In the 1920s to 1940s, women started to more fully express their new gender norms. They expressed these new roles in varying ways. The right to vote helped to increase women’s presence in the public sphere when the 19th amendment passed.[1] Some women left the house to go get an education. Others went out and looked for work. Women were even being portrayed differently in film. Others felt sexually liberated and became what was called “flappers”. These are just a few of the ways that women expressed their new gender norms from the 1920’s to the 1940’s. Women embraced their new gender norms by becoming more involved politically, socially, and economically.
After the nineteenth amendment passed giving women the right to vote a generational gap between these “new” women opened. Now that they finally attained greater political equality, they wanted more. Women joined together to from groups so they could rally to get bills passed that they felt were necessary.[2] They worked together to change social problems such as drunkenness, gambling, and prostitution.[3] They even started running for office and getting government office jobs. Not every woman wanted to get the right to vote. In a Library of Congress article it stated that, not all women believed in equality for the sexes. Women who upheld traditional gender roles argued that politics were improper for women. Some even insisted that voting might cause some women to ‘grow beards.’ The challenge to traditional roles represented by the struggle for political, economic, and social equality was as threatening to some women as it was to most men.[4]
Women voting were the first step towards equality of women. Prior to the 20th century, social norms did not permit women to have an education as well as a family. In an October 1927 issue of Harpers, Dorothy Bromley described The New-style Feminist as “a ‘Good Dresser’ and a ‘Pal’ to men, and fully expected to have marriage, children, and a career, too.”[5] This was a significant change from the thinking of the “Old-style Feminist”. They had grown up with Gender norms where men went work while women stay at the home, typically completing “womanly” duties like cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the children. Women have been trying to gain access into the men’s sphere of influence for the past few decades.[6]
By the 1920s, there was an influx of women that were receiving a college education.[7] Going to college was a badge of class and now these “new” women were feeling that it was also signifying their aspirations and showing that they had goals beyond just being the stay at home wife. These women wanted to revolt against formalism in American culture. They did not like the way that they were expected to be just like the women of the previous generations. They were rebelling against their expected duties as a women and wanted to change the way that males thought they were dominant over them.[8]
The National Women’s History Museum talked about women in film and how “the kinds of roles they were asked to play often reinforced traditional gender roles.”[9] This was because some men and women didn’t like these new changing women. They wanted women to stay how they had always been and not to change that. This was not always how it was in the 20’s though. In a Michigan State University article about women in film in the 1920s, they stated that "movies during the 1920s depicted what a new ‘modern’ woman should be and served as an instructional manual for young women of the time.”[10] With more women watching these films it started to change the women of this generation.
After women received the right to vote, it led them to change the way things were for women. It led to a “new voting population with a political agenda that would ultimately legalize contraception and abortion.”[11] This was a big event for women all over. It was sexually liberating to women and majorly changed their way of life. Now that they had access to contraceptives and family planning, they could get an education and have a career and all without being interrupted by having a child.
The first page covers the 19th Amendment and how women became more involved politically and affected the turnout of elections. The next page talks about how women were changed in film. They were now seen cross-dressing, moving into the workforce, and smoking and drinking onscreen. The third page introduces how women struggled to gain higher education and the opposition against it. The final page explains the movement called “sexual freedom” and how women felt liberated.
[1] Holly J. McCammon, “’Out of the Parlors and into the Streets’: The Changing Tactical Repertoire of the U.S. Women's Suffrage Movements,” Social Forces 81,
no. 3 (2003) : 787.
[2] "About the League." League of Women Voters, http://www.lwv.org/content/about-us. (accessed October 30, 2013)
[3] Holly J. McCammon and Karen E. Campbell, “Winning the Vote in the West: The Political Successes of the Women's Suffrage Movements, 1866-1919,“
Gender and Society 15, no 1 (2001) : 57.
[4] "Progressive Era to New Era, 1900-1929." Library Of Congress, http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/ presentations/timeline/progress/suffrage/. (accessed October 25, 2013)
[5] Dorothy M. Brown. 1987. Setting a Course: American Women in the 1920s, 33. Boston: Twayne Pub.
[6] Susan Ware. "Women and the Great Depression." The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, accessed 31 October 2013, ,http://www.gilderlehrman.org/
history-by-era/great-depression/essays/women-and-great-depression. (accessed October 30, 2013)
[7] "The New Woman." College of Staten Island, http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/ dept/history/lavender/386/newwoman.html. (accessed October 25, 2013)
[8] "The New Woman." College of Staten Island, http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/386/newwoman.html. (accessed October 25, 2013).
[9] "Women in Early Film." National Women’s History Museum, http://www.nwhm.org/online-exhibits/film/index.html. (accessed October 30, 2013).
[10] "Women in the Movies: The 1920's." Michigan State University, https://www.msu.edu/~quattron/WRA140/page1.htm. (accessed October 30, 2013).
[11] Heidi Williamson. "Women’s Equality Day: Celebrating the 19th Amendment’s Impact on Reproductive Health and Rights ." Center for American Progress, http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/news/2013/08/26/ 72988/womens-equality-day-celebrating-the-19th-amendments-impact-on-reproductive-health-and-rights/. (accessed October 30, 2013).
