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{{trope}}
[[File:Southern_belle_1472Southern belle 1472.jpg|link=Gone Withwith the Wind|rightframe]]
{{quote|'''Lyons''': Well, Miss Devereaux! And how is the fairest flower of the South?<br />
'''Diana''': Senator Lyons, that's the prettiest thing been said to me since I left Louisiana. I sure been gettin' pow'ful homesick.<br />
'''One of the Girls''': She sure is getting pow'ful Southern.|''[[Of Thee I Sing]]''}}
|''[[Of Thee I Sing]]''}}
 
'''Southern Belle''' is a subculture common in the American South which is associated with upper class white women.
A character archetype of an [[Upperclass Twit|upper class]] [[Rich Bitch|rich girl]] from the [[Deep South]] -- or [[Sweet Home Alabama]]. She usually wears a [[Pimped-Out Dress]] to every [[Dances and Balls|dance or party]], carries a [[Parasol of Prettiness]] in the daytime, and speaks in the most profound [[American Accents|Dixie]] [[Everything Sounds Sexier in French|accent]]. May be subject to [[Fainting]] or saying, "Well, I do declare!"▼
 
▲A character archetype of an [[UpperclassUpper Class Twit|upper class]] [[Rich Bitch|rich girl]] from the [[Deep South]] -- or—or [[Sweet Home Alabama]]. She usually wears a [[Pimped-Out Dress]] to every [[Dances and Balls|dance or party]], carries a [[Parasol of Prettiness]] in the daytime, and speaks in the most profound [[American Accents|Dixie]] [[Everything Sounds Sexier in French|accent]]. May be subject to [[Fainting]] or saying, "Well, I do declare!"
A somewhat subjective [[Trope]] that grew out of the South during [[The American Civil War]], there are two versions of the [[Southern Belle]]: the '''[[Proper Lady|Bonne Belle]]''' ("good beauty" in French), who is loyal to her husband and family even as she sees them off to war, and the '''[[The Vamp|Mauvaise Belle]]''' ("bad beauty" in French), who is selfish and vain and manipulates those around to her get what she wants.▼
 
▲A somewhat subjective [[Trope]] that grew out of the South during [[The American Civil War]], there are two versions of the [[Southern Belle]]: the '''[[Proper Lady|Bonne Belle]]''' ("good beauty" in French), who is loyal to her husband and family even as she sees them off to war, and the '''[[The Vamp|Mauvaise Belle]]''' ("bad beauty" in French), who is selfish and vain and manipulates those around to her get what she wants.
The [[Southern Belle]] is generally now a [[Dead Horse Trope]], usually limited to parody and romance novels.▼
 
▲The [[Southern Belle]] is generally now a [[Dead Horse Trope]], usually limited to parody and romance novels.
 
Compare [[Southern Gentleman]] (the [[Spear Counterpart]]), [[Yamato Nadeshiko]], [[Princess Classic]], [[Proper Lady]] (the Japanese, royal, and European counterparts of Bonne Belle).
 
In [[Real Life]], they sometimes go by (according to [[The Other Wiki]]) "Ya Ya Sisters," "Sweet Potato Queens," and "[[Fun Withwith Acronyms|GRITS (Girls Raised In The South)]]."
 
{{examples}}
 
== [[Anime]] and [[Manga]] ==
* A [[Accent Adaptation|southern accent]] turned [[Ojou|Shizuru Fujino]] into one in ''[[MaiMy-HiME]]'' and ''[[Mai-Otome]]'''s English dub.
* Kiel Heim & Lilly Borjarnon from ''[[Turn aA Gundam (Anime)|Turn a Gundam]]'' appear to have been designed after this archetype.
* In one episode of ''[[Pokémon (Animeanime)|Pokémon]]'', James returns home to his blue-blooded family, who promptly inform him of {{spoiler|his engagement to}} a woman named Jessiebelle, a perfect example of this trope.
* Though in the orginal version she was from [[Kansai Regional Accent|Kansai]], the dub turns Osaka from [[Azumanga Daioh (Manga)|Azumanga Daioh]] into one of these. Her tendancy towards frilly dresses and sunhats mean she looks the part, as well.
 
