Mythologizing Civil War Women, The Illustration

JPK Huson 1863

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
Joined
Feb 14, 2012
Location
Central Pennsylvania
You know, there must be dozens of threads linking " Our Army Nurses " , an archived book featuring frequently hair raising stories by women who served as nurses during the Civil War. Gosh. From being in battles to hob-nobbing ( or facing down ) well known names to being taken prisoner to escaping death o cheating death daily on behalf of the human race at war- the stories behind mostly unremarkable portraits at the beginning of each chapter are enough to satisfy the most adventure ( not to mention romance ) hungry Civil War buff this side of Fort Sumter. Nurses and their adventures barely receive a nod by way of interest.

It's the spies and smugglers and yes, mistresses- even prostitutes seemingly sources of high interest- even beyond female soldiers. Some, like Belle Boyd genuinely legendary because she was awfully, awfully good at what she did. So was Elizabeth Van Lew. Belle had an element Van Lew lacked which was also legendary- her ability to drop men in their tracks. Van Lew doesn't seem to have tried- Belle Boyd seems to have simply found it an advantage.

Here's the thing. It's come up before in connection with Belle- even Belle was not Belle Boyd enough to suit myth. A book on her? Has an illustration on the cover which is not even her- some exotic beauty who is, in fact no one at all. Belle Boyd's looks were just fine- certainly every man who crossed her path thought so. Somehow, somewhere, some myth has arisen her exploits must go hand-in-hand with a certain, silly ' look', this one that of a 1930's belly dancer, out of a Hollywood B movie.
belle boydcrop.jpg

Our Belle, straight out of History

belle boyd fake pic.jpg

The illustration- meant to be Belle Boyd. You see the problem.

Found this on- where else, Pinterest. There's a pouting, busty nearly featureless female, two hobbit-like creatures and someone on the end who appears to be waiting for the train in quite another story line. Interposed between these women are several Confederate officers, some a little familiar others not quite here, ethereally standing in front of what appears to be an iron clad monitor with battle damage.

Story may be factual, can't imagine there would be a story with names and places at least not based in history, somewhere- wish these photographs would stop turning up.

*sigh*

what is wrong with one.jpg

what is wrong with crop.jpg

what is wrong with print.jpg
 
Some things never change. During the Civil War, much like today, there is an inordinate focus on women's looks as compared to the male side of the species. Who cares what Dan Sickles looked like? Never saw him Photoshopped!



Ha! Dan Sickles- and he wasn't dreadful looking, just kind of oiley..... , like if he rang your doorbell and said he was from the water company and wished to read your meter, you'd call them, to make sure his ID was genuine.

And it's true- no idea how this stuff turned around, either, and standards changed. Belle Boyd was always considered a huge ' belle ' and stunning woman- she's on my list of people I'd have liked to have met, too. Guessing she was a kick, full of personality, extraordinarily interesting, charming. AND stunning, albeit not, apparently, in the 2016 sense. If ' Boyd ' was Irish, would explain a lot! Charming? More than their fair share on the planet.



As usual, thanks for finding that- hopefully the person who owns it is not too offended but I'm sorry, it is photoshopped ( or edited heavily, if someone does not have photoshop ). It could have been passed on to someone after that- and now I'm SO glad to know why officers looked very, very familiar! I'm not swift enough to have gotten their names right off the bat- but had certainly come across them before. Unsure why the battle-scarred monitor behind the group. Wonder if it was taken from the photo of one of the Lincoln conspirators? Lack the time to track this stuff down, just find it a very curious back drop.
 
I recall seeing pictures of Belle Boyd when I was a youngster and thinking she was uncommonly attractive. I went to school with a lot of Italian and Jewish girls so I never though a prominent nose was necessarily a bad thing.

Although your photo of her is quite commonly used for illustration, she had a glamorous side too:

belle_boyd_confederate_spy_1860s_postcard-r950004a0e3db40fb8f844192a06b1f34_vgbaq_8byvr_512.jpg

For a young boy searching old photos, it's also pretty obvious she had a Playboy-like figure, if you know what I mean.
 

Attachments

  • belle_boyd_confederate_spy_1860s_postcard-r950004a0e3db40fb8f844192a06b1f34_vgbaq_8byvr_512.jpg
    belle_boyd_confederate_spy_1860s_postcard-r950004a0e3db40fb8f844192a06b1f34_vgbaq_8byvr_512.jpg
    30.9 KB · Views: 24
Last edited:
This looks like a publicity still from one of her post-war lecture tours:

belle-boyd.jpg


A lot of men found her attractive, not just me. She was married three times and it is said that the local boys from the GAR were her pallbearers when she died in Wisconsin in 1900.
 

