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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote]Not the same thing at all. There was much in the antebellum South that was not dominated by slavery. And, FWIW, hoop skirts were also worn in the North.

Could you share more on the bolded please? Curious to know what you mean.[/quote]

While 25% of Southerners owned slaves (and that is too many, of course), 75% did NOT own slaves.  Of course, the large plantations depended on slavery, but many other people did not.  Slavery was outrageous and troubling, but it was not the ONLY thing in the South.  
[/quote]

yes but that 75% was desperately hardscrabble poor and frankly obsessed with getting ahold of one, preferably female fertile, slave  b/c unpaid labour was the engine of economic prosperity. those white people worked just as hard albeit without the rape, whipping, forced labor unless you were a woman in which case forced labor, limited freedom of movement, uncompensated labor, rape and probably beatings were features of your life as well as any enslaved person. Hunger, filth, limited resources- all of these where the lot of whites in teh antebellum south who had no enslaved labor, they certainly weren't wearing hoops skirts, too expensive. Romanticization of plantations which were forced labor camps is pretty gross. Also teh "we were so fancy" aspect of southern culture is protesting too much b/c non slaving observers first hand account described  how crude and cruel even the most upperclass people were b/c of their treatment of the enslaved population and considered southerners unrefined, they just put on airs to fake the fact that they were snarling  and striking another person before taking sip of said mint julep. if you've ever traveled in a south asian fuadal area you'll recognize what i am describing. People who grew up in a wealthy home with abusive parents will also recognize it, the breathtaking switch between a honeyed voice and barking verbal abuse, its not refined.  In fact, its a feature of southern culture depicted in films where the mother will yank her child and growl at it and then lookup with a sweet smile and speak with honeyed drawl.  Its very disturbing to observe and speaking to anyone in bark, striking them or using swear words b/c they are "below' you is déclassé, its also an observable part of southern lady code. New England wasps dont do it for all of their own faults. [/quote]

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