Southern belles?
 

As a northern born girl and having been raised in a part of Florida that does not have a particularly ” southern” cultural identity, I've always been curious about southern belles. What makes a southern lady a belle? Is it just a term of endearment, or is there more to it?

.....are there still traditional southern belles? I'm from Mississippi, but from my understanding a southern belle is: a beautiful, upperclass lady, she has perfect manners and refrains from any unpleasant talk, she always wears a dress (she would never wear pants), she is always polite to everyone, etc.

That being said, in modern usage, a belle is simply a beautiful woman and typically involves being present into society...so, your typical prom queen would be a belle.

Oh. My. More to it? OF COURSE there is ever so much more to it!! There is the grace and ability to tell someone to go to hell such that they look forward to the trip. There is the pearl clutch and the somewhat outdated swoon. It is the ability to drop the temperature in the room by 20 degrees with only a cold stare. It is understanding the importance of the Mason Dixon line.

Watch most of the episodes of Designing Women or read Maryln Schwartz's updated version of A Southern Belle Primer

Of course, many of us grew up on the original version, which I find to be more authentic.

....where is the like button at for this post?

And some Southern Belles are Southern debutantes. For example, a recent list of debs from Hattiesburg, Mississippi is at

http://www.hattiesburgamerican.com/a...TYLE/112110301

The list provides, where applicable, the sorority affiliation (NPC, I think, in all or nearly all instances) of the debs.

I think that at least half must be Tri Delts!

Seems like all the debs are in tri delta, chi omega, or kappa delta.

The majority, yes; but notice that Pi Phi and DG are represented in the list, too. The sorority memberships would probably be different in other Southern cities / regions where a different set of colleges would be the ones that most debs attend.

A lot of them are Tri Delts, KD's or Chi O's, but you have to take in consideration that those are the 3 largest/most powerful sororities here at USM.

White? I've known some AA women who are just as much a Southern belle.
A Southern belle knows what to do at a white-tie-and-tails event and at a hog killin' and how to dress properly for both. :p

Why, goodness sakes alive, yes!

HAHAHAHA! That's amazing!!!!


Thanks to everyone for a great info and reading suggestions! My fascination with this subject is that I live in what I consider to be "southern limbo". There isn't a lot of deep south tradition or heritage (that I know of) down here in the Tampa Bay area because almost everyone is a transplant from the Northeast (or REALLLLLY old! Usually both...). However, it's southern enough that seeing trucks with confederate flags and decals of cartoon characters urinating on rival sports teams is a common occurrence.

does NOT = southern

Get a subscription to Southern Living.

Psst...the OP is from Florida. According to the last map I looked at, that's kinda not north. In fact it's kinda southish...geographicly, not culturally. :p

Depends on the part of Florida - western panhandle is southern. It becomes less and less southern ironically enough the further south you go. Also, living in Florida does not make one a Floridian/southerner. MANY residents are in fact refugees from the Snow Belt. I lived in Niceville and Melbourne for a big ol' hunk of my childhood. Native Floridians are a rare breed - our op says she was born in the north although raised in FL.

Even now, "Southern Belle" is code for wealthy white woman, whether or not we want to admit it. "The Southern Belle Primer" is meant to be satire, and can be a good one or two-time read, but it's very thinly veiled classism.

By limiting femininity to wealth and race, the "Southern Belle" label leaves out those women who don't know what to do at a white tie event. (I'm thinking of Celia Foote from "The Help," who would have known what to wear at a hog killing). It's allowed women to pass judgement on other women who don't come from the same privileged backgrounds, all in the name of "being proper." It was bestowed on white women who had the fortune to be born into a wealthy family and the means to marry into another wealthy one--a woman who's always had the means to volunteer without working, to be part of a sorority when even college was nearly impossible for most women, and a woman who didn't have to take care of their own home. No more, no less.

I've often wondered if the obsession with SEC rush I see here on GC is an outgrowth of that. They're concerned with the women whom a very small part of society deems properly feminine.

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I am a Native Floridian (6 generations on one side!), and where I grew up is certainly the South: for better and for worse.

right there with you! woop woop

i am also a florida native. we can trace my people back 8 generations in northern florida.

to the op, i know plenty of people living in your area who can also trace their florida lineage back multiple generations, although we have plenty of transplants too. and florida/the south does not have a monopoly on pickup trucks emblazoned with confederate flags-i have seen them waaaaaay up north. ignorance is everywhere.

I don't know that "concern" is the word - more that it's so surreal for the majority of people that they like hearing about it, the same way people watch My Super Sweet 16 and shows like that. It's not something that will ever happen in your life.

I mean I like reading and talking about it (just like I occasionally watch MSSS) but I know I would not last 2.5 seconds in one of those rush parties, let alone being in one of the chapters. :p We have chapters that are plenty "Southern" enough for my taste without even being in the SEC.

That makes me sad...

Repping DG debs right here! And I agree with almost every single post on this thread. I don't think I've laughed so hard all day. :)

bum