Body Image In The 1900s

Before the 1920s, bras were not widely used, and women often wore corsets to support their breasts. However, flappers rejected the corset and wore less restrictive and comfortable bras instead. Another change was the adoption of shorter hemlines, which led to the creation of shorter stockings and garters (Vintage Dancer). Flappers also embraced silk and rayon fabrics, which were more comfortable and breathable than the heavy fabrics of the past (Glamour Daze). Flappers changed lingerie by rejecting traditional undergarments and embracing more comfortable, practical styles.

Society has had this concept of what women’s role in life should be since the beginning of time. For as long as anyone can remember, humanity expected women to stay at home, attend the men’s needs, and take care of household duties. Since society has evolved, women have more freedom, rights, and respect from others. However, there is still a small percentage who think women have a distinct place in life and shouldn’t drift from their “path”. In Twin Peaks and “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, women were treated as if they were irrelevant and melodramatic.

During the 1920s women gained a freedom that they had not known before. Women were wearing new and shorter fashion styles (document 4). Before the 1920s women’s fashion included floor length dresses that were usually reworn every day. Wearing the same dress every day was seen as a normality during this time and owning too many dresses could have been considered frivolous. In the 1920s however many women owned multiple dresses that they did not have to wear every day or even week.

By 1910, women were not quite equal to men, but they were drawing near. Those that believed the sexes deserved equality continued to fight – men and women

Women were able to wear pants to work, oftenly traditionally men’s work, and other daily activities. Despite the great change in the 1940s, the 1950s brought a decline in progress for women’s independence and opportunities. Their clothing

Due to the great influence of the radio and the popularity of Hollywood films, the change of women seen throughout the public was greatly influenced by the actors of the new motion pictures and mass media. In addition to

The corset can be seen as a comparison to the way women felt before the 1920s, because not only were women's clothing tight and suffocating, but so were their lives as a whole. Women were confined to living life at home in the kitchen or satisfying the needs of their husband and children. In addition, women had legal restrictions when it came to working and having a say in the way our country is governed. Around the same time that women began renovating and modernizing their style, they began to repair and take control over their lives and decisions. Skirts that were once worn at floor length, were soon shrunk down in size and ended at the calf, which was a big change in the 1920s.

Throughout American society, Women have been downgraded in the face of men. In america’s past, women were seen purely as housewives, and had no place in a higher position. Today women have many more rights, putting them on much more equal terms as men. With this, women have shown their capabilities and their worth to society, leading its progression, and proving that the arguments of the anti-suffrage movement were initially the opposite of what women could really do. The arguments that women’s place is only at home and that men have the sole job of running government and society has been proven wrong by women in contemporary society.

In the 1920s women succeeded well but not without some struggles. Along the way with 19th amendment being so hard for them gaining the right to vote, women’s roles seeing that there not good enough for other than housework and the fashion or style movement with being able not to express yourself the way you should. The 19th Amendment better known as the women’s suffrage era 1920 of the united states

Women were seen as “the guardians of morality” ( Allen 67). They were viewed as being innocent and were not as brute and vulgar as a man was. This entailed wearing very conservative clothing that would maintain the woman’s innocence. However, in the early 1920’s woman’s skirts would now be seen as much as nine inches above the ground and eventually would only go down to the knee. Although this does not feel like a big deal today it was huge in the early 1920’s.

The Homestead Act is a special Act that promoted migration to the western part of US. Public lands were made easily accessible to settlers with a small filing fee in exchange for 160 acres of land to be used for farming. Homesteaders received ownership of the land after continuously residing on the land for five years. Homesteaders also had an alternative of acquiring the land from the government by paying a specified amount per acre, after six months of residency. The Homestead Act resulted in the distribution of million acres of public land (Library of Congress n.p).

Often, they judge their self-worth by their ability to control their weight/shape (Grilo 6). It is no secret that eating disorders are alarmingly common. Especially now, in this culture, where large corporations are “investing” in this industry as a result of their market research which can then only mean one thing – eating

During the nineteenth century, corsets were really common among women. They were a type of body suit laced to the back, which was worn to enhance a woman's hips and breasts, while make her waist seem as thin as possible. The use of corsets continued till the 1920s, as it was later attacked for its restrictiveness, both in breathing and movement.

During the 1890’s until today, the roles of women and their rights have severely changed. They have been inferior, submissive, and trapped by their marriage. Women have slowly evolved into individuals that have rights and can represent “feminine individuality”. The fact that they be intended to be house-caring women has changed.

Women have always played an important role in the history of the United States. Throughout different time periods, their roles in society and in government have changed in many ways. Whether women were helping the war manufacturing effort, striving for suffrage, helping soldiers during the war, or just raising their children; their roles have been influential to the social structure of the United States today. Their desire for equal rights, their willingness to help American soldiers, and the absence of men in the workplace are responsible for the changing role of women.