Part three- 1920-1941 Social cultural developments
- Created by: H@r/3y
- Created on: 26-09-20 19:01
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- Jazz age was part of a revolution in popular culture, leisure, sport and mass entertainment
- 'Roaring twenties' and 1930s depression- pop culture reflected how society was changing and was a cause for the change
- was the age of jazz and pop culture
- live jazz - from S to N cities with A-A northward migration
- Radio/gramaphone spread music of Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Count Basie
- silver screen; from silent cinema to talking picture
- music-vital part of mass appeal of movies
- age of celebrity, promoted by newspaper/mags/cinema newsreels
- publicity machine captured public attention for celebs (film stars/ Babe Ruth baseball hitter/ Charles Lindbergh solo flight across atlantic/ Al Capone Chicago gangster)
- consumerism- symbolised by automobile (ford and general motors) allowed new kind of social mobility
- previous luxury goods now in reach of ordinary families-mass production and pay-by-installments and aided by advertising growth
- bold, confident construction=Golden Gate Bridge San Fran, Empire State Building NY
- cities= skyscraper, art deco hotels, department stores and movie theatres (outward face of new prosperity
- glamour and modernity didn't reach everywhere, many left out
- urban phenomenon, many disapproved
- atmosphere of interwar years shaped Americas version of itself and helped unify a disparate society
- NEW SOCIAL VALUES accompanied new prosperity
- swing back to 'normalcy' under harding and Coolidge reflected in consumerism
- urbanisation & rapid expansion of advertising accentuated these trends
- previous assumptions like progressive ideals were challenged
- new social values -not approved by all
- backlash of social conservatism from rural small town US in religion, condemnation of godlessness by churches; by radio evangelists like Billy Sunday; by leaders of new political movements (Francis Townsend and Huey Long)
- values clash, due to mass KKK support early 20s
- new values opposed by idealistic voices from left, over loss of democratic idealism and concerns for social justice
- clash of cultures inter-war included old conflicts too
- support for progressive ideals seemed strong at end of war- constitutional amendments to confirm universal female suffrage and intro of prohibition
- progressivism = defined by historian Michael McGreer as 'fierce discontent'
- sustained reaction against liberation of women and prohibition
- WOMEN make up half of every section in US society
- were significant advances but not for all
- mostly affected urban educated females
- many were hostile to new freedoms
- 1920 women voting rights -confirmed
- handful of women broke through traditional social restrictions to win positions previously male dominated (Nellie Tayloe Ross-Governor of Wyoming 1925)(Frances Perkins-first female cabinet minister 1933)
- Margaret Sanger- campaigning for birth control
- Mary Bethume campaigned for rights for A-A women
- an inspiration for women was first lady Eleanor Roosevelt
- Eleanor= vigorous campaigner for human rights, she was very independent, she regularly invited controversy due to liberal view on racial equality and willingness to disagree in public with FDRs policies
- the New woman came to wider society - socially liberated, often young, broke with traditional expectations and values
- urban women- could have jobs (secretaries/shop assistants) and disposable income, wear short skirts, short hair-dos, smoke in public, be a 'flapper'
- New woman image reinforced by mags and some adverts…
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