The Lifestyle and Politics of Flapper Girls

Flappers At The Beach <

Willa Cather said, "The world broke in two in 1922 or thereabouts."

The flapper is the enigmatic symbol of the 1920s. Tall, thin, a little gawky and full of life, these girls lived life on their own terms. They wore what they wanted and spurned the "commonplace".

Modesty and morals, some people said, went out the door. These flapper girls were the "New Women" of America.

They claimed their rights as American citizens to live free from the tyranny of repressive social customs. In many cases they were lewd, brash, sexual, beautiful. Most of all they owned themselves in body, spirt and mind.

Ownership Made Them Dangerous

For all the fun that was had during the 1920s, it was still a time of political crossroads for America. Post World War 1, pre-Depression, America was in a state of limbo, politically and economically.

The flapper rose to the forefront because she refused to be pushed to the background. The rise of cinema, mass media (newspapers and magazines), art, fashion and literature all exemplified flapper girls and women who used their spirit as much as their beauty to compete in a world where the rules were stacked against them.

These women like Coco Chanel, Louise Brooks, Mary Pickford, Clara Bow, Colleen More and Lois Long became the famous characters for an entire generation of girls.

Soon To Be Zelda Fitzgerald, Circa 1919

The Beauty of Zelda Fitzgerald

One can't tell the story of the flapper without telling the story of Zelda Sayre.

Though she is most famous for being the wife of author F. Scott Fitzgerald, Zelda personified the "flapper girl" in her personality and "wild child" nature.

The daughter of a well-respected judge on the Alabama Supreme Court, Zelda certainly brought attention that concerned her father (for his reputation and Zelda's well-being) to no end. She was, by all accounts, "the most popular girl at every dance".

Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Sayre would be part Romeo and Juliet, part Sid and Nancy. Known for their passionate natures, their love of booze, and a fast-paced lifestyle the couple exemplified the Roaring Twenties and were crowned the King and Queen of the flapper movement.

A Dangerous girl

With their short skirts, makeup, booze, dancing and sexual freedom, flapper girls, would be considered tame by today’s standards (i.e. Madonna and Lady Gaga). But in the post-Victorian Age, the flapper fashions were scandalous.

The lines from Dorothy Parker's poem "The Flapper":

She nightly knocks for many a goal
The usual dancing men.
Her speed is great, but her control
Is something else again.
All spotlights focus on her pranks.
All tongues her prowess herald,
For which she may well render thanks
To God and Scott Fitzgerald.

Walking the Edge of Chicago's Sherman Hotel, December 11, 1926

The Politics of Choice

The young flappers of the 1920s were making their own choices. This did not make everyone happy.

But American society was changing quickly. Products were being developed and fashions designed to provide the flapper girls with what they wanted, what they saw at the cinema, and what they saw in the magazines.

They had choice, choice in dress, choice in men, choice in drink, choice in sex and birth control. All these choices led to a revolution of the youth of the 1920s.

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