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