== [[Comic Books]] ==
* [[X-Men (Comic Book)|Rogue]] in the hands of [[Chris Claremont]].
* Bunnie Rabbot from the ''[[Sonic the Hedgehog (Comic Bookcomics)|Sonic the Hedgehog Archie Comics]]'' is said to be this. There was a scrapped plotline about her origins that would have revealed her real name as Scarlet O'Hare.
 
== [[Film]] ==
* Julie Marsden ([[Bette Davis]]) in ''[[Jezebel]]''. Very much mauvaise {{spoiler|until her [[Heel Face Turn]] at the end.}}
* Everyone from Venus in ''[[The American Astronaut]]'', seriously.
* Charlotte from ''[[The Princess and Thethe Frog]]'', who serves as a [[Foil]] to [[The Protagonist]], Tiana.
* Rosemary Bartlow in ''[[The Bad and The Beautiful]]''.
* Scarlet O'Hara is quite possibly the definitive example in [[Gone Withwith the Wind]].
** With Scarlet's [[The Rival|rival]] Melanie providing the definitive example of the good version.
 
== [[Literature]] ==
* Melanie Hamilton (Bonne Belle) and Scarlett O'Hara (Mauvais Belle) in ''[[Gone Withwith the Wind]]''.
* Daisy Buchanan in ''[[The Great Gatsby]]'' is a Western Belle.
* Mary Johnson of ''Fellow Travelers''. She's rich, from New Orleans, and well-educated for the time period (McCarthy-era Washington). She's also strong-willed and independent, and like so many of the belles on this page, that gets her into trouble.
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* Zin of ''[[Everwild]]'' is the inverted version of this.
* [[The Sookie Stackhouse Mysteries|Sookie Stackhouse]] from the saga of the same name could also qualify.
** Since Sookie has a job as a waitress, she wouldn't really qualify, as [[Southern Belle|Southern Belles]] tend to prefer sittin' on the verandah sippin' a sweet tea.
* Claire Goodman of Lynn Austin's Refiner's Fire trilogy is a Mauvais Belle.
 
== [[Live -Action TV]] ==
* In ''[[Leverage]]'', Sophie Devereaux pretended to be one in "The Two Horse Job."
* In ''[[The Drew Carey Show]]'', Drew dates (marries? I'm not sure) a Southern Belle in the later seasons.
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* The ladies of ''[[Designing Women]]''
* An episode of ''[[The Twilight Zone]]'' entitled ''Jess-Belle'', has examples of both. [[Meaningful Name|Jess-Belle]] would be Mauvais, while her rival Ellwyn would be an example of Bonne.
* ''[[Farscape (TV)|Aeryn]]'': Aeryn was one of these in an AU episode. It was freakin' ''terrifying''.
* Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson ([[Kyra Sedgwick]]) in ''[[The Closer]]''. She's a Southern Belle detective from Georgia who really stands out working in the Los Angeles police department. Her Southern charm and accent are actually a part of her interrogation tactic on suspects - although, as her husband Fritz points out, at heart she's "a bit of an old-fashioned girl."
* Maude Standish in ''[[The Magnificent Seven (TV series)|The Magnificent Seven]]''- although, since she is a con artist, her credentials may be slightly suspect.
* Calleigh Duquesne from ''[[CSI: Miami]]'' has elements of this.
** As does another character played by Emily Proctor - [[Blonde Republican Sex Kitten|Ainsley Hayes]] of ''[[The West Wing]]''.
* "Colonel Daddy's daughter" on ''[[Hee Haw]]''.
* Lemon Breeland on [[Hart Ofof Dixie]].
 
== [[Newspaper Comics]] ==
* April Kane from ''[[Terry and Thethe Pirates]]'' is a junior version.
 
