Did Women Challenge The Social Norms Of The 1920s

In April of 1966, James Brown sang that “this is a man’s world”, however only four decades before women had been working to prove their value and social power, by challenging the social norms, and showing that it truly would be nothing with the women of the nation. Though, in reality, to what extent did they challenge the social norms of their time? There were limitations facing the women of the 1920s regardless they changed society for the better. Even before the 1920s, women were making a new name for themselves in society. The First World War was a pivotal moment for women’s social status. World War One was a time of new opportunity for women from many different backgrounds. During the First World War, the government requested the help

The jobs were more varied than before as women were no longer being shielded from the war and its hardships. Many organizations did not allow for women to work as soldiers, but they were telephone operators in America, also known as “Hello Girls” (“Women During World War I”). Women were taking bigger steps towards equality and challenging the social norm of women being housewives by working the jobs traditionally meant for men, while successfully creating a stable Homefront and workforce for the war. There were still restrictions as women could not to work abroad or on board ships as they were not thought to be trained enough to be near battle (“Women During World War I”). Though not all women could work, others became volunteers, which was “of central importance to middle class women” (“Campbell”). They ate less meat and more fish because there was less demand for fish and more resources were needed for the soldiers in the war. There were some limitations such as when the male soldiers came back, women did not manage to maintain the status as they had gained. Yet, the collaboration between the country’s government and the women of the nation helped to prove the value of the women and the benefits that they can provide,

Some women fought to get the Nineteenth Amendment passed so that women could vote and have more political power within the male government. An example of a woman who fought for the vote was Alice Paul who founded the National Women’s party, which was the group that lead the more aggressive push for the 19th Amendment (“Alice Paul”). This was a challenge against society as they worked towards the political power that women were being deprived of. Alice Paul made a large difference to the political status of women as the 1920s was a turning point for women and one of the main reasons that women were more independent in society was because the 19th Amendment was ratified. She was very influential in this movement and continued to fight for Women’s Rights for the rest of her life, for example, “in 1923, Paul proposed an Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution” which many women fought for to gain more equality between men and women in the United States (“Alice Paul”). These women challenged the social norms of the time and changed the way that women could live during the 1920s, even after the 19th Amendment was