The Influence of Media and Women's Empowerment in the 1920s

What was the influence of the media in the 1920s?

The movies, radio shows, sophisticated advertising, and popular magazines all had a great influence on the lives of 1920's youth whit saw themselves as different from the older generation. Young people began to model themselves on movie and sports stars who represented a glamorous new age, but they also took on many of the negative traits of their idols like smoking, bad language, immorality and selfishness.

Social and cultural changes

Many barriers fell with the war. After men from different social classes had been fighting- and dying- side by side in the trenches, the futility of social distinction became more evident. There were new styles of music to listen to, and dancing quickly became a craze. From the South Carolina, Charleston became popular also in Europe. The dance uses both swaying arms and the fast movement of the feet. To begin the dance, one first moves the right foot back one step and then kicks backwards with the right arm moves forward. Then both feet and arms are replaced to the start position and the right foot kicks forwards while the right arm moves backwards is done with a little hop in between steps.

Women's emancipation

Women, who had gained the vote, enjoyed other freedom: it became acceptable for them to go out alone, smoke in public or drive a car.
A new generation of young women, became fashionable in the 1920: the flappers. The term "flapper" first appeared in Great Britain after World War I. It was there used to describe young girls, still somewhat awkward in movement who had not yet entered womanhood. Authors such F. Scott Fitzgerald and artists such as John Held Jr. first used the term to the U.S., half reflecting and half creating the image and style of the flapper. Fitzgerald described the ideal flapper as "lovely, expensive, and about nineteen. “Held accentuated the flapper image by drawing young girls wearing unbuckled galoshes that would make a "flapping" noise when walking. Flappers were eager to show their emancipation, followed new fashions and trends. They wanted to attend schools and do what men do. Frivolity and self-indulgence were perhaps natural after such strain and deprivation as the war had imposed. In this atmosphere of cheap entertainment, religion became a less powerful part of daily life. Fewer people went to the church and chapel services: the horrors of the trenches had destroyed religious faith in many people. First of all, feminine shapes changed and they became thinner: no more buttery and curvilinear forms, but the new fashion imposed a lean body.

Fashion and post-war changes

In this period, the bra was invented to flatten and conceal the breast. Women fashions in the early 1920's experienced dramatic changes with women's changing roles in society. The passing of bustles and corsets gave clothing designers much greater freedom of expression resulting in innovative styling. Women dressing in the new and colorful fabrics echoed the joy felt by a war weary population following the end of hostilities. Although society matrons of a certain age continued to wear conservative dresses, the sportswear worn by forward-looking and younger women became the greatest change in post-war fashion. The tubular dresses of the 'teens had evolved into a similar silhouette that now sported shorter skirts with pleats, gathers, or slits to allow motion. The most memorable fashion trend of the “Roaring '20s” was undoubtedly “the flapper” look.

The flapper dress was functional and flattened the bust line rather than accentuating it. The hair is shorter, using the cloche hats rounded line, while a style known as “à la garçonne”. In this period pants appear, while skirts and jackets are the first to get shorter, though, for a short period, dresses are presented as tunics cut long and straight. After this time the women returned to be able to indulge in simple attires made ​​of patterns, stripes, colors, embroidery, and stoles, the clothes began to highlight the life, which was marked and then give way to pleated and steering wheel.