Flapper girls from the 1920s are a Western manifestation of a much larger social phenomenon.

When capitalism hits a certain point values quickly shift from traditional to consumer-capitalist. This is because traditional institutions can no longer guarantee success or security.

Flapper girls and the global counterparts are the female early adopters of capitalist values (individualism, consumerism, hedonism). Their newfound wealth allows them to create a parallel idea of ideal femininity that soon overtakes traditional notions of ideal womanhood.

In the early years of China's factory boom, women were stigmatized for leaving villages to go to the cities. Tradition valued female chastity and saw these women, far from home and family, as suspect. At first only the poorest and most desperate women went due to this stigma.

How once their pay cheques hit home (often out earning their fathers and brothers combined) everything changed. They went from the bottom of their family to the top, they were viewed as stylish and worldly. Often pursued by men seeking an entry into the lucrative city economy.

Very soon women who chose to remain on the family farm, the chaste and virtuous ones seen as good wife material were at the bottom of the new capitalist hierarchy. Their refusal to go to the city was seen as laziness. They were seen as uncultured and small minded.

This rapid shift in values has happened or is currently happening everywhere. USA's flappers, Japan's 'modern girls, and so forth are the pop-culture manifestation of the early trailblazers.

In some cases traditional structure don't break down but embrace aspects of the 'modern girl' image. University education was once seen as a liability in Indian women in finding an arranged marriage husband.

Today, daughter-in-laws with degrees is seen as a sign of sophistication and upward mobility. Families who once discouraged university education in women now force mediocre performers through it not for knowledge or earning potential but to find a good husband.