|
|
Article: Flapper
- Article from:
- Dictionary of American History
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
FLAPPER
FLAPPER.
The nickname of the new female urbanites in America during the 1920s, "flapper" literally made reference to the unstrapped buckles of their shoes. While society appealed for "normalcy," the flapper practiced anything but as she sported makeup, a bob hairdo, and a tight-fitting dress to frequent the nightlife offered in the speakeasies of the big cities. Her behavior drew as much attention as her taboo attire, and a defining element of her womanhood became drinking, smoking, and a forward demeanor that included premarital intercourse, as the flapper strove to reshape gender roles in the Roaring Twenties. This entailed an assault on the Gibson Girl, the ideal of ...