Image
Harris & Ewing. "Pennsylvania on the Picket Line - 1917.", http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mnwp:@field(DOCID+@lit(mnwp000212)). (accessed October 31, 2013).
After the nineteenth amendment passed giving women the right to vote a generational gap between these “new” women opened. Now that they finally attained greater political equality, they wanted more. Women joined together to from groups so they could rally to get bills passed that they felt were necessary.[2] They worked together to change social problems such as drunkenness, gambling, and prostitution.[3] They even started running for office and getting government office jobs. Not every woman wanted to get the right to vote. In a Library of Congress article it stated that, not all women believed in equality for the sexes. Women who upheld traditional gender roles argued that politics were improper for women. Some even insisted that voting might cause some women to ‘grow beards.’ The challenge to traditional roles represented by the struggle for political, economic, and social equality was as threatening to some women as it was to most men.[4]
Women voting were the first step towards equality of women. Prior to the 20th century, social norms did not permit women to have an education as well as a family. In an October 1927 issue of Harpers, Dorothy Bromley described The New-style Feminist as “a ‘Good Dresser’ and a ‘Pal’ to men, and fully expected to have marriage, children, and a career, too.”[5] This was a significant change from the thinking of the “Old-style Feminist”. They had grown up with Gender norms where men went work while women stay at the home, typically completing “womanly” duties like cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the children. Women have been trying to gain access into the men’s sphere of influence for the past few decades.[6]
By the 1920s, there was an influx of women that were receiving a college education.[7] Going to college was a badge of class and now these “new” women were feeling that it was also signifying their aspirations and showing that they had goals beyond just being the stay at home wife. These women wanted to revolt against formalism in American culture. They did not like the way that they were expected to be just like the women of the previous generations. They were rebelling against their expected duties as a women and wanted to change the way that males thought they were dominant over them.[8]
The National Women’s History Museum talked about women in film and how “the kinds of roles they were asked to play often reinforced traditional gender roles.”[9] This was because some men and women didn’t like these new changing women. They wanted women to stay how they had always been and not to change that. This was not always how it was in the 20’s though. In a Michigan State University article about women in film in the 1920s, they stated that "movies during the 1920s depicted what a new ‘modern’ woman should be and served as an instructional manual for young women of the time.”[10] With more women watching these films it started to change the women of this generation.
After women received the right to vote, it led them to change the way things were for women. It led to a “new voting population with a political agenda that would ultimately legalize contraception and abortion.”[11] This was a big event for women all over. It was sexually liberating to women and majorly changed their way of life. Now that they had access to contraceptives and family planning, they could get an education and have a career and all without being interrupted by having a child.
The first page covers the 19th Amendment and how women became more involved politically and affected the turnout of elections. The next page talks about how women were changed in film. They were now seen cross-dressing, moving into the workforce, and smoking and drinking onscreen. The third page introduces how women struggled to gain higher education and the opposition against it. The final page explains the movement called “sexual freedom” and how women felt liberated.
[1] Holly J. McCammon, “’Out of the Parlors and into the Streets’: The Changing Tactical Repertoire of the U.S. Women's Suffrage Movements,” Social Forces 81,
no. 3 (2003) : 787.
[2] "About the League." League of Women Voters, http://www.lwv.org/content/about-us. (accessed October 30, 2013)
[3] Holly J. McCammon and Karen E. Campbell, “Winning the Vote in the West: The Political Successes of the Women's Suffrage Movements, 1866-1919,“
Gender and Society 15, no 1 (2001) : 57.
[4] "Progressive Era to New Era, 1900-1929." Library Of Congress, http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/ presentations/timeline/progress/suffrage/. (accessed October 25, 2013)
[5] Dorothy M. Brown. 1987. Setting a Course: American Women in the 1920s, 33. Boston: Twayne Pub.
[6] Susan Ware. "Women and the Great Depression." The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History, accessed 31 October 2013, ,http://www.gilderlehrman.org/
history-by-era/great-depression/essays/women-and-great-depression. (accessed October 30, 2013)
[7] "The New Woman." College of Staten Island, http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/ dept/history/lavender/386/newwoman.html. (accessed October 25, 2013)
[8] "The New Woman." College of Staten Island, http://www.library.csi.cuny.edu/dept/history/lavender/386/newwoman.html. (accessed October 25, 2013).
[9] "Women in Early Film." National Women’s History Museum, http://www.nwhm.org/online-exhibits/film/index.html. (accessed October 30, 2013).
[10] "Women in the Movies: The 1920's." Michigan State University, https://www.msu.edu/~quattron/WRA140/page1.htm. (accessed October 30, 2013).
[11] Heidi Williamson. "Women’s Equality Day: Celebrating the 19th Amendment’s Impact on Reproductive Health and Rights ." Center for American Progress, http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/news/2013/08/26/ 72988/womens-equality-day-celebrating-the-19th-amendments-impact-on-reproductive-health-and-rights/. (accessed October 30, 2013).
Image
Harris & Ewing. "Pennsylvania on the Picket Line - 1917.", http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mnwp:@field(DOCID+@lit(mnwp000212)). (accessed October 31, 2013).