Valley girl
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In the United States, Valley girl, or "Val", is a term coined for residents of the San Fernando Valley, and originated in the 1970s.
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[edit] Origins and usage
The term originally referred specifically to affluent young women living in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles, California.
The term morphed in the 1980s and 1990s to represent a more widespread and cartoonish stereotype of young women—typically characterized by a "ditzy" or "airheaded" personality, and unapologetically "spoiled" behavior that showed more interest in shopping, personal appearance, and popular social status, rather than in any self-enriching pursuit.
The "Val" is typically blonde-haired, (sometimes dyed) and is sometimes portrayed as hypersexual. The typical style of dress was often garishly loud and colorful—a combination of pastel and neon colors, ruffles and lace. Tutus, leggings and bodysuits were more rare, but represented the extremes of the trend.
[edit] Dialect
- Main article: Valspeak
A certain dialect of speech became associated with valley girls which became referred to as "Valspeak," common among teenage females during the 1980s.
Qualifiers such as "like," "way," "totally" and "duh" were interjected in the middle of phrases and sentences as emphasizers. Narrative sentences were often spoken as if they were questions (high rising terminal).
Some of the slang included:
- "As - if" (expresses distinct doubt)
- "What-Everrrr" (expresses sarcasm & disinterest)
- "Barf me out!" ("That's disgusting.")
- "Fer shur." ("Certainly.")
- "Totally." ("Yes.", "Definitely.", "I agree.", or "Very much.")
- "Gag me with a spoon!" ("That's disgusting.")
- "Grody to the max!" ("That's disgusting." The word "grody" was already popular in the early 1960s).
- "You little rat!" ("You told on me!" Although the word "Rat!" is used often to describe a person, if even not related to context)
- "Like, oh my god" (expresses shock). The word "like" is often used alone as a filler. It is sometimes spelled "omigod" or "omigawd".
[edit] Connections with wider culture
There is some similarity between the phenomenon of a Valley Girl in the United States and the concept of a Sloane Ranger in the United Kingdom, in particular the self-confidence, the emphasis on personal appearance and social standing among a narrow group of peers, and the lack of interest in counter-culture issues such as affirmative action, social welfare and climate change.
Similar phenomena were registered around the globe in books, movies and on television. In diverse places such as Russia, Japan, Ethiopia, and Pakistan, parent movements and religious organizations were formed against this culture. Specifically, the question-ending sentence was the most marked symptom of the global Valley Girl, marking these girls as part of the new global culture, saved mostly for the privileged. In Israel, for example, they were called 'Tzfoniot' - girls of the wealthy northern district of Tel Aviv. In Brazil, they are know since the early nineties as Patricinhas, a diminutive of the common name Patrícia.
A book was written called How to De-Program Your Valley Girl (ISBN 0-89480-239-9) in an attempt by parents to try to cull what they thought was a damaging trend.
MTV culture is directly linked to the Valley Girl culture.
[edit] "Valley girl" in pop culture
[edit] Music
In 1982, guitarist Frank Zappa released the album Ship Arriving Too Late to Save a Drowning Witch. The album featured the single "Valley Girl", with his 14 year old daughter Moon Unit (who supplied Frank with much of the content) speaking typical "Valley girl" phrases. Zappa intended to lampoon the image, but the single had the reverse effect and popularized the valley girl stereotype nationwide. There was a significant increase in the "Valley girl" slang usage.
[edit] Feature film
In 1983, the feature film Valley Girl was released starring actor Nicolas Cage and actress Deborah Foreman.
Besides featuring the up-and-coming actor Cage, the movie contains a soundtrack of New Wave music which was at the peak of its popularity at that time.
The film's producers had initially approached Frank Zappa to ask him if they could make a film based on his song. Zappa refused, and the filmmakers wound up making the film with Zappa's song anyway, sans his permission. Zappa attempted to sue over the obvious capitalization on his song, but the lawsuit was thrown out.
[edit] Fictional valley girls
- Julie Richman (portrayed by Deborah Foreman) in the quintessential Val teen movie, 1983's Valley Girl.
- Clover from the animated TV show Totally Spies!
- Kimberly Hart (portrayed by Amy Jo Johnson) on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
- Cher Horowitz (portrayed by Alicia Silverstone) in the 1995 teen movie Clueless, a retelling of Jane Austen's novel Emma.
- Hilary Banks (portrayed by Karyn Parsons) from The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, though her character was actually from the Bel-Air neighborhood of Los Angeles, just outside of the Valley proper. In addition, in one episode Hilary makes a disparaging remark about the San Fernando Valley, though this probably is more a diss to the 1980s Val or simply a dislike for another LA neighborhood.
- Elle Woods (portrayed by Reese Witherspoon) from Legally Blonde.
- Chelsea Handler from Girls Behaving Badly and The Chelsea Handler Show to talk moroning ditzy valspeak.
- Dana Foster (portrayed by Staci Keenan) on Step by Step.
- Gina and Jessica (portrayed by Amanda Bynes and Christy Knowings respectively) in the All That recurring sketch What-Everrrrrr.
- Amber (portrayed by Amanda Bynes) in The Amanda Show recurring sketch The Girl's Room.
- Eris from The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy (Madonna-like accent switch).
- Wendy Lubbock (portrayed by Brooke Theiss) in the ABC sitcom, Just the Ten of Us.
