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Women in Film during the 1920’s and their Influence on Society American woman in the 1920’s began to make changes in the way they lived and in the way they were perceived by society. Their mothers saw these young women as bad girls who were loose in their principles. Young women during this time period were breaking all the rules of moral conduct. Flappers wore short, straight dresses often covered with beads and fringes, and they were usually worn without pantyhose and powdered knees. Young flappers were known to be very rebellious against their parents, and society blamed their rebelliousness partially on the media, movies, and film stars like Clara Bow. Towards the beginning of the decade there was a widespread perception that American women were challenging the ‘natural’ constitution of masculinity and femininity both in real life and in Hollywood’s ‘screen life.’ This time was an age of emancipation and mobility between social classes, not only because of the nineteenth amendment, but also Prohibition, which led to the establishment of speakeasies. Ordinary middle class people frequented these establishments, and “nice” women began to smoke and drink in public. While these social changes were not app