Question

How were consumerism and taboo were used to express ones identity in the 1920's?

Answer 1

Due to the prosperity that occurred after the World War l, new patterns of consumerism emerged among the middle class urban population of the U.S. Now automobiles were within the reach of the middle class due to the new credit policy. It also made them to consume more beauty products, clothings, radios etc. This gave rise to materialism among the urban population, they were engaged in behaviors that challenged the existing social norms. They relaxed the restrictive norms by their way of life. Thus, the prosperous middle class Americans expressed their identity during the 1920s.

To the rural Americans this life of urbanites was a threat to their culture and values. So, they taboo the materialism and consumer culture. The generation of artists, writers, poets, and the intellectual, who were called the lost generation, who were disenchanted with the peace and prosperity of U.S due the widespread destruction and carnage that WW l brought saw this consumerism with cynicism, expressed their identities by shunning the consumerism and criticizing it.