“I’ll do what I want”

Flapper Zelda Sayre discusses her views and opinions on prohibition, women, and the Lost Generation.

 

Interview with famous Flapper: Zelda Sayre

By: Isha Kara

 

Isha: So Zelda, I understand that you are the wife of F. Scott Fitzgerald?

 

Mrs. Sayre: Yes I am indeed.

 

Isha: So I know you’re one of the most popular flappers around, but why do you choose to dress the way you do, and act the way you do?

 

Mrs. Sayre: I choose to dress the way I am and talk the way I do because it is who I am. I choose to be me, whether some folks call me unladylike or not, this is who I am. My husband loves me and I’m happy. I’m not only doing this for myself or for attention, if that’s what you may be wondering. I’m celebrating women all over the nation by behaving the way I do. We’ve won this fight for our rights and have declared our own independence. Because we have done this, we should also be able to express how independent we are by doing what we want and dressing how we want. No one, especially men, should have control over us.

 

Isha: Very well said, Mrs. Sayre, I could not have agreed more. With that said, how do you feel about prohibition?

 

Mrs. Sayre: I hate it. It is that simple. Prohibition is not doing anything good. We are just sitting around depressed not being able to drink and for what? The government wants to better our nation and frown upon women like me, when all they are really doing is worsening the problem by trying to fix it. Nothing they do will stop us from drinking or “better” us, and they have the war to blame for that, not the people.

 

Isha: Do you believe that Ernest Hemingway is right in calling us “The Lost Generation”?

 

Mrs. Sayre: Ernest Hemingway and my husband are great friends, but I don’t trust the man, nor do I like him. That man is a drunk and a terrible influence on America’s youth. He knows nothing of what he’s talking about. In fact, he was probably intoxicated while writing that. He has no right in calling us “The Lost Generation,” we just had a war. People have lost loved ones and do not know how to cope with such grief, and he has the audacity to make a mockery of that?

 

Isha: Well that is enough for today. Thank you for agreeing to this Interview. It is much appreciated Mrs. Zelda Sayre. Best of luck to you and your husband.

 

Mrs. Sayre: Of course, anytime. It was nice to meet you.