In this blog post, I will begin to develop my individual research into many key topics surrounding radical women in the 1920's, with the hope to skim down my choices for the 1500 word essay.
Below is the mood-board I will be using as reference for my key research topics.
1. The Guardian // various articles
I wanted to begin my research via first looking through articles from the guardian in order to develop my knowledge of the eras. A selection of these will be analysed below, though I have also linked in my mood-board to the overarching guardian 1920's resource list.
This article is a collection of pictures of 1920's flappers and radical expression, beginning with Maud Allan in her infamous 1906 Salome costume, said to "incit[e] depravity, particularly lesbianism ..." by Noel Pemberton Billing, a right-wing combatant of feminist dance scenes. This could be viewed as the birth of the 1920's cultural feminist boom, with ripples across British society being seen in the Prime Minister's wife, Margot Asquith, even knowing of and greatly enjoying Allan's performance art.
Salome has long been a figure scorned by right-wing pundits for her depravity and 'manipulative' sexuality works such as Moreau's 19th century Salome pieces more-or-less exacerbate this effect, with Salome's exoticism and raw sexuality being a placeholder for all the agony man should experience. Allan's Salome is another reflection of Salome's divine feminine manipulation, though through the lens of liberation rather than of fault and corruption.
Allan's work resulted in films such as 'Salome' (1923, dir. Charles Bryant) featuring unusual, experimental and sensual dance scenes without the need for mass censorship of the female body.
Josephine Baker was also a figure central to the article for her impact on Parisian flapper society. Baker's unusual outfits became an identifying theme of her performances, and though an erotic dancer (alongside a person of colour, both variables that contemporary society shunned), she was featured prominently by the beauty industry in advertisements.
Baker "Highlight[s] the fact that jazz age symbols and figures had the power to cut across social barriers ... " - The Guardian
Baker was also the first black woman to feature in a major motion picture: Siren of the Tropics (1927, dir. Mario Nalpas et al.). Her significance in 1920's culture and society is not to be understated by any measure: as a figure who often performed in the Parisian Folies Bergere, Baker transcended class and systemic racism to become the face of Jazz and the 'Roaring 20's' through her previously mentioned banana skirt performance.
Her adoption of Paris, and France as a whole, was a milestone for her as someone who had faced mass racial harassment in America and moved to Europe due to their more liberal culture. There, she was able to thrive and become a figure I am interested to learn more about.
Tallulah Bankhead was also a name that appeared within the article, which discussed her role in 'The Dancers' (her London Debut performance piece) in which one of two friends becomes engrossed and 'corrupted' by 1920's urban nightlife: the "netherworld of nightclubs, cocktails and sex".
Reading further into Bankhead's personal history as a performance artist turned critically acclaimed actress. Not only known for her dances in the 1920's Bankhead was also a prominent Democratic figure who strongly opposed segregation, institutional racism and would actively scorn and disparage Republican candidates with anti civil-rights sentiments.
Bankhead's comments on her own sexuality were also unusual for the time, as they were honest and authentic in a way that defied the etiquette and standards of the sex-sealed institution.
She would eventually appear at the top of the Hays "Doom Book" (otherwise known as an element of the Hays Code) which sought to entirely censor figures and acts 'Unsuitable for the public', such as indecency, homosexuality of female sexual expression. She was also linked to romantic relationships with many prominent women of the time (such as singer Billie Holiday), describing herself as "Ambisextrous".
To say Bankhead, Baker and Allan have piqued my interest would be an understatement. Once I create my 3rd draft mood-board, I will develop my research into these figures.
This article began similarly, discussing the audacious costuming and performance of Maud Allan. The emancipation of women, as Judith Mackrell states, includes the emancipation of their bodies and the liberation of their sexualities.
"swaying like a witch, twisting like a snake, and panting with [a hypnotic] passion" - A viewer on Maud Allan's 'Salome' performance
The fashion of the 20th century began to embrace a more 'boyish', un-layered look. With skirts rising to knee-length and the corset being abandoned in preference of a more squared, eunuch-like body, many of the older generation of women at this time would have seen the flappers as aggressively sexual and unusual, though from a modern standpoint they seem almost tame in garb.
The article emphasises the connection between looser clothing and the rise of dancing in the 'Roaring 20's'- highlighting Isadora Duncan as a figure who danced barefoot and rejected the patriarchal control of contemporary ballet. She was referenced in tandem to another article by Judith Mackrell: Dance of a goddess | Dance | The Guardian.
Though a contrast to the works of Bankhead, Baker or Allan, Duncan's dances represented a different strand of liberation: the liberation of the rules of dance itself. By discarding ballet shoes in favour of her bare feet, she represents the reconnection of the contemporary woman with the world she was born to experience.
Dancing as a concept became dangerous to traditional values, with moves such as the Black Bottom (of African American creation; notably the African American community were unsung heroes of cultural evolution at this time) and Tango 'promoting' previously unseen social closeness that would have seemed improper to traditionalists. This is, however, one of the many reasons I find the dancing movements of the time interesting: Women simply manipulating their bodies without the instruction of men was seen as tantamount to creating a "Cult of the Clitoris" (Noel Pemberton Billing).
Dancing and the liberation of the body was also a representation of society breaking away from the clutches of Victorianism.
Lady Diana Manners agreed with the above sentiment, appearing in the previous article as well as the current. She would follow the nightclub scene, beginning in 1912, regardless of her status as an upper-class socialite. Her training in Ballet and Russian Folk Dance helped to transform her own love of dance outside of the systemic once she stepped into the London night scene.
The article goes on to discuss declining marriage rates alongside rising pre-marital sex rates in the 1920's, something potentially linked to the cultural shock of female liberation throughout and following WWI. In a time of great economic prosperity, America and parts of Europe began to adopt an almost 'Ukiyo-e' style relaxed and glamorous approach to life.
"The Daily Mail warned that the number of "superfluous" females could be a "disaster to the human race" " - Judith Mackrell
One of the most interesting elements of this read for me was the inclusion of art history through John Bulloch Souter's 'Stark' (1926). Depicting a naked flapper dancer accompanied by a black dance musician, both liberated by music, the piece was "forcibly removed" from the Royal Academy of London, an institution notorious for rejecting left-wing expression.
Breaking the taboo of both the contemporary naked woman and the prominence of a black figure, the piece shows a shift in the perception of both groups, reflected in the musical scene's adoption of POC such as Ada Smith and the previously highlighted Josephine Baker.
The article also highlighted other resources to view:
I believe the final paragraph of the article is another of the most self-explanatory and impactful sections:
"To the American writer Dorothy Dunbar Bromley, the flapper represented a new spirit of emancipation. If women were to follow their "inner compulsion to be individuals", they had to throw off their shackling inheritance of obedience, whether to the puritanical tenets of old-school feminism or to the sentimentalised duties of marriage and motherhood."
The puritanism of Victorian Suffrage is something that was heavily rejected in this era, pushing women's liberation further. Not only would the modern woman exist corset-free, but without said "Duties of marriage and motherhood".
"These women of the 1920s embodied Bromley's views ... they were released into a brief but deeply subversive world – a world of freedom." - Judith Mackrell
At this point, I have begun my work on Moodboard #3, as seen below:
Though this is only a partially-completed segment of the mood-board, it has already proved to be greatly influential on key points of interest within each read. In the next blog post, I will complete this mood-board via researching all sections in full before whittling down my topic choices.
Comments