If you recall, in ”Gone with the Wind,” it`s the menfolk who fall to pieces and the women who carry on. That`s because Southern belles are a lot tougher than they look. (Remember Rosalynn Carter?) So how can you tell one of these Iron Magnolias when you meet one? According to ”A Southern Belle Primer” (Doubleday), by Marlyn Schwartz, here are some signs: ”She calls the refrigerator an `icebox`; even if she`s 90, she calls her father `Daddy`; she drinks iced tea in the middle of a blizzard; she dyes her shoes to match her cocktail dress; and her hair looks like a frosted helmet.” Honorary Southern belles: Elizabeth Taylor, Diana Ross, the McGuire Sisters (the hairdos alone qualify them), Barbara Walters and, a shoo-in, Martha Stewart.
Ignorance of the law is not a defense, but sometimes it should be. There are some extremely weird injunctions in this country, some of which are gathered in ”Loony Laws” (Ivy Books), by Robert Wayne Pelton. In Miami, it`s illegal for men to be seen in public in any kind of strapless gown. Corvallis, Ore., forbids young lades from drinking coffee after 6 p.m.. Unmarried women are not allowed to parachute on the Sabbath in Florida. In Oxford, Ohio, it`s illegal for a woman to undress while standing in front of a man`s picture. And no one is allowed to fish for whales in Oklahoma. Of course, we`re not the only place with loony laws. In England, it used to be that if you tried to kill yourself and failed, they hanged you.
