One positive aspect was that women were voting for the first time in history. "The new focus on body image and sexual appeal intensified concerns about hygiene. People began regularly using toothbrushes, deodorants, and cosmetics. They bathed more often than before and shaved more closely. Tanned, thin women and muscular men became the new standards of health and sexual attractiveness- (Sherman 757). Young men and women went on unchaperoned dates, resulting in "necking- and "making whoopee."" The twenties can definitely be described as roaring. The youth was rebelling, which changed the world dramatically.
Ernest Hemingway was born in Oak Park, Illinois, on July 21, 1899. After high school, rather than attending college, Hemingway went to work as a journalist for the Kansas City Star Newspaper. He was also a Red Cross ambulance driver during World War I, but was severely wounded. After recovering from his wound in Italy, Hemingway settled in Paris, France, where his serious writing career began. In American literature Hemingway stressed two key principles: one, the importance of authentic experience in his work and two, the "Hemingway Hero- (IGD). The "Hemingway Hero- is the character who plays the game of life, even though defeat is inevitable. The Sun Also Rises was Hemingway's first major novel published in 1926.
Francis Scott Fitzgerald was born September 24, 1896 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Unlike Hemingway who went straight to work, Fitzgerald attended Princeton University for a few years before dropping out in 1917. He then married a flapper, Zelda Sayre. Fitzgerald is credited with possibly even naming this era "The Jazz Age."" His writing techniques portrayed the wonderfully, fun times of the 20's, but at the same time predicted the grim future; that everything good must come to an end. F. Scott Fitzgerald focused on the American dream and this is apparent in his novel masterpiece, The Great Gatsby.