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Scarlett’s rules to live by for divas Ring the sirens. Raise the flags. Kiss the babies. Praise the Lord. I have run across a truly enlightened Yankee woman. One whose admiration for Southern womanhood runs to such mammoth proportions that she is willing to shout it to the four corners of the earth. Lisa Bertagnoli (definitely not a name of rich Southern heritage) was raised and still lives in the Windy City of Chicago where, as a 16-year-old, she discovered the most renowned Southern woman of all time. Scarlett O’Hara became such an obsession to Lisa that she has read “Gone With The Wind” over 20 times. It embarrasses me to admit that I, certainly some kind of leader among Southern women, have only read it twice. For the sake of Southern formality, I shall herefore refer to her as Miss Lisa. She has certainly earned my respect. “When I grew up and found myself in a sticky situation – particularly after one of my many readings of the book – I’d find myself asking, ‘What would Scarlett do?’” Miss Lisa explained. “I wondered if she would take a risk, or play it safe.” Miss Lisa admits, too, “that I lived a bit vicariously through her flirting and charming.” This admiration has presented itself to the world in the form of a new book (Villard) entitled “Scarlett Rules: When Life Give You Green Velvet Curtains, Make a Green Velvet Dress.” The book is composed of 24 lessons that can be learned by dissecting Scarlett O’Hara’s literary behavior. Consider the chapter titles: “Think More Like A Man”; “Blaze A Trail”; “Mr. Wrong May Be Mr. Right”; and, of course, “Tomorrow Is Another Day.” I, for one, am grateful that a Yankee woman wrote this book. If I or any other Southern woman writer had penned this work, every critic outside of the South would have said something like, “Of course. Stereotypical. Sticking together.” Or, “Why can’t they just get over Scarlett and move on?” Well, we can’t get over Scarlett because she was a female role model years before Gloria Steinem followers burned their first bra. When Margaret Mitchell wrote the character in the early 1930s, the most pressing issue for women was keeping their knees covered after those little flappers had spent the 1920s showing off theirs. Mrs. Mitchell, though, wrote a character full of fire, backbone and smarts tempered with beauty, charm and cunning social skills. Scarlett not only charmed men, she proved to be an incredible business woman, running a store and lumber mill during a time when well-bred women hired someone to run a bath for them. Life tried to beat her down but she stood up to it and kept coming back time after time. So, why would we want to get over Scarlett? She was as much a role model to me as Marlo Thomas was in the television series “That Girl.” From both, I learned that a woman can be independent and survive without hiding behind a man’s coattails. She has the strength and ability to rise up from the toughest situations. So, Miss Lisa, we thank you. We quite appreciate a Yankee woman standing up and proclaiming what we have long believed – that there are many strong life lessons to learn from the Irish miss. Though we really shouldn’t give a good fiddle-dee-dee what the rest of the world thinks, we do appreciate validation. Especially when it comes from the unlikeliest of sources. Bless Miss Lisa’s heart. We could use more Northern women like her. The truth is that there’s more than just a little Scarlett in every Southern woman and every Southern wanna-be. Margaret Mitchell knew that and celebrated it in her Pulitzer-prize winning novel. Scarlett Rules. Of course, we knew that. We just like to be reminded. login to post comments | Ronda Rich's blog
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