To what extent did the flapper symbolize the new status of women ...

[bobbysung]

Question 1

How did conditions for minority groups change in the United States during the 1920s?
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

To what extent did the flapper symbolize the new status of women in the 1920s?
 
  What will be an ideal response?

[Li Jun]

Answer 1

Students should have no problem identifying the rise of Ku Klux Klan and the National Origins Act as signs that some Americans feared the impact minority groups were having on the United States. Violence such as the Tulsa race riot or the fiery rhetoric of Marcus Garvey demonstrate that racial tension still permeated American society. Students should also examine the conditions of Mexican and Mexican Americans in the Southwest. But there are some promising trends that students should also identify. The Harlem Renaissance and the popularity of jazz brought African American culture more into the mainstream. Also, groups such as the NAACP, LULAC and the American Indian Defense Association gave minority groups a greater voice than in the past.

Answer 2

A good essay should show that flappers were comparatively rare in the 1920s. (A very strong essay might point out that they were as rare as hippies in the 1960s.) Nevertheless, the flapper symbolized a new direction for women. The key is not that huge numbers of women bobbed their hair and wore knee-length skirts. The key is that women found new ways of asserting their autonomy. The availability of employment for women created new opportunities for independence. Women were using contraception to engage in premarital sex and (more importantly) to limit the size of their families. Women were voting and joining political organizations like the League of Women Voters.