Quick On the Drawl: When It Comes To Southern Intonation, Some Women Accentuate the Positive

Kim, a native Nashvillian, acknowledges that her accent — sorghum-thick on certain words — is not typical of most people born and bred in Middle Tennessee. Her mother and father hail from Memphis and Mississippi respectively, and their combined manners of speaking are reflected in Kim’s verbal delivery. “My accent represents my family. They’re a part of who I am, where I come from. To talk like this...it’s a blessin’.”
 
Even in her professional life, Kim has found — or made — her accent an advantage. In a 20-plus-year career in management and community relations, Kim has dealt with corporate types from Manhattan, Cincinnati and countless cities in between. “I love observin’ the stereotypes melt away,” she grins. “People make assumptions about intelligence because of the accent, so I love it when somebody realizes he better listen up because the person speaking with the drawl knows her stuff.”
 
Meanwhile, Kim’s regional twang has often served as much-needed sweetener in bitter dealings with disgruntled customers or colleagues. “The right tone can soothe and disarm,” she says. 
 
Betsy Riley concurs. Raised in Kentucky and a resident of Tennessee for more than 37 years before moving to Maryland, Betsy has “quite a drawl.” Though she admittedly had to tame her accent to communicate better with the foreign nationals she worked with in her career, she knew just when to rely on Southern vernacular to ease tensions in professional situations. 
 
Many years ago, as president of a computer software users group, Betsy was charged with the task of announcing that smoking would be banned for the first time at the group’s conference. She made the proclamation from the podium with classic Southern charm. “We hope y’all will help us meet the fire marshal’s requirements by doing your smoking on the lanai instead of in the meeting room.” She received cheers in response. The next day the group treasurer, a lady from New York City, repeated the announcement in her own direct wording. “If you wanna smoke, take it outside.” She was booed.
 
Dr. Nancy Irwin is another Southerner who’s had success with her accent behind the podium, as well as on TV and the theater stage. As a therapeutic hypnotist, public speaker, former standup comedian and opera singer (I did not make that list up, by the way!), Dr. Nancy has journeyed well beyond her native Atlanta (she now resides in California) but has carried her distinct drawl with her every step of the way. 
 
“I refuse to homogenize my speaking because some folks equate it to stupidity, ignorance or a racist mentality. I have a doctorate in psychology, am extremely well traveled and successful and am so liberal and left-winged Ralph Nader is scared of me. I am proud of my Southern roots.”
 
“Nothing is quite so wonderful as a woman with a Southern accent,” says Novelist Mary Calhoun Brown. Hailing from the Virginia-Tennessee border, she writes Southern fiction and is a vocal champion of what she calls “good ol’ Southmouth.” Following the success of her award-winning book There Are No Words (the plot centers around Nashville’s Great Train Wreck of 1918), Mary is working on a tribute novel written in Southern colloquialism, cliché and idiom, adapted from 17th century English. “Ohhhhh Southerners, Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease don’t be ashamed of your drawl,” she implores.
 
Nonprofit development director and Mississippi native Susie Brown, who lives in New York City and works for the Center for Children’s Initiatives, finds her Southern accent doesn’t just break the ice — it melts it. In the world of fundraising, her genteel tone is “one of her greatest assets.” The appeal of her voice invites conversation and draws people to pay closer attention to what she’s saying. 
 
Speaking of drawing people closer ... “The Southern drawl is top-notch where British men are concerned,” reports Rochelle Peachey of Transatlantic dating site iloveyouraccent.com. “We receive many inquiries from British men who just love women with Southern accents.” 
 
I’ll never forget a comment made by a male friend from Chicago on the topic: “There’s just something so feminine and memorable about a sweet Southern drawl. It makes my knees weak.” 
 
Of course, not everyone hangs his wide-brimmed hat on the knee-weakening, ice-melting allure and charm of the Southern accent. Some people really mean business when they discuss the need to mask accents. Nashville public relations consultant Aerial Ellis (urbaneimagery.com), a Southerner who has minimized her regional affectation, consistently advises her clients to “drop the drawl.” Her intent is to guide the professionals she works with to be true to their Southern heritage yet speak plainly enough to avoid judgmental stereotypes and preconceived perceptions. 
 
Should any of those clients need elocution training, there’s a new book and CD on the market to help. Speech-language pathologists Jennifer Adams and Johanna Chapman have recently penned Say Goodbye to Your Southern Accent, published by Language Success Press. The book is an extension of their business, Atlanta Accent Management, which helps clients seeking to neutralize their speech. 
 
Of course, speaking ‘Southern’ isn’t just about how one pronounces one’s vowels or drops the consonants at the ends of words. Southern speech is as much about terms and idioms, such as “fixin’ to” and “y’all,” and a non-Southerner can pick up this distinct lexicon simply by coexisting with the locals long enough. 
 
Connie Holubar, originally from Colorado and residing in East Texas, once let a “sweetie” slip during a business call with a rather tightly wound Bostonian. The S-bomb resulted in prolonged silence followed by a statement of shock by the Bostonian regarding “being talked down to” and a request to cease the conversation entirely. Connie feverishly backpedaled, assuring no disrespect to the indignant woman, and eventually restored the interaction. (Though, to herself, she thought, “Bitch,” a word that becomes multi-syllabic and sounds less offensive when spoken with a twang.)
 
What does sound offensive when it comes to Southern accents? Fake ones. 
 
In preparing for this story, I sent out a national query to get real-life insights from women far and wide. While opinions on accents varied widely, no one had good things to say about faux drawls — the verbal atrocities of actors who’ve feigned to put mouth to the South. A quick Google of “worst Southern accent” bubbles up Kyra Sedgwick in The Closer, Nicole Kidman (coincidentally now a part-time Nashvillian) in Cold Mountain and Jessica Simpson in The Dukes of Hazzard as some of the most audible offenders. An actor using a bad Southern accent may as well don a clown costume, too; the lack of authenticity is distracting and, at best, laughable.
 
Perhaps therein lies the most significant truth of all in this discussion. Whether a woman relishes her Southern drawl or makes adjustments to fit her professional or personal goals, she must find her authentic voice and be true to herself.