Context
The 1920's, nicknamed the Roaring 20's because of the commonly lavish lifestyle, was a time of new technology, music, and culture. For the first time in US history, more Americans lived in urban environments than in rural ones. Because of the great economic growth resulting from new inventions, such as the radio, the ever-changing society became more focused on consumerism and entertainment than any other.
Along with an entertainment- and party-focused society inevitably came increased drinking, which became a common pastime for many living in the cities. The new entertainment-based culture was also a result of WWI, which had ended only a year earlier, for many post-soldiers sought relief in alcohol or wild parties.
Those who lived in the cities also dealt with the rise in social tension due to the significant increase of immigrants, which included both African Americans part of the Great Migration and those escaping the poverty in Europe following WWI, which inadvertently spawned the rise of the Ku Klux Klan as well as created the beginnings of black culture in the north. These factors, along with the anti-communist beliefs circulating the US after the Red Scare, contributed to the spread of anti-immigrant sentiment and the "cultural Civil War" between the many new subsets of US culture. Because of the vast changes and growing conflict in American society, government, and economy, additional political and social uprisings began against the current gender norms of the time.
Along with an entertainment- and party-focused society inevitably came increased drinking, which became a common pastime for many living in the cities. The new entertainment-based culture was also a result of WWI, which had ended only a year earlier, for many post-soldiers sought relief in alcohol or wild parties.
Those who lived in the cities also dealt with the rise in social tension due to the significant increase of immigrants, which included both African Americans part of the Great Migration and those escaping the poverty in Europe following WWI, which inadvertently spawned the rise of the Ku Klux Klan as well as created the beginnings of black culture in the north. These factors, along with the anti-communist beliefs circulating the US after the Red Scare, contributed to the spread of anti-immigrant sentiment and the "cultural Civil War" between the many new subsets of US culture. Because of the vast changes and growing conflict in American society, government, and economy, additional political and social uprisings began against the current gender norms of the time.