The trending “Bowtie”

Lately, i become more amazed with the rise of bowties being worn by men in the South. To me, this is a travesty considering that I believe that the bowtie was an invention by women to dress men like their small pets as well as has its origins based in the Northeast. I will agree that I think there is a time and place for the bowtie, which I believe should only be worn with tuxedos. It makes perfect sense that you wouldn’t want your tie to be flopping all around getting in your way when you are trying to dance.  That said, I decided to search the history of bowties and found the results to be interesting.  According to “wikipedia”,  bowties originated in France during the Prussian Wars to hold together mercenaries’ shirts. The French then stole the look from the Croats and developed it in their country under the name of  ‘cravats’. From there, there’s not a whole lot of information on how bowties came to the South. So then why have bowties been so popular in the South? I actually have two theories. The first is that throughout the Civil War, the Confederate generals wore bowties, but mainly Robert E. Lee was always seen sporting one. However, this makes sense because he was wearing a formal military dress outfit. His bowtie wasn’t exactly the typical bowtie that we are used to seeing either. The second and more plausible theory and dates back to the start of the Vineyard Vines clothing company which is somehow associated with Southern clothing. In 1998, when the owners( from Massachusetts) started Vineyard Vines they started it out with colorful ties including bowties. Now since the spread of their clothing company to the South, bowties have come into fashion as accepted wear to virtually any event. So in actuality, bowties really don’t have any place in Southern culture at all. They came from France and then came to the South from the North. They didn’t start here, so let’s stop wearing them when you go out to a formal, fancy dinner, or just to your local bar. You should only wear a bowtie if you are in a tuxedo.

Best Southern Colleges

When most people think of colleges in the South, they usually think of the schools that are in the Southeastern Conference that are  associated with football. While those colleges are valuable, I’m more interested in a list of small colleges whose towns really imbody what it means to live in the South. So if you went to a school like Alabama, Ole Miss, or Georgia, you aren’t going to find your college on this list. If you are wondering why, which most of you might, it’s because most of the SEC schools have begun to abandon their traditions in search of money and commercialism. Mainly they have just sold out their original values in an attempt to become more politically correct. While this may be valuable in terms of progress for the South, it has eliminated many a great tradition that these schools used to honor. So here is my top 10 gems of the South.

10. University of Arkansas- This is the only SEC school that makes the list. Why? There’s nothing more Southern than calling hogs! Woo Pig Sooie! Arkansas may fall from this list, but due to the majority of its students actually being from Arkansas and famous alum like John Daly and Jerry Jones this rounds out the top 10 list.

9. University of Memphis- Even though Memphis should really be claimed as a part of Mississippi, there’s nothing more Southern than Memphis in May, Graceland, or Elvis Presley Blvd.  Although this one like Arkansas could fall off the list as long as the BBQ culture in Memphis continues to throw outdoor festivals it will be going strong.

8. The University of Southern Mississippi- The Golden Eagles. There’s only a couple reasons this makes the list. The first, Brett Favre. The second, Hattisburg MS. If you’ve never been you are probably asking yourself “where is this”?  This is about as Southern as it gets.

7. Valdosta State University- Valdosta, GA. Nothing more Southern than a college named after the city in which it’s located. The students party hard because let’s face it, there’s nothing else really to do.

6. Louisiana Tech- The Runnin’ Rebels. Enough said.

5. University of Louisiana at Lafayette- The Ragin’ Cajuns. Located in Lafayette, LA.  

4. Troy University- Troy, AL. The Trojans. In the heart of Alabama, you won’t many out of state students here.

3. Southeast Arkansas- Pine Bluff, Ark. If you’ve ever been to Pine Bluff then you know why this is on the list.

2. Arkansas State University- Jonesboro, Ark. The Red Wolves. Even though this is one of the bigger schools on the list, Ark State has a great sense of community and enormous school pride.

1. Nicholls State University- Thibodaux, Louisiana. This has to be number one out of complete bias, Nicholls is the best kept secret in the South. By far the most fun I’ve ever had visiting a small southern town. Places like the Goose, Rox’s Bar, and Fremin’s keep this town at the top. Red Snapper drinks are only $1 and the hot girls are there for the picking.

Why is Chivalry dead?

Is chivalry dead?

There’s been a lot of debate on chivalry over the years and the fact that some people believe that it is slowly dying out. This has been something that is very curious to me, what is chivalry? Why do people always talk it? Personally, I think that chivalry is dead. Well, dead in the sense that it is no longer associated with being a knight. Knights in the medieval age were chivalrous, but then again, they were the only ones. Chivalry originated in the middle ages and mainly had to do with military service and the individual training of a knight. According to Johan Huizinga in his book, The Waning of the Middle Ages, chivalry is “pride aspiring to beauty, and formalized pride gives rise to a conception of honor, which is the pole of noble life”. When a knight was trained, he was taught to be courageous in battle, loyal, and to excel at sword fighting and jousting. Each knight has his family’s coat of arms and bore it in battle. Chivalry has now changed its meaning. When I hear someone say, “Chivalry is dead”, it is usually after somebody forgets to open a door for them or cuts them off in traffic. However, what people really mean by using chivalry is manners. So is it really that Chivalry is dying or that Manners are dying? I already argued that Chivalry is dead, but I believe that the only reason people still discuss it today, aside from in medieval history classes, is because it is misused. Chivalry died a long time ago, but manners are dying today. At this moment right now in somewhere in the United States, there is a door slamming shut in a woman’s face, there’s a worker getting cussed out at a fast food restaurant and there probably is someone getting cut off in traffic.

