USA 1910–1929: Social changes
GCSE > History (WJEC) > USA 1910-1929 > Changes in culture and society
Did everyone enjoy the social
changes of the 1920s?
Supported and enjoyed the changes
FLAPPERS
YOUNG PEOPLE
Flappers were fond
of the new
fashions and the
new freedom in their
lives. Now they could
smoke in public, ride
motorbikes and wear
the new fashions.
Most young people
enjoyed all aspects of
the new society. They
went to the cinema,
changed their attitudes,
listened and danced to
jazz music and went to
the speakeasies.
Were excluded from the changes
COUNTRY
PEOPLE
People in the countryside
couldn’t take part in the
social changes. They lived
too far from the buzz and
usually they did not have
the money or the transport
to reach the shops or the
new sports stadiums.
POOR PEOPLE
Poor people couldn’t
enjoy the changes.
They couldn’t afford
to pay for tickets to
the sports games, or to
travel to attend them,
neither could they afford
to buy the new fashionable
clothes.
Opposed the changes
RELIGIOUS PEOPLE
WILLIAM H HAYS
OLDER PEOPLE
Many religious people
hated the changes.
They saw jazz as
the music of the
devil, and hated the
new dances. They
also hated the effect of
the changes on young
people and on women.
The Hays Code was drawn up
in 1930 to stop immorality
in movies. It banned scenes
of naked people and sexy
dancing, stated that a kiss
could last for no more than
seven metres of film and that
clergymen should never be
portrayed as fools.
Older people
didn’t like the new
influences on their
children. They were
especially worried
about their daughters
and the influence the
cinema had on their
fashions and attitudes.
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