Chapter Chronology

Quiz for Historical Question: “Was there a Sexual Revolution in the 1920s?”

Select the best answer for each question. Click the “submit” button for each question to turn in your work.

Question

1. The “New Woman” of the 1920s was defined, in the eyes of older Americans, primarily by her new attitude towards

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Correct. The answer is a. In the 1920s, older Americans feared that the nation’s morality—and the nation itself—was in severe danger, thanks to the changing behavior and attitudes of young people, particularly young women. Central to this changing attitude was a new openness about sex, which many critics interpreted as evidence that young people were having more sex, too, although it is difficult to obtain evidence to support this claim.
Incorrect. The answer is a. In the 1920s, older Americans feared that the nation’s morality—and the nation itself—was in severe danger, thanks to the changing behavior and attitudes of young people, particularly young women. Central to this changing attitude was a new openness about sex, which many critics interpreted as evidence that young people were having more sex, too, although it is difficult to obtain evidence to support this claim.

Question

2. Why did older feminists like Charlotte Perkins Gilman criticize the way young women expressed their freedom in the 1920s?

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Correct. The answer is b. Older feminists lamented the way that young women in the 1920s seemed to be failing to live up to the potential offered by their expanded rights and freedoms. Charlotte Perkins Gilman declared that it was “sickening” for her “to see so many of the newly freed abusing that freedom,” as they instead simply copied “masculine weakness and vice.”
Incorrect. The answer is b. Older feminists lamented the way that young women in the 1920s seemed to be failing to live up to the potential offered by their expanded rights and freedoms. Charlotte Perkins Gilman declared that it was “sickening” for her “to see so many of the newly freed abusing that freedom,” as they instead simply copied “masculine weakness and vice.”

Question

3. How did the automobile affect romantic relationships between young men and women in the 1920s?

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Correct. The answer is a. The automobile allowed young men and women to engage in intimate romantic relationships in a new, unsupervised space. This made the car much different than traditional sites of courtship, such as the family home and the church social. The illicit potential the automobile facilitated caused some critics to deem the car a “house of prostitution on wheels.”
Incorrect. The answer is a. The automobile allowed young men and women to engage in intimate romantic relationships in a new, unsupervised space. This made the car much different than traditional sites of courtship, such as the family home and the church social. The illicit potential the automobile facilitated caused some critics to deem the car a “house of prostitution on wheels.”

Question

4. Considering the increased frequency with which young women in the 1920s engaged in sexual behavior like dating and petting, in what way were these women still upholding traditional notions of morality?

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Correct. The answer is d. Although their premarital courtship and sexual behavior was noticeably different than previous generations, “New Women” still engaged in these behaviors within the same framework as their mothers and grandmothers had: as part of the search for a suitable marriage partner. This emphasis illustrates how young women in the 1920s continued to focus on partnership, marriage, and family, even if they felt more sexually free.
Incorrect. The answer is d. Although their premarital courtship and sexual behavior was noticeably different than previous generations, “New Women” still engaged in these behaviors within the same framework as their mothers and grandmothers had: as part of the search for a suitable marriage partner. This emphasis illustrates how young women in the 1920s continued to focus on partnership, marriage, and family, even if they felt more sexually free.

Question

5. The new ideas, expectations, and practices of the “New Woman” of the 1920s illustrate how young Americans increasingly believed that women

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Correct. The answer is c. By the 1920s, American women had gained more political rights (such as the right to vote), increased economic independence, and more liberal attitudes toward sexuality and sexual behavior. Together, these changes represented how young Americans increasingly saw the social roles available to women as extended far beyond the traditional confines of pregnancy and child rearing. Women were not just wives and mothers, but also voters, workers, and sexual individuals.
Incorrect. The answer is c. By the 1920s, American women had gained more political rights (such as the right to vote), increased economic independence, and more liberal attitudes toward sexuality and sexual behavior. Together, these changes represented how young Americans increasingly saw the social roles available to women as extended far beyond the traditional confines of pregnancy and child rearing. Women were not just wives and mothers, but also voters, workers, and sexual individuals.