Jazz Age - Women

Women

With the women’s suffrage at its peak in the 1920s and the entrance of the flapper women began to make a statement within society and the Jazz Age was not immune to these new ideals. With women now taking part in the work force after the end of the First World War there were many more possibilities for women in terms of social life and entertainment. Ideas like equality and free sexuality were very popular during the time and women seemed to capitalize during this period. The 1920s saw the emergence of many famous women musicians including Bessie Smith. Bessie Smith also gained attention because she was not only a great singer but also an African American woman. She has grown through the ages to be one of the most well respected singers of all time. Singers such as Billie Holiday all the way to Janis Joplin are said to have been inspired by Bessie Smith. Another exception to the common stereotype of women at this time was piano player Lil Hardin Armstrong. She was given the piano part in her husband's big band radio performance series called Hot Five and then his next series called the Hot Seven It was not until the 1930s and 1940s that many women jazz singers, such as Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday were recognized as successful artists in the music world. These women were persistent in striving to make their names known in the music industry and lead the way for many more women artists to come.

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Famous quotes containing the word women:

    ... nothing satisfies the craving of most women so much as scandal.
    Emma Goldman (1869–1940)

    Many women are reluctant to allow men to enter their domain. They don’t want men to acquire skills in what has traditionally been their area of competence and one of their main sources of self-esteem. So while they complain about the male’s unwillingness to share in domestic duties, they continually push the male out when he moves too confidently into what has previously been their exclusive world.
    Bettina Arndt (20th century)

    I fasted for some forty days on bread and buttermilk
    For passing round the bottle with girls in rags or silk,
    In country shawl or Paris cloak, had put my wits astray,
    And what’s the good of women for all that they can say
    Is fol de rol de rolly O.
    William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)