The Modern Image of the Southern Belle

To be honest, I encountered with the revival of the southern belle image a couple of years ago. Browsing on the internet for another home assignment I found a really fascinating article that catched my attention: http://www.lareecarucker.com/pages/southernbelle.htm . This article not only calls our attention on the reenactment of Natchez, Mississippi, but also on the alteration of the Southern belle's image. The article claims, that the image of the Southern belle is adapted to the 21st century's life. The Southern belle is today a career-minded and independent woman, who traded hoop skirts for T-shirts. What is more, the term is not applicable on white women only, since a true Southern belle mind her manners and treats equally all races and minorities. This way the Southern belle figure became a more inclusive term, depending rather on one's value system and manners than skin colour. Although, the recent belles do not live on plantations, nowadays Southern little girls are still taught to be Southern ladies. They are raised up to be gracious, charming and well-bred. A belle must be proud to come from a good family since the family background is one of the most distinguishing characteristic of a lady.The author of the article also highlights the plasticity of the idea of the Southern belle, since the media  ruins the image a lot. It is not only formed by the mass media but seriously threatened as well. Still, the article ends positively, hoping that the Southern belle image is going to be passed on to the future generation as a cultural heritage.

Works Consulted:
 Rucker, LaReeca. "Southern belle: Refinement Redefined." 20 February 2012. <http://www.lareecarucker.com/pages/southernbelle.htm>.