Courtney Foster
Jour 377
D. Jackson
9/11/11
794 words
“MRS Degree” vs. M.D. Degree?: Can the Southern Ladies at Ole Miss Ever Relinquish Their Reputation as Husband-Hunters?
With multiple generations of Mississippi kin still being raised to believe that their greatest achievements involve becoming domestic Barbie, marrying into Cotton royalty, and raising five rebel yellin’ infants; perhaps the time has come for these Southern belles to accomplish more than just homemade apple pie recipes.
Female students at the University of Mississippi continue to revitalize their eternal reputation as being nuptial savages, as some relentlessly would rather seek the fulfillment of a man’s love, versus marking their own professional success as doctors, lawyers, or CEOs of major corporate companies. As the state of Mississippi continues to struggle with high percentages of divorce and poverty, it can only be justified that pondering marriage against a career as crossroads renders questionable motives. But why are these young women still being taught to rely solely on a man for everything? But most importantly, we linger on the question: Why is it love or success, as opposed to the entitlement to have both?
Though it may be unconventional to stereotype these wannabe Stepford wives as mostly Mississippi-born but multiple personal experiences and conversations at Ole Miss have been collected, which has led to this mode of thinking. The constant eagerness to engage with the opposite sex is only natural; but that look of terror that is instilled on their faces because they are 25 and still single is quite unnerving and very misleading. Gary Pettus of the Clarion Ledger recently reported that “Mississippi’s divorce rates for men and women are among the highest in the nation, while its marriage rates rank in the bottom half.” He added “For all its pro-family reputation, Mississippi is more wedded to the institution of divorce than most other states.”
So why all the hype around marriage? The Clarion Ledger also reported that the marriage rate for women in Mississippi is 17.3, which is slightly less than the national average of 17.6, and marks a No. 32 ranking, so it seems that some of these young women are delusional when it comes to the stigma of marital bliss.
Living in fear that they will be ostracized if they don’t have one child already and another “bun in the oven” by the time they are 30, seems quite silly to the individuals who are not Mississippi natives. The biased remarks that have been made throughout this piece can easily be proven. When asked about her plans for the future, UM senior Callie Upchurch of Hernando said “I hope to be engaged and married to my boyfriend by the time I am 23, and have a boy and a girl by the time I am 25.”
Then when asked about how she foresaw her future, Georgia native Courtney Wimmer McCraken, 26, who works as a data analyst at Emory, said; “After I graduated college at the University of Georgia, I wanted to go to medical school; and I did. I studied and got my Ph.D in biostatistics at the Medical College of Georgia. While I was studying there, I met my now husband, Jay McCraken. I wanted to make something of myself before anything else. I also needed to be able to take care of myself on my own and not rely on anyone else.”
So why is there such reluctance to independence? And as time progresses and women continue to gain more freedom, will marriage always be the No. 1 priority? Perhaps it is up to the free will of each generation to make a statement of their own, and decide what they feel is most important.
The movie The Help recently hit theatres and told the inspirational story of an Ole Miss journalism graduate in the 1960s by the name of “Skeeter.” Despite the opinions of her family and friends who feel the most important duty for a woman is becoming just a housewife, Skeeter goes after her dream to become a successful journalist and gets a job writing a cleaning column for the local newspaper and then goes on to write a book called “The Help.” Will the yearning for female independence ever captivate these young women?
According to U.S. News, UM ranked No. 143 in the 2011 edition of Best Colleges National Universities and made note of its Ole Miss Law School, School of Business, medical school, engineering school, and the education programs. And as females currently make up 53.1 percent of Ole Miss’ total student enrollment, these young women should feel compelled and encouraged to take advantage of larger opportunities and revolutionize a distinguished reputation for them. So though the search for the holy grail of having both love and a career may seem like a stretch, take a look at Oprah Winfrey or Ivanka Trump who relish in their independent success and the devotion from their men.
Sources List:
Callie Upchurch (Ole Miss senior)
(662)-385-3189
callieupchurch@bellsouth.net
Courtney Wimmer McCraken (Emory Data Analyst)
(678)-463-3002
Pettus, Gary. “Divorce Rates in Miss. Among Highest in the U.S.” Clarion Ledger. 25 August 2011. Web. 10 Sep 2011. http://www.clarionledger.com/article/20110826/NEWS/108260349/Divorce-rates-Miss-among-highest-U-S-?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CHome
“U.S. News Education Colleges: The University of Mississippi” U.S. News. Web. 10 Sep 2011. http://colleges.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-colleges/university-of-mississippi-2440
No comments:
Post a Comment