I haven’t heard many perspectives on GWTW from white women that explore the film critically rather than defending it. I appreciate that. I did my bachelor’s research methods paper on the reaction of Black people to the book and film through Black newspapers. I also read The Wind Done Gone which I found important and engaging. As a lifelong white nonbinary Midwest northerner, I know my experiences and perspectives are different. What I thought of from reading this is how to put the different experiences of white and Black women in conversation with each other. I think what you describe about what Scarlett taught you about your body is similar but also very different from what I’ve heard from Black women. Black girls and women are taught that they are supposed to be concerned with being considered “fast” from a young age. Black women are constantly sexualized and objectified but I feel like our US culture ascribes them less agency over their sexuality and more responsibility for what others perceive than white women. And there is an ongoing contrast between white and Black womanhood. I think this is what we see in Mammy being desexualized but still her body as her labor and loyalty being essential to her character. Similarly with Prissy’s famous line “I ain’t never birthed no babies” being a reflection of the character of deceit and manipulation associated with Black womanhood while Scarlett’s use of lying and manipulation is considered genteel and not generally labeled that way. We call it flirting and persuasive. These double standards rely on a positive idealized white womanhood focused on purity and virtue and a Black womanhood that is inherently corrupt. White supremacy requires creating and maintaining a hierarchy of subordinate values. As many Black activists, particularly women, have said better this is why we can’t eradicate anti-Blackness without also eradicating white supremacy.
You are so right, Amy! I really wrestled with whether to include the representations of womanhood seen in Mammy and Prissy as the "other" against which Scarlett bounced. Your insights here are strong, and I'm grateful for them.
Love this notion of putting critical White and Black feminist readings of the film next to each other, Amy. Your bachelor's research also sounds super fascinating.
Excellent piece that certainly resonates. I was all of 15 when NBC finally bagged the rights to televise GWTW for the first time (Two nights over Thanksgiving Weekend because Wizard of Oz and Ben Hur
-- edit: Ten Commandments. One of the Hestons at any rate! -- had the lock on Easter and Passover respectively.) and the publicity blitz made this last week's Barbenheimer fest look quiet by comparison. So in preparation, I read the novel over several lunchtimes in my school library. I felt so mature tackling a 1000+ page book! And as younger people often do, I read and re-read and read again. It's distressing how much of it still stays with me and how many references are still on tap when the need arises.
Over time, I came to appreciate the slightly subversive quality of a few passages, where Mitchell consciously or unconsciously nailed the Confederacy dead to rights. There's Rhett's "cotton and arrogance" speech at the Wilkes BBQ where he sees the future defeat quite clearly and brutally. Then there's Scarlett's inner-monologue at the post-war gathering in Atlanta where she sits in her ruined green velvet dress stewing over her humiliation at the Yankee jail earlier in the day. As she inventories the threadbare and impoverished people around her still acting out a semblance of pre-war status luxury, she comes to the realization that for her there's no ingrained nobility and only money will make her feel secure again. A similar scene on a porch where she's rolling her eyes and fuming in boredom as veterans begin their war stories again and then she sees the grandchildren on their laps drinking it in. Finally, and most cynically, when Rhett realizes he and Scarlett have pretty much failed at belonging to Atlanta society and this will impact Bonnie's prospects, he launches his social climb back in with a generous donation to the women's group that's "beautifying the graves of our Glorious Dead."
There's another southern female archetype in the book: the one that no Southern or Southern-adjacent girl would want to be. Well, except one: In Dorothy Allison's 1992 novel Bastard Out of Carolina, the lead character Bone reads Gone With the Wind and seethes with anger at its world of class and wealth. It's Emmy Slattery, recipient of Ellen's regal charity and Scarlett's insults, that Bone bonds with.
Oh, for sure, I thought long and hard about coming at this from a class perspective instead of focusing on womanhood. It's such a product of the Depression! And yes, Emmy Slattery and Mammy's loud and repeated proclamations about who was and wasn't White Trash was definitely on my list of THINGS I WISH I COULD HAVE INCLUDED. So much to mine in this one. (PS: Gotta love Dorothy Allison!)
I appreciate you wrestling with the passages where Mitchell has characters poke holes in or subvert Confederate narratives-- I agree that those are some of the most fascinating parts of GWTW, because they say a lot (I'd argue) about how Mitchell viewed herself-- as being a Southerner who could defend the South but also hold herself separate from it (this particular stance-- of "I'm not implicated in this fully if I can critique it" is something I've tried to think a lot about as I've been working on my own book).
Also: This made me want to read Bastard Out of Carolina. Totally agreed that Emmy Slattery is a super fascinating character.
Thanks Sara for sharing this! As a Chattanoogan transplant, I understand this context of so many White women wanting to be a Scarlett. Have you seen the Ted Talk by another Chattanoogan who was the costume designer for Mad Men--hers is titled "Scarlett O'Hara, my life coach" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZT6-pd_b_kE (I should add that I critique it in in an essay, but that's another story :))
Yes, I am. Let's get together! I just had coffee with Chelsea (now Director at SoLit) and send her your essay. Please send me an email at sybil-baker@utc.edu and let's catch up!
