Analyzing 1920s Counterculture: Flappers

Analyzing twenties Counterculture FlappersVittoria RybakAmeri sewer culture has underg unrivaled great change throughout its history, specific whollyy through disputes brought about by countercultures to the traditional values of the larger society. By definition, a counterculture is a group that rejects the major values, norms, and pr behaveices of the larger society, replacing them with a naked as a jaybird set of cultural patterns (Thomas). During the 1920s, Americans saw the rise of one particular counterculture that would challenge the traditional values of women in a significantly modest society. Flappers, they were nicknamed, consisted of northern, urban, lower-middle-class women who defied the traditional Victorian sex activity fibres of the era wherein women were expected to act and move in a modest, conservative substance. The once feminine viewl of staying at home and out of the workforce would drastically change cordially and politically as Flappers began a fla vor of smoking, drinking, dancing, and voting. They defied traditionalist values by stabbing their hair, wearing makeup, and taking risks (Rosenberg). In an attempt to liberate themselves and eliminate social double standards, the Flappers created a new role for women in society to play.With initiation War I underway, young men were being sent transfer to fight for the ideals and mistakes of the older generation, while young women took over their jobs and entered the workforce (Rosenberg). During the war, nigh an finished generation of young men had died, leaving n proto(prenominal) an entire generation of young women who became significantly independent and steered away from the conventional sum norms of finding a sufficient suitor and starting a family (Rosenberg). The harvesting home from the war proved that settling back into normalcy would be difficult for the young men AND women after each had already illogical out of the structure of society (Rosenberg). These liberat ed young women had emerged from the aftermath of human War I and jumped right into the Jazz grow and an era of Prohibition. They espouse their silly attitudes specifically in this era of alcohol, jazz music, dancing, and, of course, rebellion. The Jazz Age inspired a change in style and dress that in the long run became the scandalous Flapper look, diverging greatly from the traditional style and dress of early American women. A key contributor to the Flapper culture was Cara Bow, the single virtually famous Flapper of the era, starring in films and inspiring the younger generations to adopt the carefree manner and style of the new womens era. Perhaps the about significant historic event that encouraged Flappers to promote their cause of eliminating social double standards was the toss of the 19th Amendment, which ended womens suffrage and gave women the right to vote (Independence dormitory room experience in Philadelphia).In order to develop a better judgment of the men tality of the Flappers, it is eventful to view the behavior of the group in a systematic way, or through a sociological perspective (Thomas 4). specifically through the interactionist perspective, Max Weber asserts that individuals act according to their interpretations of the meaning of their human through symbolic interaction (Thomas 17). And then, using sociological imaginations, those individuals have the faculty to see the connection between the larger world and their personal weathers (Thomas 5). During institution War I, young women began interpreting the world slightly different from before. Flappers essentially realized that life was too short to live a throttle life and wait for a husband who might never seeded player home flappers felt rightfully entitled to make their get decisions regarding how to live their lives (Celania). Serving as a symbol of freedom, the invention of the automobile is an utilization of how Flappers were given the liberation to go and do a nything they pleased (Rosenberg). However, automobiles were not nevertheless used for travel and escape, and the flapper was less hesitant to experiment sexually than precedent generations. Flappers began to realize that the larger world was holding them back, so they rebelled and brought attention to themselves which helped get hold of about major cultural change. America underwent major cultural changes because of the Flappers attitudes and all told redefined the role of women in society at large.In addition to their defiance of traditionalist values, Flappers also adopt a new sexual candidness that widened the eyes of the older generation. Many older generation traditionalists were the ones who developed ethnocentric views towards the shocking erotic and sexually alluring behavior of the Flappers (Kennedy and Cohen, Lizabeth). By definition, ethnocentrism is the drift to view ones own culture and group as superior to all other cultures and groups (Thomas 35). The older gen erations considered themselves guardians of respectability and morality, thus they looked negatively on and were lost(p) by the dress and antics of the Flappers (Kennedy and Cohen, Lizabeth 710). In fact, traditional moralists were offended by their actions and attitudes. Their feelings of ethnocentrism came from the idea that a single kiss had once been the equivalent of a wedding ceremony proposal, and now Flappers were flaunting and exploiting their bodies like never before (Kennedy and Cohen, Lizabeth 709). Stuffy traditionalists continued to crusade the modest and conventional way of life that they believed women were supposed to lead. For example, the Flappers began sporting the one piece bathing suit on beaches during the summers however, they were disrupted in their unfilled and measured from the knee up to ensure that not too more leg was showing (Kennedy and Cohen, Lizabeth 710). Out of pure rebellion against stuffy moralists, flappers adopted the short hair style, le aving the long, curly, traditional locks on the floors of barber shops over (Celania).Just as women do today, women of the 1920s felt confined to act and behave a certain way. Their freedoms to express themselves had been diminished all of their lives by a traditional upbringing. Cultural relativism is the belief that cultures should be judged by their own standards, and not by the standards of others (Thomas 36). Through cultural relativism, the larger society can understand why flappers behaved in the manner in which they did. Sigmund Freud claims that the libido was one of the most natural of human needs that allowed Flappers to explore and experiment sexually (Independence Hall Association in Philadelphia). He believed that a variety of nervous and steamy ills came directly as a result of sexual repression, concluding that Flappers were not acting out of the norm for mere pleasure alone, but for wellness reasons as well. (Kennedy and Cohen, Lizabeth 708). By the Flappers stand ards, they had been denied sexual gratification and liberation all their lives. at once they received that small taste of individualism and excitement that came with the aftermath of innovation War I, these women could not undo themselves and decided to completely defy gender norms, thus creating the undeniably flamboyant Flapper culture.Although I am not a hardcore feminist, I in spades suit with the Flapper philosophy of expressing individualism and putting an end to social double standards. Women deserve to express themselves, not only at home, but in the workforce as well. Flappers did not inevitably protest or actively participate in womens movements that gave rise to important milestones however, the Flapper was a symbol of empowerment and liberation that changed the course of a womans role in America. In fact, I might not have the freedoms I do today if flappers had decided to remain silent and stick to the precondition quo. I greatly admire them taking the first steps to despoil out of the mold that women had been shaped into. As a person who buries herself in schoolwork, I especially admire the carefree and fun attitude of the Flapper and I like to think of their motto as living life to the fullest which definitely makes life more exciting if followed as the flappers had. I also agree that repression causes rebellion, and, in this way, the Flapper had a right to experiment and find a life for herself, according to her own standards. Although women still have a long way to go, the Flapper culture most definitely inspired generations of women to come out of the forest work and express themselves as empowering individuals.ReferencesCelania, Miss. The Society Pages. 25 March 2013. The put on of the Flapper. Web. 11 March 2017.Independence Hall Association in Philadelphia. U.S. biography Precolumbian to the New Millenium. 2016. Web. 11 March 2017.Kennedy, David M. and Cohen, Lizabeth. The American Pageant. Boston Cengage Learning, 2016. 708. Tex tbook.Rosenberg, Jennifer. thoughtco. 2 February 2017. Flappers in the Roaring Twenties. Web. 11 March 2017.Thomas, W. LaVerne. Sociology- The Study of Human Relationships. Austin Holt, Rinehart, Winston, 2003. 39. Textbook.