“Bernice Bobs Her Hair” is largely a discussion of the value of femininity, and of what society expects of a young woman in 1920s America. Nearly every character in this story, major or minor, holds some opinion on the matter—and both Bernice and Marjorie evaluate themselves against the traditional feminine standard, to different conclusions. Fitzgerald uses this very difference to underscore the struggle that teenage girls faced in 1920: that is, being forced to define themselves as a demographic while lacking the maturity to do so in a healthy way. The older model of femininity, represented by Marjorie’s mother, Mrs. Harvey, values women who are delicate, quiet, and marriage-minded. By the 1920s, this approach had become useless in preparing young women for the world. However, the new model that Marjorie represents—aiming to shock, amuse, and allure as many boys as possible—tends to reward only personalities like hers, and offers only shallow rewards at that. Bernice can find no comfortable place between these two extremes, and both sides threaten unpleasant consequences if she fails to conform. Ultimately, Fitzgerald doesn’t propose a solution to this problem, but shows, in Bernice, the impossibility of perfectly conforming to society’s standards of femininity.
