Women of 1920

Women of 1920s and 1960s

Saline Leverett

HIS 204 American History

Barbara Henze

December 26, 2013

The lifestyle of women changed in the 1920s. They gained liberties in some aspects such as politics, jobs, marriage and self expression. They were still limited; the liberties gained outweigh the restriction that still occurred. This gave women the freedom needed and ability to show that they were independent and could stand on their own, and making some of their own decisions.

The battle for suffrage was finally over for the women of 1920s. It started with a group of rebellious women know as flappers. The middle and upper class women from the Northern states changed the way the public viewed women as a whole. Alice Paul vowed to fight until an Equal Rights Amendment was added to the Constitution, and Margaret Sanger declared that female independence could be accomplished only with proper birth control methods (U S History.org). These two women stood out more than others.

Alice Paul got women the vote in 1920, “We women of America tell you that America is not a democracy. Twenty million women are denied the right to vote,” (Alice Paul)”. They begin to smoke and drink in public and wear their hair short, drove on their own without chaperones. This was a great change during that time because women were not allowed to go out without and chaperons.

Margaret Sanger invented birth control. “No woman can call herself free who does not own and control her body. No woman can call herself free until she can choose consciously where she will or will not be a mother.” (Margaret Sanger) Women are still using birth control now more than ever.

Socially women were still excluded in society but in the 1920’s women, more that men started to embrace the change which challenged the old ways. The young women started to get their hair cut short. They also start to go out at night, wear high heels and makeup. This was a great change for the women of the 19th century.

They...