1. The Charleston was a favourite dance in the 1920s.
Women in the 1920s
In the 1920s and 1930s, less than 25% of university students were women - and they usually were steered into courses such as domestic science and the arts.
The Charleston was a favourite dance in the 1920s.

2. Question of the day: How successfully did women challenge ideas about how they should act?
Challenge (verb): To make people question how they feel or think about something
Example: Nelson Mandela challenged the racist ideas of many white South Africans.
Can you think of any ideas that adults have about teenagers today?
Do teenagers ever challenge those ideas?

3. Ideas about how women should act
Recall: Women’s suffrage
Common arguments given for withholding suffrage from women:
Argument
Meaning
Politics is too corrupt for women
Honest, innocent, pure, simple, naïve
Allowing women to vote will cause arguments in the home
Women should always follow their husband; women should not make decisions
Women will vote the same way as their husbands
Women can’t have their own thoughts/opinions
It is not “womanly” to express political opinions
Women are weak, emotional, not serious, docile, timid
Women are too emotional to vote
Naïve, not reasonable

4. Ideas about how women should act
Rules for Women Teachers, 1923 – page 114
Not to get married or keep company with men
To be at home between the hours of 8 p.m. and 6 a.m. unless she is at a school function
Not to loiter downtown in ice cream parlours
Not to smoke cigarettes or drink beer, wine, or whisky
Not to ride in a carriage or automobile with any man except her brothers or father
Not to dress in bright colours or wear dresses more than two inches [5 cm] above the ankle

5. How did women challenge ideas about how they should act?
Group Task:
Summarize your reading using 5Ws + H
Write your summary on the blackboard
Group 1: Textbook p. 100 – “Women Continue to Gain Rights”
Group 2: Textbook p. 114 – “Changing Fashions” AND “FYI” (Flappers)
Group 3: Textbook p – “The Famous Five” AND “A Landmark Decision”
Group 4: Textbook p. 86 – “The Golden Age of Canadian Sport” AND Figure 2.3
Group 5: Canadian Sources Investigated p – “Women in Politics”

6. How did women challenge ideas about how they should act?
Ideas about how women should act
Challenges
Women are innocent and pure. a.
Women in politics (e.g. divorce laws)
Women should not argue with their husbands b.
Flappers
Women don’t have minds of their own; they are not responsible “persons” c.
The Famous Five
Women should be docile and timid d.
The Persons Case
Women are not reasonable e.
Women in Sports

7. How successfully did women challenge ideas about how they should act?
Very successful
(very progressive – very few people think
like this today)
Not at all
(we still think
like this today)
Somewhat Successful
(progress for the time, but some people still think like this today)

8. How successfully did women challenge ideas about how they should act?
Ideas about how women should act
Challenges
How Successful?
Explain your answer
Women are innocent and pure
|___________________________________________|
Not at all Somewhat Very Successful
Successful
Women should not argue with their husbands
Women don’t have minds of their own; they are not responsible “persons”
Women should be docile and timid
Women are not reasonable/can’t think rationally