Hi. I am just a bit curious about this and I am doing research on American subcultures for a project.
From
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valley_girl :
"Valley girl is a socioeconomic stereotype depicting a class of women characterized by the colloquial California English dialect Valleyspeak and materialism.
Originally referring to upper-middle class girls from the Los Angeles commuter communities of the San Fernando Valley during the 1980s, the term in later years became more broadly applied to any female in the United States who engendered the associated effects of ditziness, airheadedness, and/or greater interest in conspicuous consumption than intellectual or personal accomplishment."
Valley girls were popular throughout the '80s and '90s.
In the '80s Frank Zappa released the single "Valley Girl", and there was a movie out called
Valley Girl starring Nicolas Cage.
In the '90s, the movie
Clueless was about Valley girls. The sitcom
The Fresh Prince of Bel Air featured a Valley girl character, Hillary Banks. In the cartoon series
Tiny Toon Adventures Shirley the Loon was depicted as a Valley girl.
There is even a trope for "Valley girl":
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ValleyGirl
According to
https://bethanyannefray.wordpress.com/2012/03/13/90s-cybergoths/ :
"Valley Girls or ‘Val Gals’ were the stereotypical californian girls of the '80s and '90s, known for their ‘Val Speak’ & materialistic lifestyle.
Their styles, in the mid nineties, became more preppy schoolgirl style as seen in the '90s movie
Clueless.
Dress Code – Tartan skirts, Mini Skirts, Mary Jane Strappies, Knee high socks and Velvet hairbands.
Described as ditzy or airheads. Their interests involved shopping, personal appearance and social status.
Val speak is a large part of this group and was adopted by teenagers all over America.
Words such as:
-LIKE -ASIF
-WHATEVER -DUH
-WAY -TOTALLY
Valley Girls can be seen in many films and TV programmes such as
Gossip Girl,
Valley Girl &
Beverly Hills 90210.
Valley Girls were also made famous by musicians using their slang in their songs."
But are Valley girls still popular and do they still exist in 21st century America?
If I created a Valley girl character and aimed it at kids, would this generation's kids know what a "Valley girl" is?
I know there are a few recent cartoon shows that feature Valley girl characters in them.
Please help- thank you.