Cult Of Domesticity In The 1920s Essay

During the 1920s the attitudes and actions of women began to evolve and shift immensely from the previous, Victorian, norms. Women in the 1920s developed new ideas and attitudes regarding their role in society and their behavior in it. Historian Alex Brinkley identifies a new idea of motherhood where, “mothers should rely on the advice and assistance of experts and professionals: doctors, nurses, and trained educators in nursery schools and kindergarten”(Brinkley). Furthermore, women became involved in the workforce, holding “pink collar jobs” such as being secretaries, sales clerks, and telephone operators. Also, there was the development of the Flapper Image. This was the new image of woman, allowing them to “smoke, drink, dance, wear seductive …show more content…
The Cult of Domesticity dictated that woman follow four virtues: piety, purity, submissiveness, and domesticity. According to Catherine J. Lavendar, a professor at the College of Staten Island, piety was essential for women because they were looked upon as “the new Eve, working with God to bring the world out of sin”(Lavendar). Sexual purity was one of the biggest requirements for women. A women’s virginity was only to be given to her husband on their wedding night and if one were to lose it before then, they were considered a “lower form of being”(Lavender). Women were expected to obey and be submissive to men. Written in the Young Ladies Book, a woman must have, “a spirit of obedience and submission, pliability of temper, and humility of mind”(Young Ladies Book). Lastly, there was domesticity. Women were required to stay at home and tend to the house, and the raising of their children was solely the mother’s responsibility. Women embracing the Cult of Domesticity would have been disgusted by the Flapper Image, and opposed to the changed idea of motherhood and women populating the workforce due to those ideas and action violating some of their important …show more content…
The Cult of Domesticity implored women to follow their four virtues and be the champions of “good” values that they would impress on their children. The specific virtues that women embodying the Flapper Image were violating would be piety and purity. Piety dictated that women were to maintain their good virtue and guard it against the vices of society. One of these vices was the consumption of alcohol, one that Victorian women vehemently opposed. However, women emulating the Flapper Image did drink and smoke when going to clubs and dance halls. The development of birth control shows the shifting image of sexual purity during the 1920s. Margaret Sanger, the creator of birth control, argued that women should be able “to enjoy the pleasures of sexual activity without any connection to procreation”(Brinkley). Not so coincidentally, many middle class women, whom the Flapper Image was based off of, adopted birth control methods. With two of their core four virtues violated, women following the Cult of Domesticity would be disgusted and would look down upon women who followed this Flapper Image in the