True Life: The REAL Southern Belle

As my first blog post, I think I'll take the time to introduce myself and set the record straight on something very serious to me...

My name is Stacie Carol Fields. I was born and raised in Hartsville, South Carolina. I'm proud to say I'm a southern girl, I would say Southern Belle, but thanks to MTV's True Life: I"m a Southern Belle, that once admired reputation is somewhat tarnished. In my opinion, unlike those featured on that great documentary, today's southern belle is:

1. A girl who loves an excuse to get all dolled up. She has a great sense of fashion and tends to go for what is timeless and classy, not much on being trendy and hip.... Although she may be feminine, and at times even tend to priss, trust that if having fun requires getting down and dirty she won't just be cheering from the sidelines.


2.A girl who could spend hours teasing her hair, depleting the ozone layer with smelly,stiff hairspray, but instead she chooses to let her hair down, curly or straight, wavy or flat, she doesn't need dye or a monthly allowance for hair products to make her feel beautiful, (although in a moment of spending weakness she may have splurged for some type of "special occasion" hair tool).


3.A girl who believes pearls are a mandatory go-to accessory. I've found that only a southern girl can pull off pearls with a t-shirt.


4.A girl who loves to laugh and is always smiling. She's smiling in a confident, happy-go-lucky way, not a "let me get my money's worth out of this chunk of change dentist's bleaching job, while my eyes rip you apart" kind of smile. Her smile is infectious and she makes people laugh and smile wherever she goes, even past the Mason Dixon. =)


5.A girl who's not afraid to devour a plate full of good ol' home cooking. She knows she will do whatever it takes to stay in shape and after all it would be rude, and might hurt the hostesses feelings if it was just pushed around on the plate.. right?


6.A girl who wouldn't allow the draw of a sparkly crown or an obsessed mother (I'm proud to have a content, laid back mommy) change who she is. I can't say all southern girls avoid pageants at all costs, because obviously it must be pretty popular down here (at least according to those beautiful princesses on MTV), but let me set the record straight being in pageants is definitely not a factor in determining a girl's southern belle status. In fact, I would go so far as to say that some beauty queens fall victim to the stereotype and really get crazy with the whole thing, (and I know because I tried a few...I didn't fit the mold) and might even actually defy the laws of southern belleness... which leads me to number 7.


7. A girl who is not driven by materialistic motives. She knows she could probably have the world, but doesn't take it for granted. She doesn't look down on others for what they do or do not have.


8. A girl who makes sure her home is always "company ready". She takes the few extra minutes a day to tidy up because it would be embarrassing and rude to invite someone into a dirty, messy home. She also has a great eye for interior design and much like her fashion sense she goes for what is timeless and chic.


9. A girl who is never arrogant or conceited. My number one pet peeve in life is arrogance. It doesn't matter who you are or who your family might be, anything you have on this earth that you think gives you a just cause to treat others poorly can be taken away a lot quicker than it took you to get it. ANYTHING can be taken away, so don't take people, or opportunity, or life for granted.It was a close race for the top two, but in the end... the daddy always wins =)



10. Once again, I have to argue a point made by those MTV beauties... Yes, I'm sure there are plenty of girls out there that one day hope to be married, but in 2008, I would like to believe that women have moved on to be defined by what they believe in and what makes them happy, what goals and standards they hold for themselves in life, rather than who they choose to marry or their pursuit of marriage. And in the end, it's not about who has the most or who's last name means old money, blah blah blah, it's really just about who can treat her like a lady, and a good dad always sets the standard of what to look for in a man, and she won't take anything less than the love and affection shown to her by her father growing up... well at least her man should try to come close to that, even though no one will ever compare.



And just as a side note... I'm even going to go so far as to say today's Southern Belle isn't even defined by her geographic location, but more her state of mind. I know plenty of girls from all over the place who possess the same characteristics I just outlined. So to all of my "Southern transplants" don't worry you're not excluded from potential southern belleness. =)