Dear Miss Belle : an open letter to the Southern Woman

Dear Miss Belle,
We are quite acquainted you and I. You were the standard by which I lived by. Boutique Princess, Pageant Queen, Housewife Intern; you were the elusive idol I reached for but never quite touched. You weighed heavy on my soul because you were it's opposite. With every coat of mascara and hairspray I was reminded of what I had to do each morning to measure up to you. I have always just longed to soak up the sunbeams peaking through oak leaves, but you taught me that I always had to be prepared for the spotlight. Your house must be perfect, your roots hidden just like that dirty laundry everyone has. Your waste size a hold over from corsets and bustles , another image unreachable. You taught me that my only fate was to marry the first man I could bait with my pouty lips and coated lashes. My job in the church is to cook for their mamma and them and to keep silent except for gossip time afterwards in the back. You taught me that I had to work that assertiveness out of my system, so I could make a man feel like a man. You taught me that my place in the home was BEHIND a man not besidehim. Your painted lips whispered to me in a sugar sweet drawl "Honey, you look a mess!"
I face you today, hair gone back to it's roots, no longer fighting to rival Carrie Underwood. My face is clear from it's daily paintjob, and my feet are playing in the dirt. My womanhood is no longer defined by your standards. I don't wear camo and you'll never see me huntin' with my daddy. You'll never see me being passive and non descript behind any man. I love fashion....I love hair, but sometimes there's something special about seeing my mother's freckles on my face. I love cooking, but I also love changing my own oil and getting dirty. I'm not going to wait on a man to open my door, but I am going to sweetly thank him when he honours me thus. Jesus loves me this I know...so I don't need your approval.
I Will thank you for Nashville fashion, my twang, cooking skills and my manners, but keep the rest. I am a woman because I have the gift of femininity. I don't have to meet the requirements because I already have them. I rebuke the lies you tell women. I rebuke the idea a woman is not in control of her life and ideas. I rebuke your patriarchal society. I am a boss and a lady, and you can't tell me otherwise.
Cordially,
A Southern Alpha Lady

I Refuse To Be Made Small

Hello everyone! I'm back from...sobatical. Actually, lol no. I'm finally over the lack of acceptance I've found from close minded peers that condescended to be hurtful. I almost gave up writing and spreading my story, and for that I apologize. I apologize for being led by the motives and intentions of others. I apologize for submitting to the fearfully ignorant and allowing others to shut me up as was their intention. I have learned so much about human nature through the contention and ill will I've been the recipient of. Let me share these nuggets of growth so we can all learn from this and keep on keepin' on.
1.)Ingenuity and uniqueness startles the snakes in your life
When you dare to shout your truth, you're identity to the world, when you refuse to conform and blend in, the insecure, the bitter, the vengeful will try to fake you out and scare you back into your place, but they are just puff adders. Puff adders are snakes that make themselves resemble cobras when a predator is in the vicinity. They puff out their necks and lift their heads and ready themselves for a pretend strike, but you know what happens when you approach that cunning fake villain? They pass out. All of the haters are just puff adders, afraid of your hugeness and color. Darlings, keep on walking with your pretty heads lifted high, and don't even honour them with eye contact. They are too weak and little for you.
2.) People sometimes will tell you you're sinning just because they don't understand, and ignorance is safe.
Think back to Acts, the Jewish Christians we're all like "you gentiles can't be real Christians because you eat pork and you still have a foreskin."*to paraphrase the situation* God nipped that in the bud by chastising Peter in a dream for calling unclean what he made clean. People are gonna say you're wrong when you're unique and genuine because ingenuity scares people. Listen to the Holy Spirit and He'll let you know about it. They burned Joan of Arc at the stake because she talked to God and that scared them...hopefully it doesn't escalate that quickly, but hey, Joan of Arc was a boss and you, my dear, are too. People often find sinful what they are jealous of or what they don't understand.
3.) Let your haters be your motivators!
If the Coach on the opposite team is angry, you're playing the game right. When you are living life out loud that's going to piss Satan off! It's also gonna irritate those under his thumb that are being used by him. The more those in his court want you to fail, want you to be silent, the more you better win and holler like a boss! Take that negative feed back as encouragement.
"No one can make you feel inferiorwithout your consent."
-Eleanor Roosevelt