*I don’t mean to discriminate against non-Southern girls. This post is supposed to be partially entertaining (? But seriously, these rules can, and should, be applied to any girl…regardless of where she is from.

This has put them out of step with most Protestant denominations.Most Southern girls (and girls with good manners) were taught to wait until a gentleman opens the door. Whether you’re dating a Southern girl, Northern girl, or a girl from Ipanema, I think the guy should pay for the first couple of dates.** This just goes without saying. My Nana (maternal grandmother) told me in these situations I should reach for my wallet so as to suggest that I’m willing and able to pay. It’s completely unladylike, and there’s no graceful way to do it! In most nice restaurants, a waiter/host will take care of this when you first sit down.So dear male reader, be that gentleman, open the door for your date (and any other female passerby, for that matter)! Now, a real gentleman, she said, would tell me to put my wallet away! If you’re living in the “big city” (that’s Southern talk for any metropolitan area, btw), chances are you and your Southern girl are going to catch a cab together. But when your Southern belle excuses herself from the table (assuming said belle has been taught to do so before leaving a table), you better high-tail it to her chair and pull it out for her. I know you’re tired of my rules by now, but this is another important “special occasion” rule to remember, especially when you are meeting her parents for the first time or at a very nice dinner.One issue that has been great fodder for critics of the Southern Baptist Convention has been their attitudes toward and treatment of women.In the 1998 convention they revised the Baptist Faith and Message to state that wives must submit to their husbands.