What It Was Really Like Being A 1920s Flapper

Many American women found that the 1920s brought a new wave of social change and legal freedoms that weren't enjoyed by women of previous generations. In 1920, as Smithsonian Magazine reports, the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution officially granted women nationwide the right to vote. Along with this legal win, American society began to shift its views on women. Flappers were at the forefront of what proved to be an often turbulent and, for some, shocking wave of social change.

Much of what made a flapper was the way she looked, talked, and interacted with others. While her mother, in her youth, expected to quietly sit around at home with edifying books and embroidery, waiting for a suitor to come calling, her flapper daughter went out. The flapper shimmied around in a corset-free dress, freely talking to men, drinking alcohol, and generally living a reckless life, at least according to her elders' estimations.

However, true equality remained elusive, says History, as even wild-child flappers were expected to stay in their gendered lane. A flapper might readily drive around in her own car but, if she wanted a job to pay for that vehicle, she'd very likely be stuck in low-paying, feminized work, such as a secretary or shop clerk. Even those who made it into politics were often pushed to the side to focus on "women's issues." This, not coincidentally, earned them little clout amongst their colleagues in city halls and Congress.

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