‘New Era.’
Scholars refer to the period after the World war one period (1920s period) as the ‘New Era.’ The period was characterized by increased production and consumption of household goods, cars, and entertainment factors such as movies, Jazz music, and a loosened sexual modesty. It was an era that women fight hard against oppressive legislation advocating for reforms. Women sought equal rights, greater freedom, and independence. Rewardful, a culture shift occurred with saw the introduction of ‘new woman’ in the era. During the period, women earned the right to vote, the right to education, the right to employment, freedom of expression, and freedom of movement, increased consumerism, and the introduction of flapper women.
1920 the era after world war 1 was a very significant period, especially for American women. The National Women’s Party was deeply into fighting for women’s rights, going far beyond what was commonly known as suffrage, which they secured through the 19th Amendment in 1920. They wanted to be allowed to take part in the voting process and advocated equal rights. However, the presented equal rights amendment act failed to pass congress. The women organized the reforms and amendment acts and discussed them at private events, like the tea party and public campaigns.
During this era, there was a great spirit of activism observed among American women. They lent their efforts towards prohibition laws later passed in the Eighteenth Amendment in January 1920; this Amendment prohibited people from manufacturing or selling alcohol. Additionally, American women encouraged the government to intervene and improve high mortality rates among children and infants facing the American population during that time. Women were the people closest to the children from when they were born when they were old enough. When the government would intervene on this matter, it would benefit the women by encouraging maternal conditions.
Women’s education became important in the era of the 1920s to provide them with knowledge and background as they joined employment. Job creation through mass sectoral- production created a need for more workers as manufacturers, nurses, teachers, and more. Hence there was a need for qualified people to work in these sectors, yet many people, including women, could not manage to pay for their education. American women encourage the government to provide educational aid. Additionally, the women advocated for peaceful disarmament.
The post-world war one era marked a great time of activism for women’s rights. For example, women won voting rights when the Nineteenth Amendment in 1920 was passed. Additionally, the passage of the eighteenth amendment act on prohibition prohibited the production and distribution of alcohol. Prominent such as Alice Paul of The nation women congress proposed that all legal legislation on gender accounts be repealed and amended with equal rights legislation. Her efforts were defeated.
During the post-world war one era, the manufacturers and advertisers targeted women. This was a shift from the pre- world war one when most ads were directed to men. mostly because they primarily accounted for 90 % of the household expenditures—the advertisements targeted products chiefly by women such as makeup, food, and fashion. Similarly, the previously associated products with men, such as cars that often presented technology in ads to entice men, were equally tailored to meet women’s needs, e.g., color use. Women were considered as repulsive buyers driven by dominant desires.
Increased number of women in the profession. The number of women in employment significantly began to rise during world war 1 when women had to replace the men recruited to the fight. The women filled positions in munition factories, land, clerical, and messenger roles. The wage gap between that of males and female workers narrowed significantly in the period. Most women maintained their duties post world war one.
Similarly, thousands of women traveled alongside soldiers to provide support. The women’s role included cooking, clerical, telephone operation, nurses, and an interlude for rest. However, post world war one had limitations. Most married women were expected to continue their domestic work, child-rearing, and observance of marriage philosophies. The unmarried women have higher chances of career growth. The available workforce accounted for over 50 % of women workers and only 10% of married women.
Additionally, there were specific professions dominantly for women. Works such as medicine and law were dominantly male. In their roles, it wasn’t easy to rise to the leadership level.
The American post world war era was characterized by a significant development in the movie industry, mainly focused on high-quality films that depicted American values on opportunity, freedom, and democracy. Women constituted 60% percent of moviegoers (Childress et al., 2018); the primary intent was to watch the American sweetheart (Mary Pickford). Mary Pickford and other female actresses promoted the flapper woman wearing short dresses, makeup, and cigarettes. This culture shift was against the traditional dressing code, where women wore long dresses with petticoats.
The emphasis on woman consumerism and culture escape introduced the flapper woman, a woman who disregards the victorian sexual modesty. The flapper woman wore short dresses, wore makeup, wore bobbed hair, smoked cigarettes, wore slim sheaths made of silk against Victorian’s voluminous and long skirts. The flapper model encouraged women to attend and participate in the established commercial leisure places, including the dance halls & nightclubs. It granted women’s freedom of movement and independence. Women were empowered to get what they wanted. The flapper representation of feminism primarily was practiced in some races, ages, and social classes.
Therefore, we can conclude with the saying that when life gives you a lemon, make a lemonade out of it. The American women strived to fight against the oppressive legislation that they faced way before world war 1. However ravaging the war might have been, its impacts opened doors for the American women who rose to occupy legislative positions and gain voting rights. These employment opportunities were reserved for men, a sense of freedom to express themselves; there was an improvement in their lifestyle and social standing. Therefore we can note that every situation in life has positive impacts. even during the war era, they defended the country’s soldiers through support provision,