Womens Liberation in the 1920s: Myth or Reality? Essays -- Essays Pa

Womens Liberation in the 1920s Myth or Reality? The decade following World War I proved to be the some explosive decade of the century. America emerged as a world power, the 19th amendment was ratified, and the expansion of capitalism welcomed the emergence of consumerism. The consumer era was established, which generated new spending opportunities for most Americans in the 1920s. From the latest fashions to the world of politics, ideologies collided to construct a society based on contradicting principles. These powerful ideologies infected men and women of all classes with an inescapable desire for material possessions barely this ideological tug-of war affected women the most. Although legally declared citizens, societys assumption of motherhood and domesticity, being the only professions for women, still remained supreme in the area that supposedly promoted equal opportunity.New sex role stereotypes appeared throughout society and women became identified with the consumer c ulture for they were major purchasers of products and constituted a crucial underpinning of the economy (Dumenil 144). No group was more responsive to this than the advertising industry, which introduced new images while reinforcing traditional stereotypes. As speculation on womens rights grew tiresome after suffrage had been won, women detached in search of their own individuality however a womans identity was based on the sex-role stereotypes advertisements continuously portrayed which in bias transformed cultural expectations and thwarted womens autonomy. The emergence of consumerism allowed advertisements to be viewed worldwide. Across the nation, women in cities, towns and farms paged through issues of mass-circulation... ...ture and Society in the 1920s. New York Hill and Wang, 1995. Fitzgerald, F. Scott. Echoes of the Jazz fester Flappers and Philosophers. New York 1921 Harriman, Helga H. Women in the Western Heritage. Sluice Dock, Guilford, CT. Danshkin Publishing Group, Inc. 1995 Kroger, Jane. Identity in Adolescence The Balance Between Self and Other. London Routledge, 1989Scanlon, Jennifer. Inarticulate Longings The Ladies Home Journal, Gender, and the Promises of Consumer Culture. New York, NY Routledge, 1995 Sivulka, Juliann. Soap, Sex, and Advertising. Belmont, atomic number 20 Wasworth Publishing Company, 1998 Stearns, Peter N. and Jean Lewis eds. An Emotional History of the United States. New York, NY. New York University Press, 1998 Stevenson, Elizabeth. Babbits and Bohemians From the Great War to the Great Depression. New York Macmillan, 1967.