A post on the news site Vox Monday accused actress Blake Lively of “accidentally publish[ing] pro-slavery propaganda in her online lifestyle magazine.”
The writer was specifically referring to a recent post entitled “Allure of the Antebellum” on Lively’s website Preserve that delves into the fashionable look of the “Southern Belle.”
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“The term ‘Southern Belle’ came to fruition during the Antebellum period (prior to the Civil War), acknowledging women with an inherent social distinction who set the standards for style and appearance,” reads the Preserve article.
“These women epitomized Southern hospitality with a cultivation of beauty and grace, but even more with a captivating and magnetic sensibility,” it continues. “While at times depicted as coy, these belles of the ball, in actuality could command attention with the ease of a hummingbird relishing a pastoral bloom.”
Sure, the writing of the Preserve piece is overly flowery and at times confusing in its descriptions. But Vox takes aim at the site’s caricature of the Southern Belle, claiming that the article only includes “half the story.”
“Preserve is implicitly referring to the white women of the time, and is ignoring that many of these beacons of ‘beauty and grace’ with ‘magnetic sensibility’ were slave owners,” reads the Vox post. “While pointing to the fashion sense of the time and place and explaining where design aesthetic comes from is perfectly fine, assigning persona and romanticizing the slave owners strays into a sphere of ignorance and casual racism.”
So, Lively’s website’s choice to focus on the style and fashion of Southern Belles instead of launching into a discussion of slavery is evidence of her “casual racism”?
That might just be the slightest stretch.
