Monday, 26 November 2012
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Gibson Girls, Flappers, or Mad Molly Brown?
I like to think of myself as a rebel. An outlaw. One bad.ass.girl. The truth is, though I may step outside of the box in some areas of my life, I am pretty darn boring in 99 percent of what I do. I go to work. I come home. I volunteer. I call my family. I clean. I bake. I walk the dog. What I like to think I am doing is this: I save the world. I travel the planet. I make unplanned drop ins at the families homes in between exotic travels and adventures. I eat in exotic new restaurants and sample new foods. I take my dog on ultra marathon races across mountains and deserts. I am too cool for school.
If it were early twentieth century, I would like to have been a Flapper. Flappers were a "new breed" of young Western women in the 1920s who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptable behavior. Flappers were seen as brash for wearing excessive makeup, drinking, treating sex in a casual manner, smoking, driving automobiles and otherwise flouting social and sexual norms. (Thank you Wikipedia)
]F. Scott Fitzgerald described a Flapper as being lovely, expensive, and about 19. I think I missed the boat there. I can only imagine the excitement and scandal that it would create if I walked into a speakeasy on the arm of a mob boss...
I would probably not have been a Gibson Girl, I suppose. Gibson Girls were the first real symbol of beauty for an American woman. They were used as models to sell merchandise that was fashionable and excessive. They were cool, independent, aloof and would never lower themselves to participate in anything classless, such as the Suffrage Movement. They went to college to obtain an adequate mate, and any man would fall prey to their beauty and prostrate themselves for a kind word or affectionate glance from a Gibson Girl.
Women gained the right to vote in 1920. So even with all the interesting and glamorous choices of what type of woman I wish I would have been in the roaring 20's, I probably would have been sharing a cocktail with the Unsinkable Margaret Brown. I would be lamenting her loss as the first woman to run for public office, griping about cheating husbands and the state of affairs, and worrying about how this generation of women was going to continue her work.
The moral of my story is this: Wherever you go, there you are.
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Comments (27)
What a fun post!!! I have always been obsessed with flappers. It was so different then than it is now, and it took a lot of guts for them to step up that way. Then the Depression hit and women faded back into the subservient roles. But what a glorious moment the 20s were. I like reading F. Scott Fitzgerald for that reason. And the Gibson Girls, agree there, no way. Wasn't Molly Brown unsinkable because she survived the Titanic? Quite a character, and I love this post!
I am kind of an inside the box person but I tend to be an outside the box thinker if that makes sense.
The roaring twenties fever probably hit my aunt. She left the family and went off to marry an insurance agent. My mother had to take her place and work as secretary for my grandfather the herbalist.
My aunt got to travel by boat to China and she probably danced some of the latest dances in the twenties. My mother didn't get to travel to China but she did do a bit of Yoga.
I really didn't learn too much about the twenties from my mother. She was a nerd and saved her money to get a subscription to Reader's digest. I learned a lot from reading Reader's digest.
you know all those mundane things you described can be done in a badass manner. I like baking at a higher than suggested temperature and guessing when it will be done.
This was so fun to read :D yeah I bet you'd have been either in the fun side of the picture or in the commited one...I bet I'd have been exactly the way I am :\
@EmilyandAtticus - Haha, thanks! I love reading about this era, you are right. Being a Flapper took serious brass cahoonies! Molly (Margaret) Brown is famous for surviving the Titanic, she is one of my favorite female role models. She sounds like she was a hoot!
@TheTheologiansCafe - You are very much an out of the box thinker :)
@PPhilip - I love the Reader's Digest! I sometimes buy them on my Kindle so I can keep certain articles for later. Your family sounds very interesting, you should write more about them!
@godfatherofgreenbay - Oh you are a wild one, aren't you! Haha, thanks for the inspiration, I will let you know how it turns out!
@xXxlovelylollipop - Haha, thanks! Yeah, I think that no matter when or where i was born, I would be exactly who I am, regardless of where my imagination takes me.
My maternal grandmother was a flapper and went on to become one of the great hell raisers of her generation. Also unforgivably selfish -- she did a lot of good but only because those who are perceived to be doing good are forgiven or even applauded for dominating people.
You're not so far from Molly's Denver house -- maybe the historical society would let you live there in order to continue the legacy? The trick would be finding a way to stop all of those tourists who are disappointed that Debbie Reynolds never lived there.
Bad Ass? Yeah, I can see that.
That Gibson Girl is downright scary! She's holding a whip... and it's not even made of feathers. I'd have to defend myself!
It would be nice to be an independent, forward-thinking and confident woman. I will never be one, but you seem to be. It would be cool to have one of those beaded flapper dresses, though.
This is wonderful
That's a good moral. Sounds like something Winnie the Pooh would say, or did he?
I feel like I would've been a flapper personally. Because I am the modern day equivalent? I think I get this.
@HappierHeathen - You're too kind :) You make a good point about people being forgiven for their manner if they are perceived as doing good.
I want to see her house, it's just in Denver. I love the story of MB, she seems like a character I can relate to. Have a great Tuesday@Broom_Service - That whip is only slightly less frightening than that head of hair!
@whyzat - Thank you for saying I seem to be one, I don't really see that, but I would like to! Haha, yeah, I loved that outfit.. Too bad there's never a chance to wear something like that, well, unless you're dating a mobster.
@SisterMae - Thanks Mae
@ata_grandma - It does sound very pooh like, doesn't it? I have no idea who said it, but it very well could have been him!
@Thatslifekid - You are a saucy one! I can totally see you as a flapper :)
bad.ass.girl. i can never decide if i'm an ass. man. or a breast. man. they both fascinate and inspire me. so i am completely amused that you've so clearly stated a preference. now i have to go figure out some exercises to make my ass. sexier.
oh and a rebel - one of the greatest ever...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvVqWqi36vE
@xplorrn - I think your ass is pretty damn sexy! Now I am off to see your video :)
@BoulderChristina - Molly's house is not a bad house, as houses go, but unless you're really into Ms. Brown and/or the history of her times, it's just a house. You might enjoy it, but it's almost guaranteed that if there are others touring when you're there you'll hear someone remark that it's nothing like the house in the musical. Which is amusing.
Thanks, and happy Tuesday to you, too!