How Flappers Invented the Modern Woman

Actress Nanette Fabray dresses as a Flapper -- (Photo by: NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images)

One of the most memorable and endearing images of the 1920s is that of a Flapper. Flappers were often depicted as fun-loving, carefree, party girls who could drink and smoke as much as the men who flocked to dance with them. What this generation of young women was doing by cutting their hair, shortening their skirts, taking jobs and breaking societal rules was redefining the role of women in our culture. They were inventing the modern woman. Here’s how.