Changing Role of Women
After the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment, women organized the League of Women Voters out of the National Woman’s Suffrage Association as well as women’s auxiliaries of the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. Under the leadership of Alice Paul, the National Woman’s Party fought for equal rights with a campaign to get a constitutional amendment declaring equal rights for women.
By 1920, a college education for a woman whose family could easily afford it was not uncommon. Most working women were non-professional, lower-class workers. While it was not uncommon for college-educated women to find professional positions, most middle-class, educated women remained homemakers. Suffragists began to redefine the role of women as they rebutted the anti-suffragist definition of women.
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The Victorian image of the respectable woman was challenged after 1920. Women began to use clothing, hairstyles, and makeup to express themselves. This newfound liberation was responsible for the development of the “flapper” look and lifestyle that working-class women embraced.
Look at the pictures above. How does the flapper look differ from what was then considered to be the traditional dress of women?