PARDON ME, MY ACCENT IS SHOWING!

"Being a Southern person and a blonde...it's not a good combination.  Immediately when people meet you, they think of you as not being smart."  Reese Witherspoon

I must admit that I have been giving this subject a little bit of thought, since I am getting ready to move north...or "up nawth" as I suppose I might say.  My accent is natural...but my blonde hair is not - still the effect is the same.  When Jimmy Carter was elected President, there was an elevated interest in southern speech.  I remember those books that you could find by the cash register of all the Stuckey's, Denny's and Cracker Barrel Restaurants on "How To Speak Southern" and "More How to Speak Southern".  I'm not sure how many volumes of this drival were actually published, but I remember watching people pick them up and laugh - and read them aloud to their companions.  I assume these people were not from the South - because they really weren't that funny.  To me, they should have been entitled, "How to Sound Ignorant."

Accents matter.  I know this.  The late, ( and much missed) Erma Bombeck said, "I will buy any creme, cosmetic, or elixir from a woman with a European accent."  Perhaps she was referring to someone like the Gabor sisters who peddled glamour and beauty with shameless disregard for intelligence.  Now we have Penelope Cruz as the spokeswoman for hair color..or "kol-ler" as she says.

I find that I am lulled into strange fascination when I hear a British accent - perhaps this is what accounts for my obsession with Masterpiece Theater. I am not alone in this - just notice those ads about buying gold coins....or purchasing a Lexus...the spokesperson always has a somewhat snooty English accent.  I guess it is supposed to give the buyer a sense of security in the purchase. 

And - to be fair - it probably wouldn't be as effective if Jeff Foxworthy tried to sell gold. 

Still, I am proud to be from the South (as long as that is not synonomous with being a right-wing wingnut)...and I find the accent musical.  So, I will choose not to worry about it and hope that the people I will meet in Pennsylvania will forgive an occasional "y'all".