The Roaring 20's

Once upon there was a girl who lived a simple life. She lived during the time of the “flappers” which was a period of time that redefined modern women. Flappers were defined as a new breed of young women who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to the new Jazz music, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptable behavior. The flappers were seen as brash for wearing excessive makeup, drinking, treating sex in a casual manner, smoking, driving automobiles, and otherwise flouting conventional social and sexual norms. And as you can see from her picture, she was a lovely flapper type, and knowing my grandmother she no doubt helped to define that period of time quite well.

But I love the idea that women took a positive stand in our country. The right to vote became a reality and women pushed themselves into working roles in their society. Young women especially, began staking claim to their own bodies and took part in a sexual liberation of their generation. The 20s gave birth to the ‘feminine mystique’. With this formulation, all women wanted to marry, all good women stayed at home with their children, cooking and cleaning, and the best women did the aforementioned and in addition, exercised their purchasing power freely and as frequently as possible in order to better their families and their homes. I like the idea that my grandmother’s generation took a stand for all women, helping us to be seen and heard.

I love the idea of being a flapper, but I love the sound of Jazz even more. I can easily see myself sitting in a jazz cafe, waiting to be asked to do the fox trot or the Charleston. Men wore dashing pinstriped suits and had a cool air about them. And of course, there were the downsides to the 20’s; drinking, gangsters, the rise of communism, and the beginnings of the KKK.

If there were one period of time I could visit, it would be this era. I’d like the chance to hang with my grandmother as she danced her way through the 20’s and the opportunity discuss with her how she felt about women’s rights, and in general what was going on in the world. If only.