"There has been a change for the worse during the past year in the conditions you mention- feminine dress, dancing, manners, and general moral standards... The causes.. a decline in personal religion, a failure to realize the serious ethical consequences of immodesty in girl's dress, a dulling of moral susceptibilities."
~Samuel Byrne, "The Case Against the Younger Generation" The Literary Digest, June 24, 1922
The Flapper Debate
"Roughly the world is divided into those who delight in her, those who fear her and those who try pathetically to take her as a matter of course. Optimists have called her the hope of the new era, pessimists point to her as ultimate evidence of the decadence of the old."
~Margaret O'Leary,The New York Times, 1922
The one question that everyone across the county was asking during the Roaring Twenties was really quite simple: Were flappers a good or bad thing? But the answer to this question was not as simple. The American public viewed flappers in two distinct and drastic ways, and could not agree one what prospective was correct. The people whocriticizedflappers viewed them inextremelynegative light andbelievedthattheywould bring the downfall of America, while the Americans that supported flappers praised them for changes that they werecausing.
The majority of people that criticized flappers, were part of the older generations. The parents, grandparents, and even the older siblings of the women in this wild generation, did not approve of their new behavior. Why? Because it was different then the way that they acted and was not consider "proper". One of flappers biggest opponents were their own parents, because their behavior did not fit the standard that they had envisioned for their daughters. Nor did it fit the typical mold that the rest of the country held for young women. The parents of flappers were not the only ones that were worried and disgusted by their actions though. Teachers, politicians, minsters, priests, authors, and countless others agreed that the behavior of flappers had to be stopped. They argued that the scandalous behavior of flappers had already began to tarnish the morals of Americans, and this trend would continue as long they were allowed to "romp." In the eyes of those who criticized flappers these young ladies were selfish, anti-family, and uneducated individuals, since they refused to settle down and start a family. Bu people who criticized flappers didn't realize something. They failed to acknowledge the fact that since the beginning of time the image of women had been changing. The clothes, the roles they served in their community, the level of education they had, along with the values of women had evolved as time passed and their culture changed. They had adapted, just like flappers were doing. And the people who supported flappers realized this.
The people who supported flappers tended to be members of one of two groups; they were either part of the younger generation or feminists. Both of this groups loved the loved the new image that flappers were creating for women, and relished in the fact that they were finally changing. They used several different arguments to defend the behavior of flappers, and over time their claims were accepted. The main argument that flappers' supports used, was that flappers were not a new thing. They argued that women like flappers, women who challenged and changed the typical image of women during their era, had existed throughout history. For example Cleopatra and Joan of Arc both could have been consider flappers, because they acted differently then the stereotypical women of their period. Another argument used by supporters, was that the behavior of flappers was natural. Dr. W.A Harris who was a high ranking member of the board of Education for the Methodist Episcopal Church said,“We are repeating the reactions of our own parents and grandparents… It was said of the present generation of fathers and mothers when they were young and insisted on their own manner of doing certain things" ("Flappers Upheld, 1). The argument that the new,scandalousbehavior of flappers was natural, strengths the claim of supporters that flappers were not a new thing in Americanculture. These twoargumentshelped flapperstremendously, as the older generationrealizedthat this young women were just repeating what they had done when they were younger just on a new scale.
The article below is very long, but displays the two sides of the flapper debate perfectly. This article contains the views along with the rational of both supporters and critics. And clearly shows the question that neither side could answer. Both sides agreed on one thing; that the morals of flappers were lower then their mothers. But they couldn't explain why and who, or what, had caused the change.
Although they could not agree on what the morality of flappers both sides agreed on one thing; that the morals and manners of women, and the younger generation as a whole, were incredibly low during the 1920's. But from thismutualground another question was created.Who or what, had caused such a drastic decrease in the values of the younger generation? Was it thereparents, maybe men? Possibly Hollywood? The world they were living in? Or did itcome naturally somehow, and the only group to blame was Flappers themselves?
No one has ever been able to pin point the exact cause of thedegradationof morals thatoccurredduring this period. This is why theycontributeit to manydifferentculturalchangesand world events that impactedAmerica during the early 1900's. A list of what these things are can be found on ourInfluencesof the Eraand 1920's Culture pages, where you can come to your own conclusion what the biggest element in the creation of theflapper was.
