Thursday, February 4, 2010

Rise and Fall part two.....

I particularly enjoyed reading about the revolution that women in America championed in the 1920's. The era of the flapper was so significant because it was one of the first times in American history that female adolescents were able to have a voice, a culture all their own. The "flapper girl" had a lot in common with many girls today. I think that lots of "good girls" were drawn to the flapper culture in the same way that lots of girls today are drawn to alternative cultures. Its a way to express all of the changes that their body and mind are going through. An outlet to release the sexual and emotional tensions raging inside them. I refuse to believe that just because society was more quaint and demure that girls felt any less sexual tension then they do today. They just suppressed it better. Cutting their hair short and wearing more revealing clothing was rebellion against their parents. Just like the goth kids in the later chapter. Rebellion and self expression are both things we all explore during our teenage years. Jazz was the Lady Gaga of the 20's. Parents didn’t understand it, didn’t appreciate it, and didn’t accept it, therefore teenagers were inherently drawn to it. I like this because it was so ahead of its time. After the depression teenage culture backtracked and seems to have become demure once again. The roaring twenties hold such a mystique for me because chronologically they seem like they would have been better off happening directly before the mid sixties. Women were wild and free and seemed to have a voice and fashion was a huge part of the culture, and all of that is just so much more modern then the way women behaved in the 40’s and 50’s. To me the 20’s and the entire Flapper phenomenon was an incredibly relevant and necessary first step to women exploring who they are, who they want to be and what they stand for. It’s a time in our history that was fun and lively and full of life, and personally I think it would have been really cool to have lived then and experienced the entire sensation.

1 comment:

  1. I agree I think that the flapper girl is a lot like girls today. It seems like the flapper girls were like the "sluts" of today. I think it would have been neat to have lived in the 1920's. It definitly would have been a culture schock. women have come such a far way since then. I mean we had our first female president canidate this past election. It is amazing though, when you compare men and women with each other. Men are treated so much more superior and it is kind of sad in a way that we make a big deal over women being a little bit rebellious.

    ReplyDelete