1920's Flappers - Good Role Models?

In the 1920's many women were known as flappers. Flappers were not the best role models for younger girls. They were teenage girls who dared to venture beyond what was known then as forbidden pleasures. "The name "flappers" referred to the sound made by the unbuckled galoshes they wore" (Jennings 115).

"Undeterred by the disapproval of adults, the younger generation was setting out to have a good time" (Herald 28). "Flappers were teenage girls who drank, smoked cigarettes, dressed in suggestive clothing, engaged in premarital sex, and affected an air of sophistication" (Jennings 115). "She took on a carefree, boyish look and raised her hemline to scandalous new heights, bobbed her hair, wrapped her chest to make it flat, and rolled down her flesh colored silk stockings. "Flappers accented their new style with a bold application of make-up and big jewels" (Downey 106) Flappers had many ways to amuse themselves. One of the big fads was doing crossword puzzles. It wasn't just the fad for flappers, everyone did crossword puzzles. They also played mah-jongg. Mah-jongg was the craze of the decade. They had many contests in the 1920's such as: pie eating, dancing, rocking chair derbies, and cross country races.

"By spending too much of their time flirting, Flappers outraged feminists" (Jennings 115). Flappers also outraged adults because they were worried that these daring young ladies were not good role models for the next generation. They were not exactly what the adults of the 1920's wanted their daughters to be like, much less their granddaughters. Before the flappers, it was a horrible thing to smoke in public. Even exposing your knees in public was unheard of before flappers.

I don't think that flappers were good role models. I think that flappers started chains of young girls doing things, such as drinking and smoking, at