Conformity In Fashion

Throughout the centuries, the vogue for young women had constantly evolved and is an indicator of social status. Fitzgerald wrote “Bernice Bobs Her Hair” to show the 1920s trends and how important they were to young women. This time period depicts a distinctive change in the fashion icons of young women that is greatly scrutinized by adults. He wants to portray the distinctive change from the proper, reserved girl, like in Little Women, to the flapper. The widely unaccepted trends of the flapper illustrate the social climb all young women were willing to take in order to be accepted by their peers. In “Bernice Bobs Her Hair”, Fitzgerald illustrates the social norms that encourage societal conformity and the competition for social success in the 1920s. The flapper became an important icon for young women in the 1920s. In “Bernice Bobs Her Hair”, Fitzgerald shows the transition from the poised young women to the reckless flapper. Marjorie exclaims, “‘Oh please don’t quote ‘Little Women’!’ cried Marjorie impatiently ‘That’s so out of style.’” (Fitzgerald 53). Although this trend seemed to be the norm of teenagers, it did not sit well with adults. Adults often found the attitudes and morals of flappers irresponsible and did not support

The ideal of making it in society is rather destructive and not all it plays out to be. Fitzgerald shows this in his story when in the end, Bernice bobs her hair and no one cares about her anymore. Although this story is relevant to the lifestyle of teens today, Fitzgerald based this story off of letters he sent to his sister on how to get boys to like her. This is relatively ironic because he is telling his sister how to fit in and be liked by boys just like Marjorie. As much as Fitzgerald denys conformity in his short story, He is too conforming to the judgemental