Obsession With White

Drawing inspiration from the portraits taken by E.J. Belloq, Natasha Trethewey’s Bellocq’s Ophelia is the imagined life of one of these young prostitutes living in New Orleans in 1912. In the collection, Trethewey pictures Ophelia as interracial woman, one who autonomously chose to embark on the life of a prostitute as a means for survival. Throughout the collection, there is a constant appearance of the word “white.” The repetition of the word “white” dramatizes Ophelia’s yearning to be viewed by society as a “white” woman and ultimately gain the social class status assigned to Caucasians. I agree that by the context in which “white” is incorporated throughout the collection adequately represents Ophelia’s obsession to be physically viewed not only as white, but also apart of the white class.

In the poem Letter Home, Ophelia speaks about her life four weeks after leaving home and trying to “secure some modest position” (Trethewey 7) in the world. Ophelia goes on to say, “I walk these streets a white woman” (Trethewey 7). In other words, Ophelia pretends to be white because she believes it to be her only chance to secure a job outside of the brothels. Her “hands covered with the lace gloves” (Trethewey 7) and “dress[es] each day in [her] best” give off the impression to the employers that she is of white class. In addition, in the poem March 1911, Ophelia begins the poem by explaining in her letter why she is suited to be a prostitute. Ophelia remarks that because “her mother taught [her] to curtsy and be still so that [she] might please a white man, my father” (Trethewey 20), she can be successful in prostitution. This social behavior alludes to the idea that Ophelia’s mother raised her to represent the white class during the time that white women were perceived as both polite and etiquette. Ophelia explains in her letter that she takes “arsenic-tablets [she] swallowed to keep [her] fair, bleached white as stone” (Trethewey 20). In other words, Ophelia subjects herself to swallowing pills in order to make her appear visibly whiter so that she is more desired by the customers. Ophelia’s obsession is further proven when she writes about the “secret” of “black women with white skin” (Trethewey 26). In August 1911, she writes “the visitors from the North make a great fuss…just by looking, our secret. The vilest among them say, I can always smell a nigger” (Trethewey 26). In this instance, Ophelia refers to her white-black skin as a ‘secret’ to the visitors. In other words, Ophelia is afraid of the non-regular customers to discover that she is black because of her obsession with being perceived as white.

Is Ophelia’s obsession with being a white women and a part of the white class understandable? Living in 1912, there were a multitude of racial outbursts across America. Is it possible that Ophelia’s attempt to appear more white is another mechanism for survival similar to prostitution?