would be happy at home in a more traditional roll.

    pattymh2000(at)yahoo(dot)com

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    1. Oh, Patty, you want to taste freedom, but enjoy the sheltered life. I don't blame you. Both are so wonderful.

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  6. I've actually asked myself this question. I'd like to think I would have cut my hair and pushed the boundaries of the expected norm, but I've always been a rule follower, regardless of how I feel about the rule. That being said, I think I would have been a flapper at heart and Gibson Girl on the outside until it became more socially acceptable to look like a flapper. :) I love the way the flapper women dressed and it's exactly how I dressed when those dresses came back in fashion and yes, I have flapper hair--I never realized it until I was talking to someone one day and they pointed it out. lol

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    1. There's nothing wrong with being a rule follower. I bet you were a teacher's pet. I never was. I'm one of those who must push boundaries.

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  7. I don't know, don't think I fit into the Gibson girl image. I probably would have been a reserved flapper if that is possible? Thank you
    mcnuttjem0(at)gmail(dot)com

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    1. I think many women were reserved flappers. They adopted the look, but not the radical position of a flapper. That's how the fashion ultimately became acceptable. But, personally I think they missed out on a lot of fun! And yet, they sure didn't get into any trouble!

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  8. Very interesting time period. Hmmm, well, if I were a Christian, then I'm sure I would've stuck with the traditional Victorian morality. If I weren't yet saved until 19 (like my actual life), then I'm sure I would've been a flapper girl for a solid period of time.

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    1. You sound so much like me. I didn't become a Christian until I was 21. Not because I didn't want to, but because I didn't know how. What an incredible joy when I finally heard the way of salvation. How easy for me because of what Jesus did. And then my lovely new journey with Him began. Thanks so much for mentioning this.

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  9. Anne, your post is the bees knees! I love this period in history when women were flapping their wings and doing the Charleston. I'm definitely the flapper type!

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    1. Margaret you sound like you'd have fun anywhere and anytime. I'm so glad to see you here.

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  10. I'm flipping over the flappers...I'm definitely a flapper too - thanks for the fun post! and the chance to win.
    truckredford(at)gmail(D0t)com

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    1. HI Eliza, good to see you again! I would pick you for a flapper! But we're only talking in the best sense of the flappers. Some girls took the role too seriously and began to smoke and drink. We are not talking here today of the radical flapper, but the fun, freedom-loving flapper who threw away her corset and cut her hair and began to see her worth as a woman!
      .

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  11. I'd probably be a Flapper, as I like to get out and about, meet people, etc. Love to win your book. sharon, CA wileygreen1(at)yahoo(dot)com

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    1. HI Sharon, yep the Flapper was a sure-enough extrovert who loved people and places. And she began to see herself in a new light as a woman of worth weather she stayed home with the kids or dipped her toe into new adventues.

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  12. I definitely would have been like the Gibson Girl, though technically, as a Mennonite, I probably wouldn't have dressed like either of them. :-) But I am definitely of a more conservative, less risk-taker personality.

    chillirosen@hotmail.com

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  13. Hi Mallori, interesting answer. I love the freedom of the Flapper, but I also love the Gibson Girl look. I would probably alternate on different weeks or days. What I don't like is the lack of fashion today. Jeans go everywhere. Nice to see you here Mallori!

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  14. I think I would have been a Gibson girl leaning to the flapper side on occasion. :)
    worthy2bpraised at gmail dot com

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  15. Hi Merry, great to see you here. I'll soon be picking a name out of a hat of one lucky girl to receive a copy of Marriage By Arrangement, so maybe you'll be the one. Many ladies back in those days chose to do just exactly as you thought you might!

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  16. czreader - Kimberly Johnson, you won a copy of Marriage By Arrangement. Please send me your address at annewgreene@gmail.com. so I can send you your autographed copy.

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