Victorian Era Flappers Essay

Words: 708
Pages: 3
Open Document
From 1837 to 1901, or what is called the Victorian Era, there were many societal norms that were to be followed. Men were the ones at work, the ones who supported their families, and women were the housewives, the ones who took care of the home and children. After World War I, societal norms changed as well as the women. During the 1920s, women evolved in many ways and became known as the “flappers.” Although Victorians had strict norms for women, the flappers challenged those values and created a new definition for women through appearances, actions, and by moving into public eye. Victorian women were ideally prim and proper. These women were always fully dressed with long dresses or skirts, and long sleeved tops with fancy headwear. They made sure they were fully clothed with no revealing body parts. After the war, flappers broke through those values and wore the complete opposite of the Victorians. Flappers wore makeup, close-fitting felt hats, long-waisted …show more content…
They would stay home and take care of the house and children, and whenever they went out, they would go shopping. The women always stayed in the shadows of men up until the 1920s. During the 1920s, the flappers broke out of their shell and began putting themselves out into the world. Appearance and little actions were not the only ways the flappers undercut Victorian values. They began taking and protesting for birth control. Before the war, birth control was not a big deal because women were not having sex constantly and it was believed that their sole purpose was to have babies. When women began having sex more casually, they began taking contraception to avoid having babies, which shocked many people. With the help of Margaret Sanger, an American birth control activist, flappers would protest for more women to take caution and take birth control. Through these protests, flappers integrated themselves into the public eye and fought for what they believed
Show More

Related Documents: Victorian Era Flappers Essay

Joshua Zeitz's The Roarties

In Joshua Zeitz’s essay The Roaring Twenties, he talks about how the elected presidents at the time were still very imbued with the idea of “normalcy” meaning laissez-faire. Laissez-faire was the idea of the federal government to stay out of the economy. This idea of the…

Words 1185 - Pages 5

Desire In The Great Gatsby

Gatsby Essay Does the treatment of individual desire in The Great Gatsby and Barrett Browning’s poetry reveal similarities or reinforce the texts’ distinctive qualities? The pursuit of happiness a universal concern that effects people in different ways and the ideologies of ideal love, social ethics and morals are thought to be of relevance to these people that affect their values and the values of society. This is evident in Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s poetry, “Sonnets from the Portuguese” written…

Words 1317 - Pages 6

What Is The Context Of The Great Gatsby

Essay – The Great Gatsby context research The Great Gatsby is a novel written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1925. It depicts the lavish new lifestyle of the 1920’s. The book itself is about Jay Gatsby, a man who is utterly in love with Daisy Buchanan. His quest to attain her leads him from poverty to wealth, however, Daisy is proven unworthy of his affection as Gatsby is killed because of her actions. The novel depicts the context in which it was written, exploring ideas of disillusionment, the American…

Words 4737 - Pages 19