While World War I had all but rearranged the geo-political landscape of most of Europe; social progress for women lagged far behind. Suffragettes, women who fought to secure voting rights for women in England and the United States, still faced many obstacles in breaking down barriers for women in a post-war modern world that was still grappling for its own identity and was still under the auspices of a male-dominated society.

The suffragettes greatly benefited from the women's liberation movement that had already begun to sweep across most of Europe and the U.S. By the late 1920's it was clearly evident that a broad cultural and political movement initiated by women was well underway to improve women's social position by freeing them from the constraints imposed upon them by a patriarchal society dominated by men.

As the world roared into the Golden era of the 1920's, a liberalism emerged in American society that simultaneously coincided with the rise of the middle-class- a direct consequence of the prosperity which resulted from a post-war global economic boom. Electric appliances, transoceanic flights, radios, automobiles, urbanization, the prosperity of stocks on Wall Street, a renaissance in Jazz and literature- for most Americans; life had never been better. However, few if any could celebrate or openly toast to the good times; at least publicly that is. The 18th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1919 and the Volstead Act of 1920 not only galvanized public opinion against the ills of drinking; this legislation also prohibited the sale, distribution and commerce of alcohol in the U.S.

As legal bars and cabarets across the country were forced to close, many so-called back alley "speak-easies" crept up in their place. These clubs became an underground social phenomenon; combining jazz, dancing and extroverted ladies who had a general, howbeit; refined disdain for the so-called morality and temperance of the times. These so-called rebellious feminists, as society deemed them, dispensed with the corset- a feminine staple up until this time, got rid of the pantaloons and opted for step in panties. They brought the dress-line above the knee, wore bodices to secure their breasts- bras were later to follow, wore make-up- which at time was only worn by actresses and prostitutes, introduced most of the world to rayon stockings and garter belts, cut their hair in boyish "bobbed" styles, and drank alcohol.

In many ways, it was the birth of the modern woman. These women were referred to as "Flappers", a British term which was used to designate a young independent girl who had chosen to leave the mother's nest and "flap" her wings for the first time. The term was later applied to any woman who went out without a chaperone. Indeed many flappers were wildly independent for the time. Many flappers had their own jobs, drove their own cars, espoused feminine liberation, and charted their own sexual identity through life.

Flappers frequented "speak-easies" where they danced provocatively until the wee-hours of the morning. These so-called party girls smoked cigarettes through long-holders and engaged in controversial acts of "petting" (making out without sexual penetration). They even held so-called "petting parties" and came up with their own girly vernacular- "That's so Jake" or that's cool, or "That's the bees' knees" or "Cat's pajamas" loosely meaning 'That is the shit.' When flappers remarked, "I have to go see a man about a dog," that generally meant they were on an errand to buy whiskey. "Big Cheese" meant an important person; "to bump off" meant "murder" and nonsense was referred to as "baloney."

Despite the social scandals that these so-called "Flappers" may have caused (much of their idealism and style was not only secretly admired by the masses of women), many women assimilated flapper fashion styles into popular culture; particularly Hollywood- Louise Brooks, Clara Bow, Joan Crawford, Norman Shearer and Colleen Moore just to name a few.

Hollywood's Louise Brooks

By 1928, fashion had drifted onward and not even the raging Great Depression which followed the Stock Market crash of 1929 survived the excesses of the so-called "Flapper lifestyle." However; the Flappers' social impact on modern women today cannot be underestimated. In many ways; Flappers were forerunners of the modern-liberated woman. There is perhaps not a woman in the world alive today who has not, in some ways, benefited or has been influenced by these First Ladies of "Cool."

-Karen Moore