Twenties Women

Ch 21 Sect 2

Pg 646

Women change the Rules

• Women began asserting their independence.

• Rejecting values of the 19th century

• Demand the same freedoms as men

Flapper• - an emancipated

woman who embraced new fashions & an urban attitude.

• Short hair, fitted hats, bright dresses, dyed hair

• Began smoking, drinking, & talking of sex openly.

• Viewed marriage as an equal partnership.

Double Standard

• Flapper did NOT reflect the attitudes of most women.

• Advertisements created a double standard – a set of principles granting greater sexual freedom to men than women.

Old Roles at Home & Work

• Work– Became teachers, nurses, & librarians– Few rose to management jobs– Earned less money than men

• Home– Birthrate decreases

• Increase availability of birth control

– Technology simplified household chores– Marriages based on romantic feelings

Education & Popular Culture

Ch 21 Sect 3

Pg 652

Schools Shape Mass Culture

• School enrollment increased to from 1 million – 4 million in the 1920’s.

• Began offering a broader range of courses for industrial jobs.

• Education increased literacy rates in the U.S.

• Taxes to finance schools also doubled

Mass Media & Mass Culture

• Higher literacy rates led to increases in newspaper & magazine subscriptions.

• Growing mass media shaped mass culture.

• Radio was the most powerful communications medium to emerge.

New Heroes

• Charles Lindbergh – made the first solo flight across the Atlantic ocean– From New York to

Paris– Stood for honesty &

bravery– Paved the way for

others

Entertainment

• Movies became a national pastime– Means of escape through romance & comedy

• F. Scott Fitzgerald – coined the term “Jazz Age”– Wrote The Great Gatsby– Revealed the negative side of the period's

gaiety & freedom.

Entertainment

• Ernest Hemingway – became the best known author of the time.

• Criticized the glorification of WWI

• Introduced a tough simplified style of writing.