Bernice Bobs Her Hair

During the end of the eighteenth century and early nineteen century, the characters and values of women in society were drastically changing. With the rise of the First World War, women gained a sort of independence and modernism that dragged on after the war was over. As the new generation of women was sticking to this modernism, the older generation of females resented this alteration. In the story “Bernice Bobs Her Hair,” the major issue that troubled some women in society was that of becoming modernized. The character and style of the older generation was now being looked down upon by the new generation of women that were more independent, flirtatious, and outgoing. The notion of fitting into this society became crucial to most.
In the beginning of the story, Bernice was described as “sorta dopeless” and “no fun on a party.” [pg 4] She was far from ever becoming a “gardenia girl,” who was “too gay and fickle.” [pg 5] Her beauty and kindness was no match for the young bachelors that were craving what all the other men wanted: fun and popular girls. She was, as her cousin Marjorie described, “the womanly woman!” that men found as nothing more but “weak, whining, cowardly mass of affections!” This was, the typical view of the women of the older generation, which lived in a greatly influenced male dominant society, such as that of Mrs. Harvey, who grew up during an era where “young ladies who belonged to nice families had glorious times.” [pg 5] Bernice was brought up “on novels in which the female was beloved because of certain mysterious woman qualities, always mentioned but never displayed.” [pg 4] She was brought up as an ideal woman, but that image was no longer true. Little did Bernice know that she was far from being a modern female in her society. The men were known for not liking her and would just “stand being bored” in her presence. Warren “wondered idly whether she was a poor conversationalist because she got no attention or got no attention because she was a poor conversationalist.” [pg3] As one can see by this quote, a women’s grace was no longer yearned for by the opposite sex, as a matter of fact, these qualities of women were nothing more but jaded. In this society that Bernice was introduced to while visiting her cousin, she never really fit in due to the great difference of character in which she carried herself in. The respectful and loving women that were once idyllic to the past generations, no longer stood at the top of the women’s social pyramid. Bernice would have to change her character and style before men could even come to notice her. Probably, like most women would face these pressures of society and the urgency to fit in, they put themselves through a sort of transformation before attaining this goal. For example, Bernice went to the extremes of “bobbing her hair” even though she knew “it would be ugly as sin.” [pg 17] The bobbing of her hair was a catastrophic last minute decision, since she had to attend a dance that was dedicated to her and her cousin Marjorie, by the woman whom bobbing of the hair was “her pet abomination.” [pg 18] This only comes to show the extremes of the women in order to just fit in to society. To change their character, persona, and qualities, would seem absurd to many, but to these women, it was a must.
The image of ideal women continues to change throughout time. Though, the need to fit into society still remains crucial to most people. The extremes that many people go through just to attain this recognition in society, results in the creation of a mass that are not true to themselves and are not contained in true character. “Bernice Bobs Her Hair,” is just another story that emphasizes the point just stated. Now whether or not this still remains true, is up to you to judge the authenticity of the work just provided.