Flapper

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El término flapper en los años 1920 refería a una nueva clase de mujeres jóvenes que usaban faldas cortas, lucían un corte de cabello especial (denominado bob cut), que escuchaban música no convencional (música jazz) y que mostraban desdén por los que eran considerados "buenos modales"; las flappers eran reconocidas por usar excesivo maquillaje, beber licores fuertes, fumar, conducir y otras conductas similares.

Tabla de contenidos 1 Orígenes 2 Comportamiento 3 Lenguaje popular 4 Forma de vestir 5 Fin de la era flapper 6 Véase también 7 Referencias 8 Enlaces externos

[editar] Orígenes

Las flappers tienen sus orígenes en el periodo del liberalismo que siguió a la Primera Guerra Mundial, así como en la moda del jazz.

En Estados Unidos, popular contempt for Prohibition was a factor. With legal saloons and cabarets closed, back alley speakeasies became prolific and popular. This discrepancy between the law-abiding, religion-based temperance movement and the actual ubiquitous consumption of alcohol led to widespread disdain for authority. Flapper independence may have its origins in the Gibson girls of the 1890s. Although that pre-war look does not resemble the flapper identity, their independence and feminism may have led to the flapper wise-cracking tenacity 30 years later.

The term flapper first appears in Britain, though the etymology is disputed. It may be in reference to a young bird flapping its wings while learning to fly, or it may derive from an earlier use in northern England of flapper to mean "teenage girl" (whose hair is not yet put up), or "prostitute".^[1] While many in the United States assumed at the time that the term flapper derived from a fashion of wearing galoshes unbuckled so that they could show people their bodies as they walked, the term was already documented as in use in the United Kingdom as early as 1912. From the 1910s into the 1920s, flapper was a term for any impetuous teenage girl, often including women under 30. Only in the 1920s did the term take on the meaning of the flapper generation style and attitudes, while people continued to use the word to mean immature. A related but alternative usage in the late 1920s was a press catch word which referred to adult women voters and how they might vote differently than men their age. While the term flapper had multiple usages, flappers as a social group were well defined from other 1920s fads.

Writers and artists in the United States such as F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Held Jr., and Anita Loos popularized the flapper look and lifestyle through their works, and flappers came to be seen as attractive, although reckless and independent. The actress Clara Bow is often cited as the epitome of the style. Among those who criticized the flapper craze was writer-critic Dorothy Parker. She penned "Flappers: A Hate Song" to poke fun at the fad.

[editar] Comportamiento

Flappers went to jazz clubs at night where they danced provocatively, smoked cigarettes through long holders, sniffed cocaine and dated. They rode bicycles and drove cars - fast. They drank alcohol openly, a defiant act in the period of Prohibition. Petting (physical intimacy without sexual penetration) became much more common. Some people even threw "petting parties" where petting was the main attraction. Flappers also wore "kissproof" lipstick and a lot of heavy makeup with beaded necklaces and bracelets. They liked to cut their hair into "boyish" bob cuts, often dyeing it jet-black or peroxiding it blonde.

[editar] Lenguaje popular

Flappers had their own slang, with terms like "snugglepup" (a man who frequents petting parties) and "barney-mugging" (sex). Their dialect reflected their promiscuity and drinking habits; "I have to go see a man about a dog" often meant going to buy whiskey, and a "handcuff" or "manacle" was an engagement or wedding ring. Also reflective of their preoccupations, they had many ways to say "fantastic", such as "That's so Jake" or "That's the bee's knees," or a more popular one, "the cat's pajamas."

Many terms still in use in modern American English slang originated as flapper slang, such as "big cheese", meaning an important person; "to bump off", meaning to murder; and "baloney", meaning nonsense. Other terms have become definitive of the Prohibition era, such as "speakeasy", meaning an illegal place to get liquor and "hooch”, describing illegal liquor.

[editar] Forma de vestir

In addition to their irreverent behavior, flappers were known for their style, which largely emerged as a result of the musical style of jazz and the popularization of dancing that accompanied it. Called garçonne in French ("boy" with a feminine suffix), flapper style made them look young and boyish. The short "bob" haircut became popular, only to be replaced later by the shorter "Eton" or "shingle" which slicked the hair and covered the ears with curls. Flappers did away with their old corsets and pantaloons in favor of "step-in" panties. Without the old restrictive corsets, flappers wore simple bust bodices to make their chest hold still when dancing. They also wore new, more soft and supple corsets that reached to their hips. Instead of the corsets slenderizing the waist and accenting the hips and bust, it smoothed the whole frame giving women a straight up and down appearance. Without the added curves of a corset they promoted their boyish look, and soon early popular bras were sold to flatten and reduce the appearance of the bust.

Flapper dresses were straight and loose, leaving the arms bare and dropping the waistline to the hips. Silk or Rayon stockings were held up by garters. Skirts rose to just below the knee by 1927, allowing flashes of knee to be seen when a flapper danced or walked through a breeze, although the way they danced made any long loose skirt flap up to show their knees. Flappers powdered or put rouge on their knees to show them off when dancing.^{[cita requerida]} A round, bell-shaped hat called a cloche was pulled down low on the head and framed the face. Perhaps most scandalously, flappers also took to wearing obvious make-up, previously restricted to actresses and prostitutes. Popular flapper make-up styles made the skin pale, the lips red, and the eyes black-ringed. All of this encouraged the development of shocking dance styles such as the Charleston, the Shimmy, the Bunny Hug and the Black Bottom. Tanned skin became increasingly popular after Coco Chanel donned a tan after spending too much time in the sun on Holiday - it suggested a life of leisure, without the onerous need to work. Woman wanted to look fit, sporty and above all, healthy.

Despite all the scandal flappers generated, their look became fashionable in a toned-down form among even respectable older women. Most significantly, the flappers removed the corset from female fashion and popularized short hair for women. Among the actresses most closely identified with the style were Dorothy Mackaill, Alice White, Bebe Daniels, Billie Dove, Helen Kane, Joan Crawford, Leatrice Joy, Norma Shearer, Laura La Plante, Norma Talmadge, Clara Bow, Louise Brooks, and Colleen Moore.

[editar] Fin de la era flapper

Despite its popularity, the flapper lifestyle and look could not survive the Wall Street Crash and the following Great Depression. The high-spirited attitude and hedonism simply could not find a place amid the economic hardships of the 1930s. More specifically, this decade brought out a conservative reaction and a religious revival which set out to eradicate the liberal lifestyles and fashions of the 1920s. In many ways, however, the self-reliant flapper had allowed the modern woman to make herself an integral and lasting part of the Western World.

[editar] Véase también

• New Woman
• Betty Boop — the first animated female flapper
• La Garçonne — a novel
• This Side of Paradise — a novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• Flappers and Philosophers — a set of short stories by F. Scott Fitzgerald
• Modern girl (modan gaaru) — Japanese equivalent

[editar] Referencias

[editar] Enlaces externos

• Flappers on SilentLadies.com
• The Jazz Age — Flapper Culture (discusses mainly Louise Brooks)
• Slang of the 1920s
• Flappers and fashion
• About.com history
• RolledStockings.com