I thought it would be good to talk a bit about the flappers that arose in mainstream culture after world war 1. Finally for the first time in history, women were starting to gain a level of independence not seen for a long time and even not at all in some cultures. Resulting from the war, women were working in factories and making good money and for the first time began to express themselves more publicly. They smoked in public and drank and partied. I didn't know this was unacceptable before then or stigmatized. It's also interesting that this cultural phenomenon occurred during prohibition, which in my opinion seemed to be more of a return to traditional values.
Prohibition seemed to me to be so silly, but when looking at why it happened i am not surprised. Groups who valued extreme ideas of morality still exist today. Back then it was alcohol. Today, its things like LGBT rights. These people are scary and many of them hold a considerable amount of lobbying power. Special political climate allowed them to pass an amendment to the constitution. That is so crazy to me! How much influence would be required to amend the constitution today? It happened once and it definitely can happen again. I just hope that the next amendment to the constitution gives people more protections and freedom. If its the banning of something of the stripping of someones rights, I am leaving the country.
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