A reader writes:
I just read the whole Allison Glock article and I am fixin' to throw a fit. I grew up in a Bible-loving town in Virginia, raised by two New Jersey transplants. I love biscuits and sweet tea but also a slice of Jersey Shore pizza. I say "y'all" but also have a Jersey accent when I say "coffee." I also get to listen to Southerners and Northerners talk about why they are better than the other. Ms. Glock loves to describe the charms of Southern women, and while I admit that some of the things she describes are charming, I don't think they are more present in the South than in the North.
I didn't realize that women in Manhattan no longer cared about their looks. I also did not know that women in the North were not caretakers the way Southern women were. I will be sure to tell that to my New Jersey aunts and grandmother who take wonderful care of everyone, far better than some women I know. And since when do only Southern women use Spanx and Aquanet? Has she never seen Snooki's poof?
If Ms. Glock feels the need to write an essay on the differences between Southern women and Northern women and how one is better than the other, I do not think that she is post-feminist. In fact, I question whether she really knows what the word means. I think she might just be nostalgic for home, which is totally fine, but she shouldn't blame Northern women for the problem. Instead, maybe she could ask some Northern women to show her where they buy Spanx and Aquanet above the Mason-Dixon line. I am betting that there are some charming Northern women out there who would gladly help her out
Another is equally vehement:
Hogwash. While I tend to agree that Southern Women, as a group, have a certain… er… common diversity that separates them from women in other areas, the article reeks of a self-possessed pseudo mythology that seems to have the same origins of traditional male representations of Southern womanhood – that of the plantation, of men placing women on pedestals while keeping them squarely under their thumbs.
The Dish 