In the 1920s, a phenomenon began in both the advertising and film industries revolving around  women and their bodies being used to sell a product [1]. This was seen primarily in scenes and ads that involved automobiles and other technologies, giving rise to the image of ‘the Modern Girl’, a woman whose physique was ‘precise’ and ‘put together’; a model of superior craftsmanship [2].

The fetishization of women in advertising soon began to affect the style of this era; cars were modeled after women, being described as having a slender frame, graceful lines and good looks [3]. Modern consumption revolved around both the film and advertising industries, style was more important than manufacture, and women were used to sell and embody both [4].

Throughout the twenties beauty pageants were used by both industries to push products and create a stylized platform for corporations, further increasing consumption [5]. The girls were idolized by the populace [6], and were constantly viewed by voters, put on display so everyone could decide who was the superior model [7]. The contestants were also put under strict surveillance; chaperones monitored every action the girls took and placed them at the mercy of their superiors moral code [8]. Similar to the way parents began to control the media consumption of their children [9], the contestants were forced to remain pure in the same sense.

In this way, ‘the Modern Girl’ not only objectified women but also caused them to be treated as children. The main problem here is that these women, who were cherished and flawless in the public eye, also projected a need to be protected from the seductions of the outside world. They were not allowed to explore their own sexuality, much like how in later years North America began a trend of protecting the innocence of the young, urging parents to shield their kids from ‘adult’ content, resulting in the kids seeking out what’s forbidden and being hauled away and punished [10]. The same thing happened to ‘the Modern Girl’ and soon people began to prefer ‘the Old Fashioned Girl’ in the later twentieth century [11]. Creating a stigma of a bad girl and a good girl, a prude and a slut.

Of course, this phenomenon and outreaching effects across the twentieth century. From the 1990s- early 2000s for every one female character in film their was 2.6 male characters [12]. The female characters were often seen in stereotypical roles, keeping house, making meals, caring for children, and modelling clothes [13]. Women were still preferred as youthful and innocent, as in romantic films the male lead was often considerably older than the heroin [14]. And the fetishization of ‘the Modern Girl’ lives on, as the ideal body type in film remains thin, elegant, and sexualized but in a controlled way, a classy way, only for her man[15].

[1]Nicholas, “Modern Girls and Machines: Cars, Projectors and Publicity,” in The Modern Girl: Feminine Modernities, The Body, and Commodities in the 1920s, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2015: 198.

[2]Nicholas, “Modern Girls and Machines: Cars, Projectors and Publicity,” in The Modern Girl: Feminine Modernities, The Body, and Commodities in the 1920s, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2015: 187.

[3]Nicholas, “Modern Girls and Machines: Cars, Projectors and Publicity,” in The Modern Girl: Feminine Modernities, The Body, and Commodities in the 1920s, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2015: 194.

[4]Nicholas, “Modern Girls and Machines: Cars, Projectors and Publicity,” in The Modern Girl: Feminine Modernities, The Body, and Commodities in the 1920s, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2015: 193.

[5]Nicholas, “Modern Girls and Machines: Cars, Projectors and Publicity,” in The Modern Girl: Feminine Modernities, The Body, and Commodities in the 1920s, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2015: 205-206.

[6] ibid

[7]Nicholas, “Modern Girls and Machines: Cars, Projectors and Publicity,” in The Modern Girl: Feminine Modernities, The Body, and Commodities in the 1920s, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2015: 206.

[8] ibid

[9] Sutherland, “Popular Media in the Culture of English-Canadian Children in the Twentieth Century,” Historical Studies in Education, 14, 1 (Spring, 2002): 17-18.

[10] ibid

[11] Nicholas, “Modern Girls and Machines: Cars, Projectors and Publicity,” in The Modern Girl: Feminine Modernities, The Body, and Commodities in the 1920s, Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2015: 184-210.

[12]Brym, Robert J., and John Lie. Sociology: Your Compass for a New World. 5th ed. Vol. 1. Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2007. 282.

[13] ibid

[14] ibid

[15]Brym, Robert J., and John Lie. Sociology: Your Compass for a New World. 5th ed. Vol. 1. Belmont, CA: Thomson/Wadsworth, 2007. 283.