== [[Radio]] ==
* Mister Gently Benevolent posed as one in ''[[Bleak Expectations (Radio)|Bleak Expectations]]''. Not a spoiler because he wasn't even bothering with the accent most of the time...
* In the [[Firesign Theater]]'s ''[[Everything You Know Is Wrong]]'' the wire recording of the medicine show features one of these. Celebrating that the South won the Civil War:
{{quote| '''Beulah Belle:''' Think of those balls you'll have!<br />
'''Dad:''' You're too young to think about that, Beulah Balls. Er, Belle. }}
 
== [[TheaterTheatre]] ==
* Played with in ''[[A Streetcar Named Desire]]''. Blanche is a [[Southern Belle]] in the 20th century, a fading relic of a bygone age.
** Every Tennessee Williams play? Or at least every second Tennessee Williams play? In ''[[The Glass Menagerie]]'' Amanda (mother) is a former washed-up Southern Belle.
* Diana Devereaux in ''[[Of Thee I Sing]]'', who was "the most beautiful blossom in all the Southland" until Wintergreen jilted her.
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== [[Video Games]] ==
* Alche-Miss from ''[[Freedom Force]]'' is [[Southern Belle]] crossed with Dirty Hippie in a hilarious manner.
* A horrible, horrible subversion greets you near the beginning of ''[[The Uninvited]]''.
* ''[[Backyard Sports|]]'': Billy Jean Blackwood]].
* ''[[Pokémon]]'' has [http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Lilligant_%28Pok%C3%A9mon%29 Lilligant], a ''plant'' Mon that looks like one. It's [[One -Gender Race|always female]].
* ''[[Kingdom of Loathing]]'' gives us "''Diving Belles''", southern belles who drowned themselves and came back as zombies. Parodies of Scarlett O'Hara, their most dangerous attack is kissing the player really hard after mistaking him for an ex-boyfriend.
 
== [[Web Comics]] ==
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== [[Western Animation]] ==
* Luanne from ''[[King of the Hill (Animation)|King of the Hill]]'' is a modern take on the belle.
** Bill Dauterive's relatives qualify.
* In ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures How I Spent My Vacation (Animation)|Tiny Toon Adventures: How I Spent My Vacation]]'', Buster and Babs meet three Southern belle alligators. They all try to marry (and possibly eat) Buster.
* In the ''[[Futurama (Animation)|Futurama]]'' episode "The Deep South", Fry meets a ''mermaid'' Southern belle in the ruins of the legendary lost sunken city of [[Atlanta]]. Fry settles in to enjoy his life with Umbriel, but upon encountering the [[Mermaid Problem]], he runs to try to catch his friends.
{{quote| '''Fry:''' "Turns out I loved her, but I wasn't ''in love'' with her."<br />
'''Amy''' (to Leela): "Trouble in the bedroom…" }}
* Penelope Pitstop, first in ''[[Wacky Races (Animation)|Wacky Races]]'' and then in [[The Perils of Penelope Pitstop (Animation)|her own series]].
* Clarice Cow in ''[[Science Court]]''. Granted, Clarice is a puppet that one of the main cast uses for their in-universe children's show.
* Annabelle in ''[[Eek! the Cat (Animation)|Eek theThe Cat]]''.
* [[Tex Avery]]'s [[Red Hot Riding Hood]] was depicted as a Southern belle in the cartoon "''Uncle Tom's Cabana"''.
* [[Meaningful Name|Tara Belle]] in ''[[Beverly Hills Teens (Animation)|Beverly Hills Teens]]''.
* In ''[[Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends (Animation)|Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends]]'', one of Bloo's [[Imagine Spot|Imagine Spots]]s portrays Frankie as one, much to her dismay.
* Truly from ''[[My Little Pony (Franchise)|My Little Pony]]''.
 
{{reflist}}
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[[Category:Always Female]]
[[Category:An Index of Ladies and Gentlemen]]
[[Category:Southern Belle{{PAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Feminine Ideals]]
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