To what extent did the flapper symbolize the new status of women in the 1920s? What will be an ...

ANSWER: A good essay should show that flappers were comparatively rare in the 1920s. (A very strong essay might point out that they were as rare as hippies in the 1960s.) Nevertheless, the flapper symbolized a new direction for women. The key is not that huge numbers of women bobbed their hair and wore knee-length skirts. The key is that women found new ways of asserting their autonomy. The availability of employment for women created new opportunities for independence. Women were using contraception to engage in premarital sex and (more importantly) to limit the size of their families. Women were voting and joining political organizations like the League of Women Voters.