If I had a dollar for every time I heard someone debate about whether or not Florida and Texas are or should be considered part of the South, I'd head to the closest Neiman Marcus and buy myself a nice little treat. (Did you know that Neiman Marcus was birthed in Dallas?)
I'm not quite sure why people get so heated about this, but I'll give you my two cents. (Calmly and rationally, of course.)
To me, being Southern not only means that you were born below the Mason Dixon line, but that you have happily and voluntarily embraced the culture, the history, and the tradition of this part of the country. You drink sweet tea, you eat biscuits, you have manners, you say 'sir' and 'ma'am', you send handwritten correspondence, you have a deep understanding of the importance of sorority rush, you're a big hugger, and you bless people's hearts, to name a few. You understand that the South has a reputation and you make it your mission to uphold it as such.
I was born and raised in South Florida and spent my teenage years in North Texas. I wouldn't trade my adolescence for a thing. It used to bother me that I didn't grow up in one place but these days I see it as an advantage. It's made me a better networker, I'm easily able to relate to more people and I'm absolutely thrilled to meet anyone from my hometowns. Almost as thrilled as I am that I get to have two hometowns.
Are Florida and Texas 'The South'? In my mind, yes. Geographically, they're in the Southern region of the United States. Southern Living magazine has written about both cities I've lived in - Coral Gables and Dallas. Southern Living. A magazine about living in the South. If it's good enough for them, it's good enough for me.
I may live in the Northeast now but I will always fancy myself a Southern gal. No matter how hard you fight me.
That's so funny because as a Fort Lauderdale girl myself, I feel exactly opposite. I mean, I would never get heated or throw down on this topic. And maybe it's because I'm from south Florida (what I describe as the love child of NYC and Cuba) rather than the more rural Panhandle. But I would have to politely disagree. Texas is just Texas. A force all it's own. And Florida is ...well I don't know....just FL I guess. Or nearly Tropical?
ReplyDeleteI will say that EVERYONE in New England thinks both are southern. But I've yet to meet a south Floridian who feels southern unless they were born nine hours north in a southern state. Curious...
This is something I feel like I'm always talking about with people, too. I grew up in Fort Lauderdale at a time where it was much more hospitable and family-oriented. My family often vacationed in southern cities such as Asheville and Savannah. I had family in more Southern towns and was exposed to the food and way of life. Plus, my parents gave me a VERY Southern name. Despite the fact that I'm from South Florida and was born to Yankee parents, I've always considered myself Southern.
ReplyDeleteGoing to school in Central Florida definitely furthered my interest in Southern culture, but I firmly believe that being "Southern" is about etiquette, hospitality and how you were raised. Yes, South Florida is not what it was 20 years ago, but I think it all depends on personal experience.
(And same goes for Texas. I visited Austin a few months ago and was met with a hefty dose of Southern hospitality.)
I have never heard about this debate before. I am strictly a Northeastern girl, having always lived in the suburbs of Philadelphia.
ReplyDeleteI don't consider Florida the south, although technically I guess it is. I think Texas is part of the southwest, which is different than the south that Georgia and the Carolinas are a part of. But what do I know about this topic?
Wow, you took the words right out of my mouth. I was born and raised in New Orleans. As you know, there is culture aplenty there. I started college in Ohio at the University of Dayton. Coincidentally, I have family in Dayton. I then, like yourself, be came a north easterner. Or, more accurately a new englander, seeing as how I live in Connecticut. (i transferred schools to the Univerdity of New Haven). I have and always will be a southern girl regardless of geography. Trust me, as soon as I obtain my bachelors I am moving back to NOLA.
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ReplyDeleteI think history has a lot to do with the reasoning behind the not-so-southern perceptions of Dallas and South Florida. While southern society was defined by graciousness and manners, the south developed and was supported as an agrarian society, with an economy based on large (plantation) farming. Texas (which I would consider southern) is usually viewed as an economy based on cattle/ranching and Dallas is associated with oil. South Florida's citrus-based economy didn't get it's start until the mid to late 1800s, and prior to that, it was Indian territory.
ReplyDeleteI guess being southern means different things to different people, but for me it's more than good manners and geography. It's looking across a field of cotton or tobacco and understanding its value, it's referring to your father as "daddy" even when you're an 80-year-old grandmother, it's wearing a nice sun dress to a messy pig picking/bbq/crawfish boil, it's seeing the beauty in a glass mason jar of canned vegetables and knowing to save the grease from the frying pan. Not particularly glamorous things, but everyday moments that can only fully be appreciated in a slow, savory and genteel society.
I love this topic! I'm from Pensacola, Florida which is located in the Panhandle. There is no mistaking us for Southerners. From sweat tea & fried green tomatoes to debutante cotillions, the old south is alive here! We are 20 miles from Alabama,75 miles from Mississippi, 150 miles from New Orleans and about 200 miles from Georgia. Yet we are about 700 miles from Miami, Florida! I think we are all southerners in the big state of Florida, but some of us Floridians are a bit more Southern! LOL Actually many refer to our area as the "redneck riviera" or "LA", lower Alabama. Y'all come visit now:)
ReplyDeleteI've always lived in Jacksonville or Atlanta and in my opinion everything north of Orlando is Southern, South of Orlando it depends on who you talk to and where you go. North Florida is definitely more like south Georgia than south Florida. As for Texas, it is completely unique, combining the best of the South and the Southwest into one utterly fabulous culture.
ReplyDeleteI was born & raised in New Orleans, which I without a doubt has it's own sub-set of southern culture. Way different than Florida and Texas (although I love Florida & Texas and you are definitely a southern gal) in my own opinion. During and after Katrina, I moved to Dayton, Ohio for a short while. Katrina caused me to not be able to attend college straight out of high school because it struck during my junior year. I finished high school in Ohio & attending the University of Dayton for 3 semesters. Then I moved to Connecticut because the midwest is lame. Transferred to a different school, live an hour away from the city; it's perfect.
ReplyDeleteAll of this being said, even though I grew up in NOLA, I consider myself a northern prep. More my style. Not to say I don't love southern prep and I wear it from time to time. Northern style prep is just more my style. But I respect both :)
First sentence in previous comment should read: .I was born & raised in New Orleans, which I believe, without a doubt has it's own sub-set of southern culture.
ReplyDelete(Bad grammar is my #1 pet peeve)
And P.S. After college, I am moving back to NOLA; my parents are giving me their French Quarter residence.
I think your digital scribings are altogether intoxicating and more times than not find me laughing and pondering "just how does she come up with it?" So for that-my daily laughter quota thanks you.
ReplyDeleteI have to say I think Texas is unique in and of itself. I do not consider it to be Southern, but rather it's own entity. Having lived in Florida (JAX), I also have to say that I have always only cosidered Nothern parts of the state to be Southern. The rest of the state is more like Texas to me, and in and of its' own. Whenever someone tells me they are from TX or FL my mind never thinks Southern. That is not to say they do not share many of the same loves and likes as southerners,I just think each "culture" is much more unique and c annot be thrown into the same category.
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