I have lived in a small town in southeastern Kentucky my whole life. Growing up, I noticed how my accent was a lot different than those of the people on the television shows I watched. They said their "I's" strongly, whereas when I would pronounce "I' it would come off as very flat. When they said the word "creek," it did not sound like "crick" compared to when I would say it. They rarely ever said the words "y'all" or "ain't," which I say frequently. After noticing this, I became concerned to the point where I even asked my mother what was wrong with my voice. She explained that nothing was wrong with my voice, that people from our "neck of the woods" just all have southern accents. Naturally, I did not like my voice and was very envious of the people on TV; I wanted to sound like them. Stereotypes of southern accents that people have engraved into society did not help me with trying to accept my voice, either. To this day, however, I have learned to embrace it. My southern accent is something I am proud of and what I consider one of my favorite qualities of myself.
When I would visit other places in the city growing up, I would constantly get asked by other people, "where are you from?" because my accent was so different than theirs. When I would respond and tell them I was from southeast Kentucky, I could already tell what was going through their heads: they pictured me being from some low, run-down, poverty-stricken area where there is basically nothing. They also assume that I am automatically dumb or that I am on drugs, etc. To this day, I know there are certain people who still believe this, but I have learned to overlook them. While, yes, there are a lot of drug problems in my home area, that is not all my home area is, and I know many wonderful, intelligent people living there (such as my parents, who are both pharmacists and successful business owners). I know in my heart that I am well-educated and that my hometown is not run-down. These people have helped me to appreciate my accent even more.
As you can see, growing up, I had a love-hate relationship with my southern accent. However, to this day, it is nothing but love. To this day, when someone asks me where I am from when they notice my accent, I am no longer ashamed; I embrace it and will proudly tell them where I am from in southeastern Kentucky. I know people will always be opinionated over certain topics, especially this, but I have to tell myself that they are just small-minded and assume things too quickly. I am proud to be a Southern Belle and I will never change myself for anyone or anything.
