Rise of the Flapper

RISE OF THE FLAPPERS  

           As the roaring twenties were in full sway the way the world viewed women and the way women viewed themselves changed rapidly.  This great change resulted in the term ‘flapper’ being used to associate with the women of this time period. When we hear the term flapper, one may initially think of the happy go lucky time of the 1920’s, the dance style, or a variety of things associated with this time period, but where did this term come from, and why would it be used to define the women of this period?  The derivation of the word flapper can be found all the way back to the 17th century.  A few early uses of this word include:

• “A young bird, or wild duck, that’s flapping its wings as it’s learning to fly. (Consider how dancing the Charleston is reminiscent of a bird flapping its wings.)

• A prostitute or immoral woman.

• A wild, flighty young woman.

• A woman who refused to fasten her galoshes and the unfastened buckles flapped as she walked.

While the origin story differs depending on where you look, cumulatively, they all contribute to our perceptions of this independent woman of the 1920s.”[8]  The term ‘flapper’ was introduced in the United States when the movie The Flapper came out in 1920.  This movie was about an erratic girl who mocked the order of society, and went against social norms.[9]  

Did the personalities of these women truly match up to what the term flapper as it is defined?  One flapper from the era, explained a bit about what being a flapper was this way:

If one judge by appearances, I suppose I am a flapper. I am within

the age limit. I wear bobbed hair, the badge of flapperhood. (And,

oh, what a comfort it is!), I powder my nose. I wear fringed skirts

and bright-colored sweaters, and scarfs, and waists with Peter Pan

collars, and low-heeled “finale hopper” shoes. I adore to dance. I

spend a large amount of time in automobiles. I attend hops, and

proms, and ball-games, and crew races, and other affairs at men’s

colleges. But none the less some of the most thoroughbred super

flappers might blush to claim sistership or even remote relationship

with such as I. I don’t use rouge, or lipstick, or pluck my eyebrows.

I don’t smoke (I’ve tried it, and don’t like it), or drink, or tell “peppy

stories.” I don’t pet.

But then—there are many degrees of flapper. There is the semi-

flapper; the flapper; the super flapper. Each of these three main

general divisions has its degrees of variation. I might possibly be

placed somewhere in the middle of the first class.

I want to beg all you parents, and grandparents, and friends, and

teachers, and preachers—you who constitute the “older generation”

—to overlook our shortcomings, at least for the present, and to

appreciate our virtues. I wonder if it ever occurred to any of you

that it required brains to become and remain a successful flapper?

Indeed it does! It requires an enormous amount of cleverness and

energy to keep going at the proper pace. It requires self- knowledge

and self-analysis. We must know our capabilities and limitations.

We must be constantly on the alert. Attainment of flapperhood is

a big and serious undertaking![10]

With women quickly adopting this type of persona, the whole culture of women changed.  Not only did they start looking different, but they began acting different.  Women are now doing things they have never done before.  A new world was evolving.  This change in history affected many aspects of American life.  One aspect worth highlighting is the evolution of dance.