The History Of

Throughout time, southern belles have represented the ideal southern women, containing qualities such as: fragility, flirtatiousness, sexual innocence, beauty, and charm. These characteristics made southern belles the perfect voiceless women who are not able to truly stand in her own power. However, southern belles have become much more than their commonly known submissiveness and materialism.

Before the Civil War, southern belles started as the average unassertive women. Operating only as wives, mothers, and societal moral compasses, southern belles were dependent on men to protect them and their families. They supported and allowed the men to have a sense of valor and gallantry. Nevertheless, these women found their own ways to gain power. Ministers encouraged southern belles to donate their time to help charities and the less fortunate through social groups. Such groups served as a way for self empowerment, because they were able to observe society rather than contribute to societal expectations. Through these groups, southern belles were also able to form their own unprejudiced opinions. Their newfound knowledge led them to form groups that supported common problems, such as their husbands' alcohol abuse. Selfsufficiency was not only prevalent through this.

Originally, southern belles received very little education, but slowly, their education grew.

At ages 12-14, girls were sent to boarding schools where they would learn etiquette and recieve an education, presenting an important opportunity for them. At these schools, the idea of submission to men was not important, giving women the ability to find themselves. Young girls were able to have a peer group they identified with and could talk intellectually with. Even though southern belles eventually returned to society and the normal social position, they still had more education and a larger stance socially.

During the Civil War, southern belles’ roles in society shifted largely. With the men away, the women no longer had protection that they assumed was needed. They also had to step into the jobs and roles that men had, forcing them to do jobs that they never imagined. Eventually, they found themselves with more work than the men had ever been doing. As the war ended, men returned home with the thought that women would return to their previous domestic state. Luckily, the women did not do so. The traditional roles had changed too much for them to return to their previous state. Suffrage movements and education for women began to sweep through the South, affecting their mindsets as well. The traditional values like femininity and loyalty still remained instilled in the southern belles, but they began to make their own choices. The journey of the southern belles through time altered the traditional viewpoint of belles and created the strong, independent women of the South.