Southern belle

Southern belle (from French belle 'beautiful') is a colloquialism for a debutante in the planter class of the Antebellum South.^[1]

Characteristics

The image of a Southern belle is often characterized by fashion elements such as a hoop skirt, a corset, pantalettes, a wide-brimmed straw hat, and gloves. As signs of tanning were considered working-class and unfashionable during this era, parasols and fans are also often represented.^[1]

Southern belles were expected to marry respectable young men, and become ladies of society dedicated to the family and community.^[1] The Southern belle archetype is characterized by Southern hospitality, a cultivation of beauty, and a flirtatious yet chaste demeanor.^[2]

For example, Sallie Ward, who was born into the planter class of Kentucky in the Antebellum South, was called a Southern belle.^[3]

In popular culture

• During the early 20th century, the release of the novel Gone with the Wind and its film adaptation popularized the image of the Southern belle, particularly in the characters Scarlett O'Hara and Melanie Wilkes.^{[citation needed]}
• Dick Pope Sr., promoter of Florida tourism, played an important role in popularizing the archetypal image.^[4] Hostesses at his famed Cypress Gardens were portrayed as Southern belles in promotional materials for the theme park.^[5]
• In the 1947 play A Streetcar Named Desire, Tennessee Williams dramatizes the experiences of Blanche Dubois, a former Southern belle, who, after encountering a series of personal losses, leaves her once-prosperous situation to move into a shabby apartment in New Orleans rented by her younger sister Stella and brother-in-law Stanley.

See also

• Ringlets, a hairstyle
• Scarlett O'Hara, the most famous fictional Southern belle

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Southern belles.

Look up southern belle in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

This page was last edited on 14 September 2023, at 19:21