Reasons I am Seriously Reconsidering my Lifelong Rejection of Southern Belledom

For years, I refused to tell people that I grew up in Alabama. I took voice lessons to rid myself of my accent, Midwesternified everything about my appearance, my life, even took to rooting for Ohio sports teams (Really? Ew.) But recently, as I've come to know myself a little better, I've found that my heart beats as a Southern Belle; some of that gentility instilled by my mother is there. So, why try to fight it anymore? It seems being a Southern Belle has its benefits :)

1. People love a drawl. They will listen to you coo and prattle on about anything when you elongate your ahs and add in extra syllables all over the place. Men get starry-eyed, women just smile more kindly. And people just want to listen to you talk, and I like to talk an awful lot.


2. Beef tips. Sweet potato pie. Cheddar Jalapeno Cornbread. Petit Fours. Chocolate chip pound cake. Shrimp and grits. My arsenal of southern comfort food is packed with delights of all varieties. Delicious; the kind of food that wins men and friends from the inside out with the kinds of emotional responses it draws out. Southern belles know how to make food that makes you feel, and if you've ever had my cornbread, you know I understand wholeheartedly this principle.


3. Who doesn't look good in a blonde frosted stacked bob? Ok, ok, not everyone south of the Mason-Dixon really rocks one of these, but many do with grace. And the ones that don't, spend a good deal of time painstakingly perfecting the way they present themselves. Lipstick to the grocery store, gym shoes matched to gym bag. Sundress with no sweat spots in 110 degree heat with 90% humidity. Always ready to impress.


4. Hot rollers. Yankee women do not know their way around a set of hot rollers (unless you had a serious showchoir upbringing) the way that Southern Belles do. And who doesn't like spraying the shaft to achieve bounciness?


5. Kindness. There is something about smiling at everyone and moving slowly that breeds a certain kindness, where hellos greet everyone and people gather on porches for mint juleps (Yes, that really happens, my yankee friends). Maybe it's because the skies are incredibly blue and the people in the South don't know a windchill of negative 27, but there is something that makes them kinder, their lives a little more idyllic.


6. People are constantly pleasantly surprised when intelligence and quick-wittedness accompany Southern-ness. I like surprises; don't you?

So, I think I'm going to embrace this long lineage of Southern heritage and fully take on this role of Southern Belle. I'll make my mother and Scarlette O'Hara proud :)