I haven’t heard many perspectives on GWTW from white women that explore the film critically rather than defending it. I appreciate that. I did my bachelor’s research methods paper on the reaction of Black people to the book and film through Black newspapers. I also read The Wind Done Gone which I found important and engaging. As a lifelong white nonbinary Midwest northerner, I know my experiences and perspectives are different. What I thought of from reading this is how to put the different experiences of white and Black women in conversation with each other. I think what you describe about what Scarlett taught you about your body is similar but also very different from what I’ve heard from Black women. Black girls and women are taught that they are supposed to be concerned with being considered “fast” from a young age. Black women are constantly sexualized and objectified but I feel like our US culture ascribes them less agency over their sexuality and more responsibility for what others perceive than white women. And there is an ongoing contrast between white and Black womanhood. I think this is what we see in Mammy being desexualized but still her body as her labor and loyalty being essential to her character. Similarly with Prissy’s famous line “I ain’t never birthed no babies” being a reflection of the character of deceit and manipulation associated with Black womanhood while Scarlett’s use of lying and manipulation is considered genteel and not generally labeled that way. We call it flirting and persuasive. These double standards rely on a positive idealized white womanhood focused on purity and virtue and a Black womanhood that is inherently corrupt. White supremacy requires creating and maintaining a hierarchy of subordinate values. As many Black activists, particularly women, have said better this is why we can’t eradicate anti-Blackness without also eradicating white supremacy.
You are so right, Amy! I really wrestled with whether to include the representations of womanhood seen in Mammy and Prissy as the "other" against which Scarlett bounced. Your insights here are strong, and I'm grateful for them.
Love this notion of putting critical White and Black feminist readings of the film next to each other, Amy. Your bachelor's research also sounds super fascinating.
Excellent piece that certainly resonates. I was all of 15 when NBC finally bagged the rights to televise GWTW for the first time (Two nights over Thanksgiving Weekend because Wizard of Oz and Ben Hur
-- edit: Ten Commandments. One of the Hestons at any rate! -- had the lock on Easter and Passover respectively.) and the publicity blitz made this last week's Barbenheimer fest look quiet by comparison. So in preparation, I read the novel over several lunchtimes in my school library. I felt so mature tackling a 1000+ page book! And as younger people often do, I read and re-read and read again. It's distressing how much of it still stays with me and how many references are still on tap when the need arises.
Over time, I came to appreciate the slightly subversive quality of a few passages, where Mitchell consciously or unconsciously nailed the Confederacy dead to rights. There's Rhett's "cotton and arrogance" speech at the Wilkes BBQ where he sees the future defeat quite clearly and brutally. Then there's Scarlett's inner-monologue at the post-war gathering in Atlanta where she sits in her ruined green velvet dress stewing over her humiliation at the Yankee jail earlier in the day. As she inventories the threadbare and impoverished people around her still acting out a semblance of pre-war status luxury, she comes to the realization that for her there's no ingrained nobility and only money will make her feel secure again. A similar scene on a porch where she's rolling her eyes and fuming in boredom as veterans begin their war stories again and then she sees the grandchildren on their laps drinking it in. Finally, and most cynically, when Rhett realizes he and Scarlett have pretty much failed at belonging to Atlanta society and this will impact Bonnie's prospects, he launches his social climb back in with a generous donation to the women's group that's "beautifying the graves of our Glorious Dead."
There's another southern female archetype in the book: the one that no Southern or Southern-adjacent girl would want to be. Well, except one: In Dorothy Allison's 1992 novel Bastard Out of Carolina, the lead character Bone reads Gone With the Wind and seethes with anger at its world of class and wealth. It's Emmy Slattery, recipient of Ellen's regal charity and Scarlett's insults, that Bone bonds with.
Oh, for sure, I thought long and hard about coming at this from a class perspective instead of focusing on womanhood. It's such a product of the Depression! And yes, Emmy Slattery and Mammy's loud and repeated proclamations about who was and wasn't White Trash was definitely on my list of THINGS I WISH I COULD HAVE INCLUDED. So much to mine in this one. (PS: Gotta love Dorothy Allison!)
Follow up essay!!!
I appreciate you wrestling with the passages where Mitchell has characters poke holes in or subvert Confederate narratives-- I agree that those are some of the most fascinating parts of GWTW, because they say a lot (I'd argue) about how Mitchell viewed herself-- as being a Southerner who could defend the South but also hold herself separate from it (this particular stance-- of "I'm not implicated in this fully if I can critique it" is something I've tried to think a lot about as I've been working on my own book).
Also: This made me want to read Bastard Out of Carolina. Totally agreed that Emmy Slattery is a super fascinating character.
Thanks Sara for sharing this! As a Chattanoogan transplant, I understand this context of so many White women wanting to be a Scarlett. Have you seen the Ted Talk by another Chattanoogan who was the costume designer for Mad Men--hers is titled "Scarlett O'Hara, my life coach" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZT6-pd_b_kE (I should add that I critique it in in an essay, but that's another story :))
Oooh, thanks for the heads up on that, Sybil. I haven't seen it! And wow, fancy running into you here! Are you still at UTC?
Good people in Chattanooga connection!!!
Yes, I am. Let's get together! I just had coffee with Chelsea (now Director at SoLit) and send her your essay. Please send me an email at sybil-baker@utc.edu and let's catch up!
Just started watching this Ted Talk-- and immediately it made me want to read your critique, Sybil!