Feminism has been growing and changing the world for women through all of American History. The 1920's too a radical step forward in granting women the right to vote. Women started to break out of expected gender norms, work, and involve themselves in the political world. Women's rolls grew outstandingly during the 1920's bringing us one step closer to the freedom they experience today. However, while the 1920's brought radical change to the lives of women, their lives were still controlled by gender norms and expectations controlling every aspect of their lives socially and politically.
Though women legally got the right to vote in the 1920's there was still a lot of discrimination towards women and they were still controlled by gender norms. Women in the 1920's were expected to have getting married and having kids as their top priorities. The 1920's pushed these expectations with flapper girls and vamps, but this was the more radical group of women, where as most were expected to want to get married and have kids. Schooling past high school wasn't something expected of the women of the 1920's and the few who did go often went to a women's school. Schooling wasn't seen as necessary for women, they were also seen as less smart and intellectual. Some schools had allowed women to study, but made it very clear the women were not wanted or welcome. The work force, though existing, wasn't very broad for women who were expected only to be teachers, nurses, or other jobs considered 'suitable for women'. These jobs were not expected to be held if her husband had a well paying job, if their husband was well off staying at home and preforming wifely duties was the norm.
The right to vote, though legally accessible, wasn't practiced in reality among all women. Any woman without the privilege of being rich and white didn't get the privilege of having a voice in privilege. Though it was legal, social norms and constructs made it difficult for working class women to be able to vote, as well as people with color. Black women suffered the same hardships in the south preventing voting under Jim Crow laws and the very large and influential KKK. Women, though seen as more independent than anytime previous, were still expected to marry into a good life and depend on her husband for money and politics. The political and economical world, while legally available, still wasn't as accessible or expected.
The 1920's wasn't roaring for everyone, and though it roared fr some women, it didn't roar for all. Women still suffered discrimination in their schooling, the workforce, and the political world, as those places were still expected to be a man's place. Women gained the right to vote, but not the freedom from gender norms and expectations. Women still had a long way to go before they can reach full equality.
works cited
http://ncpedia.org/history/20th-Century/1920s-women
http://www.arenastage.org/shows-tickets/sub-text/2009-10-season/sophisticated-ladies/sophisticated-ladies.shtml
http://www.history.com/topics/roaring-twenties
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