Editing Lost Generation (section)

====Young women in the 1910s and 1920s====
[[File:Women in the First World War Q110080.jpg|thumb|left|A young woman burning a cable for scrap at a shipbuilding yard in [[Glasgow]] during World War I.]]
Though soldiers on the frontlines of the First World War were exclusively men, women contributed to the war effort in other ways. Many took the jobs men had left in previously male-dominated sectors such as heavy industry, while some even took on non-combat military roles. Many, particularly wealthier women, took part in voluntary work to contribute to the war effort or to help those suffering due to it, such as the wounded or refugees. Often they were experiencing manual labor for the first time. However, this reshaping of the female role led to fears that the sexes having the same responsibilities would disrupt the fabric of society and that more competition for work would leave men unemployed and erode their pay. Most women had to exit the employment they had taken during the war as soon as it concluded.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rowbotham |first=Shiela |date=11 November 2018 |title=Women and the First World War: a taste of freedom |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/11/women-first-world-war-taste-of-freedom |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210507044631/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/nov/11/women-first-world-war-taste-of-freedom |archive-date=7 May 2021 |access-date=21 May 2021 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Women in World War I |url=https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object-groups/women-in-wwi |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191031170204/https://americanhistory.si.edu/collections/object-groups/women-in-wwi |archive-date=31 October 2019 |access-date=21 May 2021 |website=National Museum of American History |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Women's Mobilization for War (France) |url=https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/womens_mobilization_for_war_france |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210521235513/https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/womens_mobilization_for_war_france |archive-date=21 May 2021 |access-date=21 May 2021 |website=encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net}}</ref>

The war also had a personal impact on the lives of female members of the Lost Generation. Many women lost their husbands in the conflict, which frequently meant losing the main breadwinner of the household. However, war widows often received a pension and financial assistance to support their children. Even with some economic support, raising a family alone was often financially difficult and emotionally draining, and women faced losing their pensions if they remarried or were accused of engaging in frowned-upon behavior. In some cases, grief and the other pressures on them drove widows to alcoholism, depression, or suicide.<ref>{{Cite web |title=War Widows |url=https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/war_widows |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210503013745/https://encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net/article/war_widows |archive-date=3 May 2021 |access-date=8 June 2021 |website=encyclopedia.1914-1918-online.net}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=How the First World War affected families (War Widows) |url=https://www.mylearning.org/stories/how-the-first-world-war-affected-families/797 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827121006/https://www.mylearning.org/stories/how-the-first-world-war-affected-families/797 |archive-date=27 August 2021 |access-date=8 June 2021 |website=www.mylearning.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Widows and Orphans |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/defense/energy-government-and-defense-magazines/widows-and-orphans |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210608194522/https://www.encyclopedia.com/defense/energy-government-and-defense-magazines/widows-and-orphans |archive-date=8 June 2021 |access-date=8 June 2021 |website=www.encyclopedia.com}}</ref> Additionally, the large number of men killed in the First World War made it harder for many young women who were still single at the start of conflict to get married; this accelerated a trend towards them gaining greater independence and embarking on careers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=How the First World War affected families (A Generation of 'Surplus Women') |url=https://www.mylearning.org/stories/how-the-first-world-war-affected-families/798 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827121008/https://www.mylearning.org/stories/how-the-first-world-war-affected-families/798 |archive-date=27 August 2021 |access-date=8 June 2021 |website=www.mylearning.org |language=en}}</ref>

Women's gaining of political rights sped up in the Western world after the First World War, while employment opportunities for unmarried women widened. This time period saw the development of a new type of young woman in popular culture known as a flapper, who was known for their rebellion against previous social norms. They had a physically distinctive appearance compared to their predecessors only a few years earlier, cutting their hair into bobs, wearing shorter dresses and more makeup, while taking on a new code of behaviour filled with more recklessness, party-going, and overt sexuality.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Women's Suffrage by Country |url=https://www.infoplease.com/history/womens-history/womens-suffrage |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170309223732/http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0931343.html |archive-date=9 March 2017 |access-date=21 May 2021 |website=www.infoplease.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Mackrell |first=Judith |date=5 February 2018 |title=The 1920s: 'Young women took the struggle for freedom into their personal lives |url=http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/feb/05/the-1920s-young-women-took-the-struggle-for-freedom-into-their-personal-lives |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827121007/https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2018/feb/05/the-1920s-young-women-took-the-struggle-for-freedom-into-their-personal-lives |archive-date=27 August 2021 |access-date=21 May 2021 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Pruitt |first=Sarah |date=17 September 2018 |title=How Flappers of the Roaring Twenties Redefined Womanhood |url=https://www.history.com/news/flappers-roaring-20s-women-empowerment |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210827121102/https://www.history.com/news/flappers-roaring-20s-women-empowerment |archive-date=27 August 2021 |access-date=21 May 2021 |website=HISTORY |language=en}}</ref>