Women Of The 1920s Essay
Have you ever wondered how women were treated by society within the 1920s? Even within the workforce? Well, in these two documents, “The New Woman of the 1920s'', and “In the Home of an Italian Rag Picker VS. The Portrait of Virginia Michael Stern '', both demonstrate the differences, and contrast between two women living in completely opposite lifestyles because of society’s treatment towards them individually, as well as society’s traditional views among women and how they presented themselves. In the document, “The New Woman of the 1920s' ', a traditional woman would have had her hair down, and longer, as well as wearing a dress that would reflect both her elegance, and pureness.
In the 1920s, many conflict-causing changes came to society with the introduction of women having more jobs, young people breaking away from tradition and authority, African Americans moving North, and traditionalists’ opposition of evolution. Women, having more job opportunities since men had left to fight in WWI, wanted to continue working. Two women governors appeared in the 1920s, as well as the right for women to vote. Young people at this time also wanted more personal freedom. With the introduction of dance marathons, new fashions and fads, etc., young people wanted to choose their careers and lifestyles, undisturbed from their parents.
The author’s reasonings for writing in such a way can only be seen while using three perspectives, Marxist, new historicist criticism, and 2nd wave feminism. When relating the text to social class, you realize that during the 1920s, income inequality was at a historic high.
The most crucial change that occurred in the 1920s was the passing of the 19th Amendment. The 19th Amendment gave women the right to vote. Continuing the chain reaction, women found more opportunities for employment. For example, advertisers exploited sexual allure to sell everything, which many “old-timers” regarded as a veritable errotic eruption. Although a women’s lifestyle took a giant leap forward, African Americans were still in the same spot.
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.
In the 1920s women succeeded well but not without some struggles. Along the way with 19th amendment being so hard for them gaining the right to vote, women’s roles seeing that there not good enough for other than housework and the fashion or style movement with being able not to express yourself the way you should. The 19th Amendment better known as the women’s suffrage era 1920 of the united states
Women throughout history have always been oppressed. They were thought of as objects to create families and keep the husband happy. This began to change when women started to argue for more rights in the 1800’s. It still took many years for women to receive equal rights though. In 1920 women in America were finally granted suffrage, meaning the right to vote.
Women suffrage has been present through out American History. Our culture forces women to fall into certain stereotypes. Mary Tyrone, in Eugene O’Neil ’s Long day journey into the night, struggles with certain cultural surroundings that messes with her psychological state. Gender roles for women, including isolation and obeying the man of the house, is what eventually leads to her drug abuse and causes her to ignore her reality by escaping into the past.
At the time, women were permitted with the right to vote once the American society had changed its perspective. These particular American women differentiated between other groups of women, such as the Traditionalists and the New Woman. For instance, the New Woman group featured new fashion styles as well as equality and freedom to all. The flappers, for example, were one of the notable fashion trends for women living in the 1920s. On the other hand, traditionalists were concerned about the violations of their family values as well as the routines that women had provided during the time.
The dominant classes of people in the 1800’s were that of the white male protestant, and most whom fit the picture were not wealthy or powerful. However, the great majority who attained independent wealth and status were. Those whom fit the following description were for sure socially disadvantaged; African slave, Native American, a female, or Catholic. And those of rich and power considered themselves Englishmen. As they would push the Native Americans of the land, enslave the Africans, and subordinate the women, these Englishmen would insist of their freedom to define themselves (Gorn, 2007 pp.67).
Women in the Progressive Era The Progressive Era was a time of change across America, a time when the country chose to reform into an industrialized urban country. Prosperity was widespread across America, so people turned to social issues to try to expand. Minorities in particular became a focus of this time period, and everyone tried to find a way to integrate them into society.
Thus, it is necessary to conclude that women have always played an important role in the development of history. History that involves women has been developed throughout the centuries, constantly changing its goals and forms, increasing the popularity movement of the American women in the late 1800’s. Women were discriminated for many things for a very long time, it wasn’t until the late 1800’s that women actually started to gain very few rights. The late 1800’s is very important time for women as it gets the movement started for Women’s Suffrage, and ultimately the late 1800’s starts to open the way for equality for women and
Did you know the United States federal government required female employees to be paid twenty-five percent less than male employees? Women in the 1930s were typically paid less because they worked in the fields of teaching, nursing, and domestic work. These jobs were also less affected by the stock market crash. Women were paid less than male employees and usually worked more than fifty hours per week. The Great Depression had an influence on women in many ways.
“Feminism has never been about getting a job for one woman. It 's about making life more fair for women everywhere. It 's not about a piece of the existing pie; there are too many of us for that. It 's about baking a new pie.” (1) How did women get to where they are today?
According to Webster Dictionary, the word ‘feminism’ is defined as the theory of the political, economic, and social equality of the sexes. Many people, however, mistake that word for ‘misandry’, which is simply defined as the “hatred of males.” This might be because the word ‘feminism’ is rooted by the word ‘feminine’, which may give the impression of gender bias against men. This is not the case. The act of feminism is an act of equal rights.
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