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I do remember reading an article that talked about crime statistics involving men who caught their wives cheating and what they did about it. I wish I still had the link but what it said was that Southern men were significantly more likely to engage in some sort of violent activity against the man who was sleeping with their wife. That would presumably mean either assault or murder. I do think there are some cultural differences between both women and men from the South as compared to the north now that I've lived in both parts of the country. However I think that most of those differences are not negative and I've met some very nice people now that I live in the South.
See, it really depends on how you behave. I mean, just because there's a Gap and a Target and an Olive Garden in your neighborhood, doesn't mean that it's a carbon copy of whatever burg you came from up North. I think the biggest problem people have adjusting here is understanding that there are indeed nuances to how you deal with others.
Mind you, these nuances aren't terribly hard to figure out. You just have to be aware of them in the first place. Look at it this way. You wouldn't move to Tokyo and behave towards others just the way you did back in Cleveland, would you? Then why would you do the same in Mississippi or South Carolina?
Why not, people are basically the same wherever you go, at least from my own experience. Granted there are cultural differences to take into account, but good manners are fairly universal. I behave the same way in Korea, Japan, South America, and the Middle East as I do in NYC, California or Alabama, it's never been an issue, I'm polite and civil to everyone. Most times that courtesy is reciprocated.
There are rivalries among regions and some states, but overall I think people are similar wherever you go, and I've never been treated any better down south than I have in any other region of the country. That's why Southern Hospitality just seems more like a rhetorical moniker that's been applied by folks who are proud of where they're from and really doesn't carry all that much substance. People are alike wherever you go for the most part.
I suppose there is no real difference between Southern men in general and others.
I know I like the 'modified Redneck'--alpha male and I have lived in the South for many decades and am biased. The good ones are great. They enjoy being men and enjoy women. Moody and stubborn, sensitive but charming.
I lived in the deep south for 3 years. Without a doubt, those men are different from any other men that I've met. The women too. It tripped me out the first time (as a 26 or so year old), I was called "ma'am".
Is it a "better" thing? Obviously, since I'm now in the PNW and thoroughly enjoying myself, I don't think so.
You've never met a man of law, military or formal education?
i am from the south (way, way down south). i have met several YANKEES that are overbearing,loud mouths,know it alls,they think we are slow minded,stupid,lazy rednecks. BUT i know lots of men from the south that are just the same ..southern men are not all wonderful gentalmen that open car doors and say yes mam,most of the younger ones today have no respect for anyone not even for themselves....o wait thats just COONASSES ....REAL southern men come from small towns across the south and are raised with so much respect for a woman that yankees and coonasses think its fake(coonasses might live in the south but they are a world apart from southern) i for one know it is not sugar coated or fake i have raised 2 southern "boys" and their respect for women started at home with their "momma" its not fake: it is raised with respect and manners that most parents of coonasses and yankees should instill in their children. i love being from the south and i love my boyfriend who is a big ol yankee,but even he thinks he knows everything and he is always right and us southerners are slow minded and stupid....in the years i have known him he has done a complete turnaround,because he let that simple minded northern way of thinking stop clouding his judgment and just looked,listened and watched all our southern ways and realized that no matter what he thought he knew about us southerners he was wrong...we are actually pretty damn smart we just do not boast about it,we have all our teeth,you just never looked,we do hunt and contrary to what people think most of it is not for sport,its for food,we do speak our minds and if you yankees werent so uptight you would realize its not being a smartass or trying to hurt feelings we are just getting to the matter at hand:how we feel ,and then we will offer you a glass of sweet iced tea and be a loyal friend....because its all out in the open now and we forgive and forget.... AND PLEASE REMEMBER MOST COONASSES FROM LOUISIANA ARE NOT REALLY SOUTHERN...THEY ARE PRETTY MUCH A YANKEE IN THE SOUTH
There is a big difference besides the economic differences and because of in the two. For the most part southern men are nice, when you hit on a common interest during a conversation they will go on in lengthy detail but without them sounding like they wrote the book. As a northern born guy its more than humbling to have a story told out of genuine enthusiasm than to have it told to you including all the chips on their shoulder.
I'm from the north, and I think it's really the way you were brought up, although obviously you will find the stereotypes. I myself was brought up to open the door for a woman, hold out her chair, etc.
Just to throw in a slight curveball, in my experience, I found Southern women more friendly, approachable, and easier to talk to than Northern women. I don't know why that is, but it's just something I found when I've been traveling for work over the course of the last 10-15 years.
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