List # 88: Dixie Chick

I consider myself a feminist. I'm a woman who fiercely believes in her career, is proud of how hard she has worked and was raised to take education seriously. I believe that the Glass Ceiling still exists and that the world still doesn't accept the capability that rests in women. I plan on one day, if I ever have children, to keep working. I believe in equal partnerships in relationships and hope that I can find someone who loves to cook while I do the dishes.

But, and here's a dirty little secret, sometimes I wish I was a Southern Belle.

• I imagine myself in Georgia, sipping sweet tea and fanning myself. I'd still wear pearls and be a Kappa Kappa Gamma. Yes, this Librarian is a Sorority Girl and and old school Southern one at that (well, my chapter was a small, northern liberal arts college but KKG is has strong Southern roots).
• I'll trade in my Masters Degree with a membership to the Junior League. Still spend my afternoons working for non-profits but they'll be afternoons filled with ladies' teas and mini-sandwiches.
• Instead of being the proud, single, career gal I'll be the wife of a Southern lawyer. Someone I met at my big Southern State school, or *gasp* my high school sweet heart. My priorities will be charity benefits and barrister balls.
• We'll take vacations to his family's house, sitting on the Gulf for generations, and think about taking a European cruise but it never happens. In the fall we have season tickets to our alma mater's football games. And I'm known for my chili recipe at the tailgate.
• And yes, I'll have babies, young. Because the husband will have joined his family's law firm right after graduation. Partner earlier than most, because well...it's family. And I'll be open an Etsy shop selling pink and green and yellow hair bows for toddlers. I'll probably knit some of those cute little hats too.
• And maybe, just maybe, if my daughter wants it. I'll enter her in some high-glitz beauty contests. And we'll turn down Toddlers & Tiaras.

Sound crazy? I blame Saturday nights at small town Cracker Barrels and books like Commencement and watching Toddlers & Tiaras with my Dad. And generally wishing I could trade places for a day. So, what parallel universe would you swap with? A life so unlike you're own it would be a completely different cultural experience. But I want the juicy ones, the ones that are hard to admit.