The Changing Role of Women

Question 1

What were the conventions of women before the boom?

Answer 1

Strong conservative and modest expectations i.e couldn’t smoke in public and were employed in traditionally associated jobs like nurses.

Question 2

What changed during the war?

Answer 2

• Got jobs typically associated with men while they fought
  
  • Contributions to the war effort made refusing demands for political equality from NAWSA (National American Women’s Suffrage Association) very difficult
  • 1920: 19th Amendment became law, giving women the right to vote

Question 3

How did women change after the war?

Answer 3

1. New woman emerged in the 1920s: The Flapper
   
   • Sexually promiscuous, smoked, drank with men, less conservative
   • For younger urban women, traditional rules of behaviour eased.
   • Minority; mostly middle or upper-class women who rebelled against standards of behaviour
     
     • Poor women couldn’t afford the flapper lifestyle
2. Films and novels exposed women to a variety of women in non-traditional roles
3. 1929: 10 million more women were working than in 1920.

Question 4

What stayed the same?

Answer 4

1. All women were still paid less than men even if they were doing the same job.
2. Vast majority of women gave up their jobs after getting married to become married
   
   • Emphasized that a woman’s place was in the home
3. Anti-Flirt League: advocated for conservative and traditional roles of women