The Bob

Freeing themselves from traditional gendered styles encouraged women to cut their long hair and freed them from the complicated hair styles of earlier times. The bob appeared in the US shortly before World War I but really took hold in the 1920s, infuriating the older generation and igniting controversy about gender and appearance with the new androgynous look. Women with bobs needed more frequent haircuts, and wanted permanent waves, ushering in an explosion of beauty parlors that offered dye jobs, perms, and the fashionable new haircuts.