- Kate from Lizzie McGuire (though it could be argued whether Lizzie herself is a Valley Girl).
- Christina Kirkman from All That.
- Shadowcat from X-Men: Evolution.
- The LTDFCD from Operation: P.O.O.L on Codename: Kids Next Door.
- Amy from KCHAT in the video game Grand Theft Auto: Vice City.
- The Muppet Janice (sometimes "Janis"), a member of The Electric Mayhem (The Muppet Movie {1979} and The Muppet Show).
- Shirley the Loon, the always-meditating duck girl from Tiny Toon Adventures.
- Vicky the Valley Girl from Saturday Night Live (played by Gail Matthius, the same woman who voiced Shirley on Tiny Toons).
- Buffy Summers (portrayed by Kristy Swanson) in the film Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
- Minerva Mink from Animaniacs.
- Tammy Duvall from King of the Hill episode Ho Yeah! (2001).
- Fancy Crane (played by Emily Harper) from Passions.
- Quinn Morgendorffer from Daria.
- Elvira the late-night "vampire" talked in Valspeak ("I mean, wow, it's like déjà vu!").
- Melissa Joan Hart's character in Clarissa Explains It All would lapse into Valspeak.
- The characters Kimberley and Demi in the novel Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination by Helen Fielding.
- Harmony Kendall, the spoiled unicorn loving deb' (later spoiled vampire) from the television shows Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, played by Mercedes McNab.
- Romy and Michele from Romy and Michele's High School Reunion.
- The celebrity, Pamela Anderson (and the character she portrays, Vallery Irons in TV show V.I.P.).
- Daphne Blake from A Pup Named Scooby-Doo.
- Kim Possible from the same-titled show (although categorization as a Val would be debatable).
- The Tweevils (Kirstee and Kaycee) and Cloe from the Bratz animated series.
- The Ashleys on Disney's Recess.
- The "Plastics" from the movie Mean Girls.
- Topaz Trollhopper from Trollz.
- Meio Heio from the anime D.N.Angel.
- Caitlin Cooke from the animated series 6teen.
- Amy Rose from Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog series.
- Bridget Hennessy (played by Kaley Cuoco) and Kerry Hennessy (played by Amy Davidson) from the television show 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter.
- Marissa Cooper (Mischa Barton) and Summer Roberts (Rachel Bilson) on hit TV series The O.C., which also includes a parody of itself within the show titled The Valley.
- Brooke Davis (played by Sophia Bush) from the hit television show One Tree Hill.
- Paulina Sanchez from Danny Phantom.
- Berri from Conker's Bad Fur Day has a Valley Girl accent and looks like one too.
- Miranda from Alan Dean Foster's Glory Lane.
- Stacey from Disney's A Goofy Movie.
- Veronica from The Fairly Oddparents.
- Pink Five (played by Amy Earhart), the hero of a series of fan-made movies is a fast-talking Valley Girl type placed in the Star Wars universe.
- Jo-beth Casey, a minor character in Timesplitters: Future Perfect.
- Sharpay Evans (played by Ashley Tisdale) from the Disney movie High School Musical.
- Lisa Turtle (played by Lark Voorhies) from the television series Saved by the Bell.
- Madison Taylor and Sakura Avalon, the English dubbed counterparts of Cardcaptor Sakura heroines, were edited into valley girls.
- The Ones from the Purple Moon games (Nicole, Stephanie and Whitney) all qualify.
- Cipher Admin/Scientist Lovrina from Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness.
- London Tipton (played by Brenda Song) on television series The Suite Life of Zack and Cody.
- Helena Douglas (played by Sarah Carter) in the 2006 action movie DOA: Dead or Alive.
- Aphrodite (played by Alexandra Tydings), the Goddess of Love, was portrayed as something of a Valley Girl in the television program, Xena: Warrior Princess
- Robin Maxwell, played by Blair Tefkin, in V the MiniSeries and TV Series. One comment about her is that the Resistance hideout she is expected to live in "isn't the Mazza Gallerie."
- Unnamed character in Laughing Cow Cheese radio commercials (such as the Highway Patrolman spot) by Joy Radio, Inc. of the mid-1980s.
[edit] United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom the term Valley girl is used to refer to a stereotype of a resident of the South Wales Valleys. The stereotype is one of a sexually promiscuous teenager or woman of less than average intelligence.
The stereotype is similar to Essex Girl or Sloane Ranger.
[edit] Texas
In Texas, the term "Valley Girl" is often colloquially used to refer to a woman from the Rio Grande Valley, the far southern area around Brownsville. The term, of course, became more popular when the California term gained nationwide attention (i.e. because of the contrast with this term).
Although not so heavily stereotyped as the California term, for many people the term carries a stereotype of rural Mexican American heritage. In some contexts it can be associated with illegal immigration status although it is more typically used in the context of regional or ethnic pride.
[edit] See also
- San Fernando Valley
- Bimbo
- Dumb blonde
- Julie Brown is among the performers from the era who personified and popularized the valley girl image.
- Kogal and ganguro is basically the Japanese equivalent.
- Socialite Paris Hilton is in several aspects a modern-day valley girl in terms of social habits as well as vocal inflection.
[edit] External links
- The Valley Girl language edition of Wackipedia
