SHADES OF GENDER
The Symbolism of ColorsBlack – authority and power, evil, can also
stand for mourning and submission: masculine (ex. submission)
White- usually a symbolic of purity, feminineGray-sorrow, security, maturity, combination of
good and evil.Red- blood, sexual immorality, angerPink- love, sexuality, purity, health, feminineBlue- calming, cold, depression, also symbolizes
loyalty, strength, wisdom, and trust, masculine
The Symbolism of Colors Cont.Yellow- considered cheerful, but it also
represent cowardice, fearfulness, and insanity
Purple- the color of royalty, it symbolizes wealth and luxury, feminine and romantic, but can also symbolize artificiality.
Brown- dirt, wood, leather- masculineGreen- envy, fertility, growth, health, wealth,
safety, naturalness, and luck- usually feminineOrange-fire, the sun, warmth, and autumn
Literature of FashionIn the 18th Century, some literature devoted
to modes of dress as visible symbolsMass market of clothing causes distress as
distinctions blurred regarding class, gender, status, and sexuality
Language of clothing- belief in connection between body, mind and clothing
Signals gender differences- theories of the construction of sex and gender.
Styling Texts: Dress and Fashion in Literature
Importance of Color and FashionFaulkner’s only
mention of Drusilla together with color is when she is wearing an inappropriate ball gown, the color of yellow- which is associated with insanity- combined with the dress- and it’s importance to her gender role
Shades of Gray
Shades of Gray Cont.
Scarlett in Green
Alluring “Seductive”
“Green with Envy”
“Businessman”
Authoritarian Kills a ManHeroPseudo
masculinity
Scarlett in Dull Red
Scarlett in BlueRestrictedPortrait “fake” reminder
of what she should beAssaulted/Unhappy
ManipulativeSexualized Warning for
other women
Scarlett in Scarlett
Works Referenced Batchelor, Jennie. “Let Your Apparel Manifest Your Mind”:Dress and the Female
Body in Eighteenth-Century Literature.” Chapter 6: Styling Texts: Dress and Fashion in Literature. New York: Cambria Press, 2007. Print.
Faulkner, William. The Unvanquished. Print and Kindle Copy Johnson, David. “Color Psychology.” http://www.infoplease.com/spot/colors1 Harvey, John. Men In Black. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1995. Print. Kaufman, Will. The Civil War in American Culture. Edinburgh: Edinburgh
University Press, 2006. Print. Kuhn, Cynthia and Cindy Carlson, eds. Styling Texts: Dress and Fashion in
Literature. New York: Cambria Press, 2007. Print. Mitchell, Margaret. Gone With The Wind. New York: The Macmillan Company,
1936. Print. Stokes, Karin. “Colour, Gender, and Gone With The Wind” Conference Paper- web.
www.tasa.org.au/conferences/conferencepapers07/papers/270.pdf