Ask most people what movie captures the classic Southern Belle, and most would answer, “Gone with the Wind”. Which is not surprising considering Hollywood’s role in perpetuating an idealized image of Southern white womanhood. However, while Gone with the Wind captures some aspects of the Southern Belle amid romanticized views of the Civil War South, filmgoers have a greater understanding of Southern womanhood when their repertoire is balanced out with the harsher aspects of Southern culture found in The Color Purple and The Help. By comparing the women of all three films to scholastic resources on Southern Belles, viewers can find that despite class and racial boundaries, they all embrace some of the strongest qualities of the Southern Belle,
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Some are the daughters of gentlemen farmers, relying on slaves or black help to maintain their lifestyle. Others are slaves or descendants of slaves, living a life of servitude to those who often see them as less than equal. How is it possible that such a diverse group of women could share traits of the Southern Belle label? In “The Women Left Behind: Transformation of the Southern Belle, 1840-1880” Alexis Girardin Brown writes, “…some historians have identified the Southern white woman as a victim of slave society... Others perceive the Southern Belle as a highly educated woman caught in a silent struggle to improve her status. Both views demonstrate a perception of the growing strength within Southern women and their burgeoning desire to create their own definition of self” (760-761). While the women of both films varied in race and education, it can be argued that each one is in some way a victim of the society they lived in, none of them truly free, even if that degree of freedom varies. For instance, in Gone with the Wind Scarlett’s wants and dreams are considered unfeminine. Scarlett defies social customs by doing such activities as dancing while in mourning and running her own lumber business rather than letting her husband take control, and in return, much of polite society shuns her. The black women of The Color Purple and The Help are no longer living in a time of slavery, but there are strict rules in regards to race relations that must be followed. Viewers see the severe consequences of breaking those rules when Sofia talks back to the white mayor and his wife in The Color Purple. Not only is she beaten, but also jailed for many years and is later forced to serve the people she once tried to defy. These are all examples of how these women are victims, which fit with the first half of Brown’s statement. Instances where they also meet the
Some are the daughters of gentlemen farmers, relying on slaves or black help to maintain their lifestyle. Others are slaves or descendants of slaves, living a life of servitude to those who often see them as less than equal. How is it possible that such a diverse group of women could share traits of the Southern Belle label? In “The Women Left Behind: Transformation of the Southern Belle, 1840-1880” Alexis Girardin Brown writes, “…some historians have identified the Southern white woman as a victim of slave society... Others perceive the Southern Belle as a highly educated woman caught in a silent struggle to improve her status. Both views demonstrate a perception of the growing strength within Southern women and their burgeoning desire to create their own definition of self” (760-761). While the women of both films varied in race and education, it can be argued that each one is in some way a victim of the society they lived in, none of them truly free, even if that degree of freedom varies. For instance, in Gone with the Wind Scarlett’s wants and dreams are considered unfeminine. Scarlett defies social customs by doing such activities as dancing while in mourning and running her own lumber business rather than letting her husband take control, and in return, much of polite society shuns her. The black women of The Color Purple and The Help are no longer living in a time of slavery, but there are strict rules in regards to race relations that must be followed. Viewers see the severe consequences of breaking those rules when Sofia talks back to the white mayor and his wife in The Color Purple. Not only is she beaten, but also jailed for many years and is later forced to serve the people she once tried to defy. These are all examples of how these women are victims, which fit with the first half of Brown’s statement. Instances where they also meet the