The Flapper and the Joven Moderna

Chapter 2 studies how the flapper, the archetypical modern girl, was construed by popular culture in the 1920s and 1930s. Mass media was engaged in a debate about the defining traits of the American flapper and her Argentine counterpart. While the flapper inhabited a distant land, the joven moderna combined popular fashions and mannerisms both foreign and domestic. Portrayed as an upper-class character, she went beyond the traditional female role of the devoted daughter. An oversimplified media construction, the Argentine flapper alerted the public of the dangerous effects of international consumer capitalism and Americanization on gender and national identity.