The Roaring Twenties was a time period that experienced an age of dramatic social and political change. In Frederick Lewis Allen’s article entitled, “Only Yesterday: The Revolution in Manners and Morals”, Allen sets out to propose a theory that the younger generation of kids during post WWI were revolting from the social norms of the Victorian Era, shying away from the ideal ways in which their parents live their lives. These young individuals were despised by the older generation of people during this time period.
To begin his argument, Allen focuses on the changes in behavior of women during the 1920’s. Young girls began to wear more scandalous clothing as stated by a fashion reporter of the New York Times, “the American woman…has lifted her skirts far beyond modest limitation”(Allen). During this time period, many women were referred to as “flappers”, or fashionable young women intent on enjoying themselves…show more content… Boys and girls were now becoming more educated with sexual ways due to the fact that they were learning it at an earlier age and different dances provoked moral disasters. The most particular dance they took a liking towards was known as the “marathon dance”(citation). This dance provoked younger individuals to become closer and closer when dancing, creating strong intimate relations between the two, which parents detested. The kids of this younger generation began to follow the ideals of Sigmund Freud, a well-known psychologist that spoke of the ideas of sex. The kids saw being sexually active as a norm, while the adults saw this as being to explicit, which in turn led to corrupting of morals. In addition, cars also played a huge role in sex. It gave young people the freedom to go where they pleased and do what they