Maybe I’m old or maybe it could be because I was raised in what some people consider the South, but I used to take manners classes growing up. Every year around August, I would attend a class called “teen” cotillion. This was a class to teach teens about manners. Things such as: The proper placing of a fork, how to do the foxtrot, and how you should greet a lady. These things are a little extreme and seem like now they were used in the 1700s. I would also argue, that the reason manners are disappearing is that culture is constantly changing. Back then, it was common to curtsy or to bow (depending on your gender) when greeting members of the opposite sex. Wouldn’t that look silly if every person you had to meet either bowed or curtsied to you when you went to say your name? It definitely would. As women continue to fight for more independence and become more of a force in the working world, it may even become offensive for men to open doors or car doors for them. It is like everything else in society, as times change, the culture changes, the customs may stay a little the same, but chances are those will change too. So why is chivalry dead? Why are manners dying? It is because things change, people change, culture changes.

Southern Accents

I was on campus today at the student union and I was in line to get my usual egg white bagel when the kid in front of me began to pay. When he finished paying, he said, “Sorry, it’s hard to understand me, I have a Southern Accent.” Naturally, this kind of set me off. Maybe this kid did have a Southern Accent but my guess is that he was faking. I’ve seen enough bad Hollywood movies to be pretty sure that this guy didn’t have an accent of any kind (i.e. Sweet Home Alabama, Elizabeth Town, Con Air, Steel Magnolias, and yes the beloved Gone With the Wind). In real life people who have so called “Southern Accents” are not aware that they have one and neither are the people in their friend group. They don’t go around talking about how they have an accent they just have one; and if you aren’t from Mississippi, Arkansas, or Louisiana then you probably don’t have an accent. However, I just want to clear up the common misconception that people have about Southern Accent. For example take some of the most famous people who are from Mississippi, Oprah and Morgan Freeman. No accent, isn’t that weird? Or Julia Roberts and Reese Witherspoon, NO ACCENT! Isn’t that also weird? Let’s take a look at different politicians: Newt Gingrich and John Edwards(sleezy). No accents. The only example I can think a politician in office having an accent is former President Bill Clinton(also sleezy). I think you can make a strong arguement for saying that his accent might have been a little faked up for image purposes. I don’t have any proof of that, but you don’t need proof to start a rumor( i.e. Cam Newton-unless it’s true).  So why don’t famous Southern Actresses, Actors, Politicians, or even Shepard Smith (Ole Miss) have these “accents”? Is it maybe because people who are from the South don’t talk that way? No, that couldn’t be it. Or is it that Hollywood is still hanging onto the image of the “Old” South. Where the assumption is that people are dumb as rocks and if you catch a plane to any deep South state, you will instantly be back in the 1960s. The reality of it is that the South is changing. Is it changing for the better, maybe? However, when I point to how progessive things are starting to become in the south, I look to the University of Mississippi who now has a statue of James Meredith (the first African American to attend the school) on it’s campus.  The same University which hosted the first presidential debate of Barack Obama and John McCain. Hosting the first Presidential debate for the First African American President. Progressive? Yep, sure is. In short, whether we like it or not, the South is changing. But what should we do? Should we admit that we’ve made mistakes? Should we give you a history lesson on “states rights”? What should we do? Should we really listen to people about our legacy? Or should we just accept our role as the villian? Seriously, what should we do? We should admit the mistakes, own up to the things of the past, and work together to change others’ perceptions of how things are in the South. That’s what we should do. If we don’t, then people will continue to pigeonhole us as being arrogant,  racist, and eneducated. This is the ”New” South and the time for action is now.

“class”

When I first decided to write a blog, I had several ideas, but I didn’t think that any of them fit for the first post. So I read other various blog posts from different sites and I noticed that the “posters” to these sites used the word “Class” a lot. They were throwing it around using different phrases such as: “She’s so classy”, or “that’s so classy”, “Have you met so and so?, they are so classy”. Which led me to wonder a lot about the origin of the word “class” and why it is used in so many different contexts. It also made me wonder why the word “class” is associated with something that is supposedly “High-End”. So I googled it, and one of the search results that I came up with was Snookie from the Jersey Shore saying some bit about how classy she was. I haven’t watched Jersey Shore regularly, maybe seen a few clips from episodes while channel surfing, but I didn’t remember her as being quote unquote a “classy” girl. Nevertheless, I continued to research it. To me, what I came up with was very interesting. The word class is used in two different contexts but originates from the same idea. The first concept is that of a “Class” room. As I’m sure you assumed, the word “Class” originated from the Latin word Classis which refers to the concept of the Classical Languages as well as to the social divisions of people in hierarchy system (Peasants, Serfs, Nobles, Lords, Etc.- not in this particular order). Which is interesting because the meaning that I think “Class” has now taken on is completely different than when it originated. However, it also seems to me that people use this term completely out of context for something that means it’s the best.  Someone who is in the Upper Class in society is considered to be pretty wealthy I suppose, maybe even successful, but the thing that I find interesting is that some people say just because someone has money doesn’t mean that they have class. They don’t? They are rich and probably powerful, so by the definition of class, then they should have it right? Or is class more than just having money and power? Can you be uneducated, yet wealthy and still have class? (i.e. the Beverly Hillbillies) Or Can a person who is ”poor” have Class? Or Does it really come down to having character? If it does, then having character would be the most important, right? I’m not sure of the right answer to this, but this leaves me wondering if the word “class” has replaced the word “character” in the dictionary these days.