FLAPPERS Short Skirts, cigarettes, bobbed hair, beer, bathtub gin and being wild are all characteristics of the flapper, a woman who did not conform to or follow society's ways. The name flapper originated when women and young girls wore their boots unlaced or unbuckled and the boots would make a flapping sound when they walked. Flappers attended speakeasys and joints which were nightclubs that sold alcohol illegally due to prohibition (sees the 18th Amendment to the Constitution), followed society's latest fashions and trends, and went on unchaperoned dates with men! Flappers also had their own slang and style of speaking. Some of the most famous flappers included Josephine Baker, Babe Didrikson Zaharias, Mae West, and even Betty Boop. Flappers, however, are not confined to just the 1920s, at least the idea. Today, cutting your hair or wearing a short skirt doesn't quite have the same rebellious implication, but modernize it some, take that sense of rebellion and the Flapper is still with us. Who can you think of that may be an example of a 21st century Flapper? The portrait is of Louise Brooks, a silent film actress, who was the Flapper "poster girl."