During the 1920s, women gained new freedoms and roles in society. World War I gave women new responsibilities on the home front and working outside the home. The passage of the 19th amendment in 1920 granted women the right to vote. This empowered women and led to more holding political offices and jobs in various fields like teaching, nursing, and social work. The 1920s saw the rise of the flapper, as young women embraced a more independent and fun-loving lifestyle through fashion and behavior. However, conservative values still conflicted with this new social freedom for women.

1. +
Women: Changes in
Manners and Morals
Matt Profaci

2. +
World War I  War prompts women’s freedom
 Volunteer work, women in army
 Women contribute to war effort

3. +
Suffrage: A Woman’s Right to Vote
 August 18th
, 1920 – women’s suffrage legally adopted in the
Nineteenth Amendment.
 Newly empowered feeling for women
 Women could now be a progressive force – how far could
they go?

4. +
The Workforce and Political
Endeavors
 Women were now elected into the
House of Representatives
 End of the decade: 200 women in state
legislature
 Workforce included more women:
factories, mailrooms, nursing, teaching,
social workers
 Women could balance work with social
responsibilities
 Some women became lawyers and
doctors!

5. +
New Values Expressed Through
Fashion
 The “Flapper” – the woman
having fun!
 Free spirit expressed through
clothing
 Short hair is common
 Independent, fun-loving, free-
spirited look
 Glamorized in cinema

6. +
SEX!
 Sexual revolution: Flappers and other young women
glamorize sex, something not done before by women
 Sexual freedom – public displays of affection
 Rise of birth control
 Challenging conservative American values; tradition meant
nothing
 Miss America Pageant, Atlantic City NJ
Now that I’ve got your attention…

7. +
Women Being Arrested for their
Skimpy Bathing Suits

8. +
A New Frontier…
 The 1920s pioneered a new shade of women’s culture
 1920s women’s morals would raise spirits during the Great
Depression
 Not yet free from discrimination, yet voices were heard

9. +
Works Cited
Howes, Kelly K., ed. Roaring Twenties Reference Library. Vol. 1. Detroit:
UXL, 2006. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 21 Nov. 2010.
Routledge, Chris. "Flappers." Bowling, Beatniks, and Bell-Bottoms: Pop
Culture of 20th-Century America. Ed. Sara Pendergast and Tom
Pendergast. Detroit: Gale, 2002. 261-63. Gale Virtual Reference Library.
Web. 16 Nov. 2010.
Sheets, Deirdre. "Miss America Pageant." Dictionary of American History.
Ed. Stanley I. Kutler. 3rd ed. Vol. 5. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons,
2003. 406. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 16 Nov. 2010.
Women In Bathing Suits Being Arrested. 1922. Photograph. Bettmann/
Corbis, Chicago. Crime and Punishment: Essential Primary Sources.
Detroit: Gale, 2006. 197-99. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 16 Nov.
2010.

10. +
Works Cited
Howes, Kelly K., ed. Roaring Twenties Reference Library. Vol. 1. Detroit:
UXL, 2006. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 21 Nov. 2010.
Routledge, Chris. "Flappers." Bowling, Beatniks, and Bell-Bottoms: Pop
Culture of 20th-Century America. Ed. Sara Pendergast and Tom
Pendergast. Detroit: Gale, 2002. 261-63. Gale Virtual Reference Library.
Web. 16 Nov. 2010.
Sheets, Deirdre. "Miss America Pageant." Dictionary of American History.
Ed. Stanley I. Kutler. 3rd ed. Vol. 5. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons,
2003. 406. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 16 Nov. 2010.
Women In Bathing Suits Being Arrested. 1922. Photograph. Bettmann/
Corbis, Chicago. Crime and Punishment: Essential Primary Sources.
Detroit: Gale, 2006. 197-99. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 16 Nov.
2010.