Attachments

  • belle-boyd.jpg
    belle-boyd.jpg
    24 KB · Views: 23
I must admit that I am more attracted to beautiful women with a slight flaw rather than "Barbie Doll" types. Barbra Streisand and Jennifer Grey (pre nose-job) come to mind. That said this "proclivity" does not work for me so far as Belle Boyd is concerned.
 
Guessing she was a kick, full of personality, extraordinarily interesting, charming. AND stunning,
A heck of a lot goes into what attracts us to someone. I just had this chat with a younger lady who worries that she'll never be good enough (referring to her looks) ~ I reminded her that everyone's definition of "beautiful" is personal, and that she needed to stop limiting herself to one particular very narrow, very temporary definition.

Mind you, she's a very pretty girl. It's interesting how she's blind to it.

I'm convinced Belle was fun and interesting. Comfortable with herself. She probably had a wicked smile with a sense of humor to match. :smile: (People like that always attract me.)
 
A heck of a lot goes into what attracts us to someone. I just had this chat with a younger lady who worries that she'll never be good enough (referring to her looks) ~ I reminded her that everyone's definition of "beautiful" is personal, and that she needed to stop limiting herself to one particular very narrow, very temporary definition.

Mind you, she's a very pretty girl. It's interesting how she's blind to it.

I'm convinced Belle was fun and interesting. Comfortable with herself. She probably had a wicked smile with a sense of humor to match. :smile: (People like that always attract me.)


Oh well, we've literally been sold an idea of what beauty should be. Back in the 60's women were having surgery to remove ribs- not skinny enough. There's a surgery around now to lop off toes so cute shoes fit. Heck, super models do not look like themselves- those images we see in magazines have been played with extensively. Corporate America is very much counting on it, that no one is happy with their looks- and invented the idea.

Take ' foundation ' for instance. Looks to me like a LOT of women wear it, and why? Most of us have perfectly normal skin. Why the need to cover it all up with a layer of colored cream? I did it once, at age 18, thought of long years ahead tied to this stupid ritual and pitched it. Someone sold the idea to young girls it is somehow more beautiful. Ka-ching. Who do we celebrate in our society? Supermodels. May be perfectly nice people but that isn't why they are put on pedestals.
 
This looks like a publicity still from one of her post-war lecture tours:

belle-boyd.jpg


A lot of men found her attractive, not just me. She was married three times and it is said that the local boys from the GAR were her pallbearers when she died in Wisconsin in 1900.


I think she must have been extremely charming, too, one of those people with some extraordinary amounts of charisma, something which made her looks simply not matter or seem stunning to men around her. It's why I'd have loved to have met Belle- guessing whatever it was she possessed was far too elusive for photographs. Well, by 1900 Belle would not have been a youthful beauty regardless yet her GAR buddies were pall bearers. What an interesting woman!
 

Attachments

  • belle-boyd.jpg
    belle-boyd.jpg
    24 KB · Views: 23
Oh well, we've literally been sold an idea of what beauty should be. Back in the 60's women were having surgery to remove ribs- not skinny enough. There's a surgery around now to lop off toes so cute shoes fit.
Have you heard of Thigh Gap? The idea is for a woman to have her legs together, but the legs need to be so skinny that there's still a gap between the upper thighs. The wider the gap, the better.

When my daughters told me about this, I bust out laughing. It's so absurd. But some idiot out there is selling this concept, and girls are buying it.
 
Have you heard of Thigh Gap? The idea is for a woman to have her legs together, but the legs need to be so skinny that there's still a gap between the upper thighs. The wider the gap, the better.

When my daughters told me about this, I bust out laughing. It's so absurd. But some idiot out there is selling this concept, and girls are buying it.

YES! Heard that one!! It even sounds absurd. Thigh gap. It sounds like a deformity you would take your child to an orthopod, to have corrected. With a brace. So they could walk. There's a clothing company not selling jeans above a certain size- they don't want our children who are well nourished coming into their shop. I notice they do not sell clothing for adults- well heck, they've all perished by age 22. I once bought a pair of these jeans- in a consignment store. Same size since forever and ever, 40 years. THIS store? Nope. Their sizes run maybe 2 sizes smaller- boy did they get a stink-o-gram from me on what they're doing to young women.
 
Back
Top