Tradition In The South

Findings explain how traditions were formulated and carried out for so long with such importance. Traditions are strongly held up in the South and while some slipped through the cracks and there is a need to determine whether this was a positive or negative attribution to history in the South and contemporary Southern culture. All of this together will answer my question of; how did tradition in the South prevail and how it affected the culture. While there are numerous outlooks of the South, such as obliviousness, bigotry and “backwardness,” one could respectively say that there is a sense of tradition in the South that is upheld. The idea is aimed towards the depictions of these traditions in the South. The South has been seen as a “backwards” …show more content…
In consideration of tradition in the South, although historically it can be seen as holding on to the customs closely for decades after major points like the Civil War or reconstruction, it is still prevalent within this era. The contemporary American South still has traditions that descend from the beginning of time. Tradition is extremely relevant to the South because it is what makes the South, the South. We see cultures across America and there is not one quite like the South. A sense of culture that has been engraved into its history and present day. The South has had a lot of its “backwardness” remain as a norm is strange. This idea of it being so different is shown in their traditional ways of carrying things out. Edward Ayers’ passage What We Talk about When We Talk about the South, says,” Polls show us that Americans from all over the country picture the South as backward-looking. From the positive point of view, Southerners seem to respect the past, the land, and their elders... There can be no doubt that the South has been poorer than the rest …show more content…
Harriet Jacobs’ passage of her narrative, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, explains the old-style sense of the Southern male-controlled society along with the role of women traditionally but furthermore the role of black women and discrimination. Both of these are almost traditional mindsets of the South and also stereotypes of traditional South. Jacobs lived under the watch of her master whom abused her sexually and mentally, then how her own family turns themselves away from her for being a woman and being pregnant. This goes hand in hand with the traditional sense of conservatism and how the South is very traditional with how things should be for women. “”She exclaimed, “O Linda! Has it come to this? I had rather see you dead than to see you as you now are. You are a disgrace to your dead mother.” She tore from my fingers my mother’s wedding ring and her silver thimble.” (Jacobs) This quote is the reaction of the grandmother of the slave girl after she explains she is pregnant, this shows how even between women there is a taboo of sexuality whilst a man’s sexuality is open and acceptable. JoAnn Marshall’s The Roles of Southern Women, Black and White, in Society, says, “Powerful, white men create this society and the roles for the women within. Southern women, black and white, have little choice but to play the roles they are given and