Southern Women
*This is a paper I wrote for my Women Writing in War class last semester.* Independence does not always equal aloneness, but rather that one knows who one is, aside from another person or society’s ideals. Independence means charting one’s own destiny. I come from a long line of independent, hardworking, and successful southern women, but the definition of success for a woman is still debated in southern culture. The first college graduate on my maternal side of my family was a female and ultimately, my mother. Before her, the women in my family were successful in the home and working outside of the home to help provide for the family. As times change, much can be said about the slow change of women’s success in the Southern culture. Sarah Morgan kept a diary during the Civil War and while her diary addresses slavery with ignorance, he...