Women, 1877-1929



Women, 1877-1929

KEY THEMES & ISSUES

1. “Separate Spheres”

2. Women and Social Reform

3. The Suffrage Campaign

4. After the Vote: Manners & Morals in the 1920s

Before the Vote

Separate Spheres

Women occupy the “domestic sphere”

morality, education,

family values

Men occupy the “public sphere”

competition, individualism

Women and Social Reform

Progressive causes:

Settlement Movement

Jane Addams, Hull House

Social Purity Movement

Prohibition

Women’s activism in social reform extends moral concerns of domestic sphere to public sphere

The Suffrage Campaign, 1

Seneca Falls Declaration, 1848

Ratification of 19th Amendment, 1920

National American Woman Suffrage Association

Pre-1910 targets individual states

Only 4 western states grant full suffrage

Post-1910 seeks federal amendment

Alice Paul

more militant protest tactics

Wilson and women’s role in WW1

Suffrage Campaign, 2: Opposition

Vote is a challenge to “separate spheres” & gender norms

Many men & women believed women’s interests served by household suffrage

Vote acknowledged women’s individuality & distinctive interests

Liquor interests

Elements in white South

fear that federal voting legislation could be extended to blacks

Ratification

After the Vote

low political participation

dissension among feminists

Equal Rights Amendment, 1923

Alice Paul’s National Women’s Party

ERA & special protection

Muller vs Oregon, 1908

Manners & Moral in the 1920s, 1

The Flapper

Drinking

Dancing

Jazz

Fashion

Smoking

Manners & Moral in the 1920s, 2

Women as consumers

Magazines & Movies

Dating, Marriage & Sexuality

cars

college co-eds

Freud

contraception

sex

State Street Swingers, “You Drink Too Much”

Conclusions

Continuity & Change in the Lives of American Women

1. Women were important in social reform movements prior to getting the vote.

2. Vote was an important victory for women, yet most did not exercise it and left politics to men.

3. Women entered the work-place, especially in WW1 & became increasingly important consumers.

4. Flappers used “leisure” & “style” to register a limited revolt against old gender codes & social values.

5. Most women in the 1920s were not Flappers.

6. Even the Flappers were usually looking toward marriage not a career, & were largely indifferent to politics and social causes.

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download