Why Gone With the Wind Has Caused My Brain to Explode

[Korista]

Alright, I recognize that this group is long dead, and the premise was a miserable failure. Nonetheless, I am just enough of a nerd that I'm happy to talk to myself if it means I get to dissect a book and pretend that someone will rebut any day now! If by some grace, someone stumbles upon this group and has anything to say about my ramble I will be ecstatic. Otherwise I'll settle for crazy.

Gone With the Wind is one of the best books I have read in a long time. Seeing the civil war, not from the perspective of slaves or soldiers fighting for freedom and liberty as is the usual formula, but from the viewpoint of a spoiled Southern Belle raised in the proud and passionate landscape of genteel Georgia has been incredibly eye-opening.

So far it has led to a number of convoluted trains of thought, including:

-The realization that our generation has never gone through the true struggle of war and thus has missed out on the strengthening of character that it forces, (I am of course discussing the Western world) and I do have a justification for not recognizing the Iraq war as one which has greatly affected the American people on more than an emotional and intellectual level.

-The realization that the American people are bred to be stirred to fervor, that public opinion can be swayed by simply giving the people a common enemy; this "sheeple" mentality has continued, making us a generation of people who have lost all critical faculty and need a flashing sign to tell us when to cross the street and a talking box to tell us what we need to buy.

-The sad realization that 150 years ago, hair straightening treatments were marketed to the freed slaves by saying that those with kinky hair would be unable to vote. The perceived elevation to equality with white people led to a belief that lighter skin and Caucasian hair would secure their position in this new world- and how this belief has evolved staying essentially the same ever since. Frizzy hair is the natural state for most African American women and yet every hair product today promises to eliminate it, emphasizing sleek hair as the only attractive style, and leading to a 500 billion dollar industry of hair products, weaves, wigs, and extensions. Even today, colorization within the black community means that those with lighter skin are determined to be beautiful, while those with darker skin resent them and declare them to not be truly black- thus putting mixed individuals into a racial limbo, slightly removed from both groups.

I'd like to expand on all of these ideas in separate posts, as each had me sitting for hours, opening more and more articles and feeling more uneasy with each discovery. This book has led to so many social realizations that it is taking me ages to read (obviously in addition to its hefty 959 page count which as a mother with very little time to dedicate to reading each day has been comparable to Everest...okay, nowhere near comparable, but throw me a bone.)

So...to my many participating group members and my bated breath debaters...here we go! :-p