During the time period of the 1910s, the
Great Depression and World War II, women of America have been influenced dramatically
mainly because of the current economy. During the 1920s there was a new trend
of the Flappers. Flappers were women that typically had short hair, short
skirts, wore makeup, and socially energetic. Flappers were basically the result
of the transition between their tradition methods to a new modernized one.
Although not every woman was considered as a Flapper, most of them changed
dramatically as well. The average woman did not wear corsets anymore and went
out on social events with their husband. Ever since these women became able to
vote, they were experiencing the freedom that they had.
Leading up to the stock market crash in 1929, women had more free time and most families had electricity. Women had newly developed appliances to help complete a lot of the required duties around the house. “By 1927 nearly two-thirds of American homes had electricity, and women were using it to power vacuum cleaners, ranges, refrigerators, toasters and irons”.[1] Due to the economy, families were able to purchase many products that helped women around the household. A woman’s live was quite different of one during the Great Depression.
Once the stock
market crashed, people were scared of what their future would be. Not a lot of
people died from starvation, but most had a greater stress and anxiety to make
ends meet. The Great Depression was so drastic that, “The average family income
dropped 40 percent between 1929 and 1933, and while men took second jobs or
searched for better-paying employment in an oversaturated market, most of their
wives stayed home”.[2]
Nearly every American was financially impacted, which resulted in women staying
home and had to forgo many luxuries. Even the rich had to give up their
servants, which resulted in them doing all the tasks around the house.
Eleanor
Roosevelt, wife of Franklin Roosevelt, took a big role in the Depression era. Although
she was a part of America’s great families, she came from an extremely rough
childhood. Eleanor was considered the most liberated women of their time because
she frequently decides to do things on her own, wears what she wants, and does
what a woman does not usually do. Eleanor helped Franklin carry out almost all
the tasks that involved traveling to different parts of the country after
Franklin got polio. Franklin had been paralyzed from the waist-down because of
the polio that occurred in 1921.
The use of contraceptives
was also an ongoing issue among America that lasted up until the mid-1930s.
Margaret Higgins was a major role in the movement of preventing unplanned pregnancy.
Margaret tried to spread the word and provide women with birth control which
lead to their arrest. Due to the lack of birth control, the birthrates were
really high. Having an excessive amount of family members was an issue, due to
the economy, during the Great Depression. Birthrates dropped so dramatically
once birth control became legal that there were 3 million less babies a year than
before the Crash.[3]
This influenced women because of their ability to control their pregnancy, so
that a family does not have more members than it can support. Although birth
control gave more power to the women’s body, it was not always available to the
lower-class due to the economy.
When World War II began in 1939, there was a significant
amount propaganda posted. Some propaganda posters influenced the women to work
in defense jobs. This expectation was so the women can support the men at war.
At this time a great deal of efforts was not towards helping consumers, but
towards the effort on the war. After the World War II ended, the style of the
average women changed slightly. Women desired to be seen in calf length short
skirts with lifted and pointy breasts.
Women
in this period seemed to really come out and participate more in America. The
women of the 1920s evolved into a more independent and louder group. Flappers
broke free of their traditional style and roles which started their movement. Wives
were constantly relied on to support the husband during difficult times like
the Great Depression and World War II. Control on birth was more effective,
which allowed women to restrict what they do not want to handle. Women during
this time period have shown their strength and independence.
[1] Gail Collins, America’s Women: 400 Years of Dolls,
Drudges, Helpmates, and Heroines. New York: Harper Perennial, 2009. http://www.ebooks.com/1571332/america-s-women/collins-gail/, 318.
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