Behind the Flappers: How 4 decades of women really look like

After watching countless renditions of videos depicting women through the ages, Karolina Żebrowska decided to make her own, but with a difference – accuracy.

Annoyed by the lack of real women representations in such videos, the Polish film student decided to make her version comparing the contemporary stereotypes to the real women of the eras.

The result was a short two-minute video that breezed through 40 years of beauty and fashion, juxtaposed with the darker side of women’s history. From the 1900s to 1940s, Żebrowska portrays the romanticised woman of the decade before drawing the viewer’s attention to the plain and sometimes chilling realties.

At the end of the video, Żebrowska left viewers with a plain and simple message: “Please, don’t forget real women”

Żebrowska’s thought-provoking video forces us to recall the turbulent times and the women that were at the frontlines, fighting for the future that is our today. It reminds us that women are more than just the beauty and fashion of the era. Instead, our predecessors possessed a quiet strength that some of us may have taken for granted.

While she may not have started out with the intention, Żebrowska certainly made one heck of an empowering video.

Amanda Lim

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