Whiskey in a Teacup: What Growing Up in the South Taught Me About Life, Love, and Baking Biscuits

by Reese Witherspoon

If I’m going to the theater and am tempted to wear jeans, there she is, saying “But it’s the theater.” And I change.

One historical note that I just love: When the suffragettes were marching, at one point they started wearing red lipstick so they would all be wearing the same bold color and stand in solidarity with one another. I love how this little thing many women had in their purses became a powerful political symbol. It’s a reminder that we don’t have to diminish ourselves as women to be seen as strong. You can push for societal change and you can love getting

dressed up. You don’t have to choose.

We don’t always think to include dates and full names on our photos, because of course we know who the people are and roughly when each picture was taken. But decades from now, our family members will come across the photos and be baffled unless we’ve taken a few seconds to annotate them.

I love what Steve Martin said: “The banjo is such a happy instrument. You can’t play a sad song on the banjo. It always comes out so cheerful.”

No discussion of the South is complete without a tribute to that eternal symbol of southern womanhood: Dolly Parton.

“Who knows,” she’s said of her work, “maybe there is a little girl whose dream it is to be a writer and singer. The seeds of these dreams are often found in books and the seeds you help plant in your community can grow across the world.”

At southern weddings, there are always a lot of bridesmaids. Let me tell you why I think that is: people are so darn polite in the South, and they don’t want to hurt anybody’s feelings.

Your job is your life insurance. 2. If you want something done, do it yourself—or ask another woman. 3. If you want love and companionship, buy a dog.

A bigger house won’t make you happier, you’ll just have more to clean. 5. If you want to meet a man, go to Home Depot (or a sports bar). 6. You won’t meet any friends on your couch. 7. To have a good friend, be a good friend. 8. If it looks like a duck and walks like a duck, it’s probably a duck. 9. Don’t put a fox in charge of a henhouse. 10. The best things in life are not things.

even if it may take them a little while to realize what holidays are really about . . . That’s right: making your mother happy.

Loyalty is a real southern tradition, and so is protecting our women.