The 1920s
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The 1920s was a time of many changes for the culture of the United States. Variations to the culture included changes in society and changes in the quality of life. Some of these culture changes brought up an extreme amount of controversy. Values that had been set for generations were being now tested. The way women portrayed themselves, the music some people listened to, and the changing views on alcohol were just some of the controversial changes that occurred in the 1920. These changed brought out a more modern culture that many people of this time period did not accept. There were also many alterations to the culture including changes in the work environment, the quality of life, and womens rights that were widely accepted. The society of the 1920s went through many changes that challenged the old fundamental values that were based on the Victorian Age.
Womens right was a big movement in the twentieth century and in 1920s women finally received the right to vote by the passing of a constitutional amendment that stated an individual should not be deprived of the right to vote base on their gender. The passing of this amendment spurred the womens rights revolution. The womens right revolution was a time in which women pushed for equality between men and women. They were pushing for the right to attend school, vote, and have a job outside the household. Women started testing moral values that had been set for generations. A majority of the women challenging these social norms were college aged women. These women would later be known as the iconic flapper.
Some of the younger American women during the 1920 challenged the traditional view of proper behavior and appearance. This created one of the most popular symbols for this decade, the flapper. The flapper was a fashionable, pleasure-seeking young woman of this time period. The typically flapper wore knee-length, fringed shirts, rolled stockings, and long draping necklaces. The flapper would bind their breast in attempt to look more flat chested. She also had bobbed short hair and wore what was then known as an extreme amount of cosmetics. Along with all the changes to their appearance, flappers also violated the traditional views of a womens behavior. Flappers would smoke and drink behaviors which at this time were only acceptable from men. They, along with some of the boys from this time period, danced in new sexually suggestive steps at dance clubs. Although very few women of this time period actually fit this stereotype, it was used nationwide to represent the rebelliousness of this time period.
Along with the changes to social thinking came new social activities. Sex became more openly talked about among the youth of the 1920s. Premarital sex became more common, although it was still looked down upon. Sex was still viewed as something that should be saved for marriage, but due to the increase in these actions birth control was made more common, even though it was still widely illegal. The availability of birth control also decreased the size of the family. During this time period homosexuality was still views as immoral.
The 1920s also brought about an increase in consumerism. The automobile became more available for people who were not considered wealthy, which also led to people moving out of the city to more rural areas. Many other appliances, such as refrigerators, vacuum cleaners, and washing machines, became more popular due to the fact that electricity was now available to about two-thirds of all homes in the United States. These machines increased the quality of life because it reduced the time it took to complete these household chores. The radio was also invented by Italian Guglielmo Marconi in 1895, but did not become known as a common household item until this time period. After a while the consumption of these good started to slow because many of the households already had these items. This challenged these industries. Their solution to this problem was to create a newer model. This cause people to want to buy the “newest model,” because it was more high-tech than the one they already possessed. Along with consumerism advertising became extremely popular. Advertisements were developed to show that a certain product was necessary in life or that one companys product was better than another companys product even though they did relatively the same thing. This time period was also when the idea of credit was established. The development of credit caused the consumers debt to double between 1922 and 1929.
The work force also changed drastically during the 1920s. The increases in consumerism lead to an increase in productivity. The increase in productivity was also aided by the development of new technologies. Companies could now get closer to consumer demand. The new technologies also created more specific jobs. Assemble lines were established. Workers now stayed in one place and completed one repeated task rather than many. At this time Restrictions had been put on jobs. These restrictions included the development of the five day work week, shortening the hours a day a person worked, and also created higher wages. Agriculture was left drastically behind after the industrial boom. The values of crops dropped rapidly and stayed low from 1919 to 1921. Another way the work force changed was that people were no longer working just to have a job, but rather they were doing jobs that they enjoyed.
An increase in African American art culture occurred in the 1920s. Jazz was the African American