Southern belle
Southern belle
The Southern belle (derived from the French word belle, 'beautiful') is a stock character representing a young woman of the American South's upper socioeconomic class.
Origin
Sallie Ward, a Southern belle
The image of the Southern belle developed in the South during the antebellum era. It was based on the young, unmarried woman in the plantation-owning upper class of Southern society.[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]
For example, Sallie Ward, who was born into the Southern aristocracy of Kentucky in the Antebellum South, was called a Southern belle.[3]
Criticism
The Southern belle archetype has been criticized as part of an overall idealization of the Antebellum era American South in popular culture.[4][5] Slavery figured strongly into the region's economy during the plantation era. In turn, the image of the idyllic Southern plantation is considered by many to be insensitive to the plight of slaves.[6]
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.
Southern belles have also been featured in The Birth of a Nation, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Glass Menagerie, Jezebel, The Little Foxes, Fried Green Tomatoes, Wacky Races, Steel Magnolias, and Sweet Home Alabama.
Daisy Duke of Dukes of Hazzard is a southern belle in the show.
Peggy Hill is the self proclaimed southern belle on the Texas based animated series King of the Hill.
The X-Men member Rogue (aka Anna Marie) is the team's self-described Southern belle and comes from the fictitious Caldecott County, Mississippi.
In Mighty Magiswords, Penny Plasm, undead ghost who dresses in stereotypical Southern Belle.
In the Sonic the Hedgehog comics, Bunnie Rabbot, a female cyborg rabbit is a southern belle.
Cindy Bear is a southern belle bear from the Hanna-Barbera animated series The Yogi Bear Show.
See also
Scarlett O'Hara, the most famous fictional Southern belle.
Rogue, the X-Men's southern belle member.
Penelope Pitstop, the fictional southern belle from Wacky Races and The Perils of Penelope Pitstop.