Date of Award
1-1-2023
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
M.A. in English
First Advisor
Leigh Anne Duck
Second Advisor
Kathryn McKee
Third Advisor
Jaime Harker
School
University of Mississippi
Relational Format
dissertation/thesis
Abstract
“The Politics of Being a Black Southern Belle” aims to examine media representations of Black womanhood and femininity. This thesis particularly focuses on how Black women redefine the southern belle. Film and television depictions of a national (implicitly white) femininity and womanhood have historically excluded Black women. To illuminate this history, the first chapter primarily provides background on historical representations of Black women in film. American standards of womanhood and femininity have been defined according to hegemonic culture—a culture predicated on race, class, and gender. The second chapter moves into an analysis of how Black women redefine the southern belle on shows like the Real Housewives of Atlanta and Belle Collective. The final and third chapter examines how the southern belle, womanhood, and femininity are redefined via gender, sexuality/sexual expressivity, and performance. This thesis is interested in the ways in which Black women contest these standards through their performance of the southern belle. The politics of being a southern belle are associated with how well one performs stereotypes of femininity and womanhood according to standards defined by Whiteness. The politics of being a Black southern belle are associated with how well one parodies (implicitly White) standards of femininity and womanhood in ways that subvert historically controlling images.
Recommended Citation
Johnson, Latrice M., "The Politics of Being a Black Southern Belle" (2023). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2525.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/etd/2525