The Jazz Age and Flapper Era

The wonders of the Jazz Era filled America in the 1920’s to the start of the Great Depression in the 1930’s. Jazz was started originally by African Americans but middle class white Americans made it an actual societal movement. During the 1920’s radio boomed and large scale radio stations would play jazz for hours at a time. Over time, the younger groups of people became aware of jazz and jazz officially became a pop-culture movement. Thus the Jazz Era was born. Most people are aware of Louis Armstrong, one of the main jazz artists around at the time. Dances became popular as well. The Charleston took off in tandem with its acceptance to white culture.

More stylized dance became an important part of society as well. The Jazz Era is also known for its flappers. The woman’s suffrage movement opened largely in the 1920’s after the women found the perks of a working environment during World War I. As women began to feel the need to be more equal, the flapper culture really started to show itself. This was through more and more women flaunting themselves in a manner of shorter skirts, bobbed hair, smoking in public, heavier makeup, and all around a freer atmosphere. In the 1920’s prohibition was also instilled and the flapper women tended not to follow in accordance with these laws. The flappers were responsible for pushing the boundaries of women’s “norms” new dances such as the Charleston as mentioned earlier and the shimmy came about and at the time these moves were considered scandalous. Women got jobs and held them for reasons other than family need for money, they advocated women’s voting rights, and in general caused a political havoc. The flappers also had their own ways of defining marriage, whereas before a woman could not wait to be married as soon as possible, the flappers often referred to a wedding or engagement ring as a handcuff or manacle. This shows their distaste for being tied down or under restrictions of marriage. While the flappers’ style was considered scandalous, a more toned down version became popular among non flapper women. The corset was removed from everyday wear in exchange for straight waistlines, short hair became popular and skirt length was raised above the knee. The style became more boyish other than the skirts. Overall, the flapper women had a major impact on both politics for women and culture for women. The Jazz age was a time of political and cultural change all across America.

Citations

“Flapper." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 05 Dec. 2010. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flapper>.

"Jazz Age." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 05 Dec. 2010.                                <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jazz_Age>.