Culture and Society of the 1920's

Historical events from 1920-1930

 In 1920, the first football league was formed and known as the American Professional Football League with Jim Thorpe as the President. It was later changed in 1922 to what we know it as today, the National Football League.

In 1920, Susan B. Anthony fought for women to have the right to vote and that right was given in August that year.

The first winter Olympic games were held in 1924. In 1925, the U.S. appointed its first woman governor Nellie Tayloe Ross in Wyoming.

The biggest historical event in the U.S. took place in 1929 when the stock market crashed which started the Great Depression (Americasbesthistory.com, 2011).

Literature

 In the 1920’s literature and reading was very popular and an important part of the American life. Since television had not yet come out, this was how American’s got their knowledge of the world with newspapers and magazines (Scott, 2005). Some of the popular literature of the 1920’s included The Great Gastby in 1925 written by Scott Fitzgerald (Unknown, 2000).

Magazines

 Magazines were very popular for women which contained short stories, recipes, decorating tips and fashion (Scott, 2005). Some of the popular magazines were Nash’s, Britannia and Birds Custard (Johnson, 2012).

Music

In the 1920’s both Blues and Jazz were popular forms of music. Some of the most popular songs included I’ll be With You In Apple Blossom Time, I’m Just Wild About Harry and Rose of Washington Square. Some of the popular artists were Bessie Smith, Fanny Brice, and Louis Daniel Armstrong (Whitley, 2011).

Art

 In the 1920’s a popular art form was dance. During this time the Charleston had become a popular ballroom dance. This dance was developed in the south and included some African styles. Some other dance forms included the Cake-Walk, the Turkey Trot and the Bunny Hug. With the creation and popularity of these dances, dance marathons were formed (Scott, 2005). 

Movies

Silent movies were a big thing in the 1920’s. Some of the popular actors and actresses included Rudolph Valentine, and Clara Bow (Whitley, 2011). Popular movies in the 1920’s included “Nanook of the North” which was a documentary film, “The Prisoner of Zenda”, “Four Musicians of Bremem” and “Adventures of Tarzan” all released in 1922. In 1924 budget films were created, those included “The Sea Hawk” and “Dante’s Inferno”. In 1927 the first movie that included sex appeal was called “It” with Clara Bow. In 1929 “The Cocoanuts” was released and it was the first of many Marx Brothers movies (Scott, 2005).

Reference Page

Americasbesthistory.com. (2011). The 1920- prosperity and its demise. Retrieved from

http://americasbesthistory.com/abhtimeline1920.html

Johnson, S. (2012). Womens magazines of the 1920's, 1930's, and the 1940's. Retrieved from

http://www.cyber-heritage.co.uk/women

Scott, R. (2005). 1920's art, artists and illustrators. Retrieved from http://www.1920-30.com/art/

Scott, R. (2005). Literature of the times captured the changes in society. Retrieved from

http://www.1920-30.com/literature/

Scott, R. (2005). Historical timeline of 1920's movie history. Retrieved from http://www.1920-

30.com/movies/timeline.html

Unknown. (2000). The jazz age and louis armstrong (the 1920's). Retrieved from

http://library.thinkquest.org/C005846/categories/artliter/artslit.htm

Whitley, P. (2011). American cultural history. Retrieved from

http://kclibrary.lonestar.edu/decade20.html

Written Analysis 5

The theories that I found that most applies to body image and the media is that, the media is a strong force which can lead consumers into believing what they should eat or drink in order to have a certain body type. The second myth about body image is; a deeply entrenched negative body image won’t budge. This means that because so many women do not like the way their body looks, we tend to think this a normal for any women to think that way no matter what her body image is. However it is not normal because it is not natural. We are made to think that way with both mass and social media leading us to think that our bodies need to look a certain way which makes it hard for women to like the way they look (Tartakovsky, 2011).

One of the most interesting findings in my research was the effect the media has on body image for men as well. Most people think that this is something that only affects women but men are overlooked. I never realized that when seeing advertisements for men’s products or seeing the stereotypical male model with the perfect body is also putting pressure on men as well.  The other interesting thing I found when doing my research was the celebrities that have stood against the cult of body image, such as Kate Winslet who feels that it is important to look more like your true self, Johnny Diaz with his song about “More Beautiful You, Eleanor Roosevelt who told women not to let other make you feel inferior because of the way you look, and Gloria Steinem who reminded women to not let the media tell you how you should look.

I have learned that what the media portrays as a normal body image really isn’t normal or even realistic, and the emotional stress this puts on both men and women to try to obtain this perfect image. The way I think differently of body image is that since what the media tries so hard to put so much pressure on everyone to look a certain way that neither I or anyone else should buy into this stereotype. Before, I would look at pictures in magazines of celebrities or models and find flaws in myself and desire to find was to achieve that look, but now I have learned that it’s not healthy mentally or to my body.

Reference Page

Tartakovsky, M. (2011). 3 body image myths we keep on believing. Retrieved from

http://blogs.psychcentral.com/weightless/2011/07/3-body-image-myths-we-keep-on-believing/

Written Analysis 4

Body Image Formula

The formula of boy image in the media is for women it is portrayed that they should be a size zero, which causes a negative effect on women. For men it’s not so much about weight it’s about muscle. Body image is really how one see’s their own physical image which can be extremely different than how they appear to someone else.

The way this describes my topic is that the media doesn’t help people’s perceptions on their own body image. The media focuses on the models and celebrities that have the unrealistic perfect body image. What they don’t say is how hard these models or celebrities have to work for the body and the cost of it, also many celebrities are airbrushed in magazines to make their image seem better than what it really is. When a celebrity gains weight the media puts pictures of them in magazines like look how much weight this person has gained with before and after pictures, which is not only humiliating but also bad to the readers as well because they see that gaining weight and not having the perfect body is a horrible thing. Therefor when a person looks at their own body image, they may perceive that they should do a lot of work to have this image, but to other people that are around you may perceive your body image a lot differently. For someone who is a size zero, someone else may see that as you are unhealthy or too sickly because this is really not a normal appearance.  

The insights that I have gained is that if the media would portray people differently, such as women with curves and the average Joe as more of the ideal body then societies perceptions on body image would be different and men and women wouldn’t feel so pressured and feel that they have to strive to have that unrealistic body image. A person should be able to be confident in their own bodies no matter what the media makes them believe (NG Communications, 2009).

Reference Page

NG Communications. (2009, March 9). Body image. Retrieved from

http://www.artandpopularculture.com/Body_image