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Are Valley girls still popular and do they still exist in 21st century America?

 
 
Reply Tue 16 Jul, 2019 03:59 am
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.
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Type: Question • Score: 3 • Views: 1,440 • Replies: 14
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JGoldman10
 
  -1  
Reply Tue 16 Jul, 2019 05:10 am
What I meant to ask is, do they still exist in real life, in this day and age?
hightor
 
  2  
Reply Tue 16 Jul, 2019 05:13 am
@JGoldman10,
We'd probably refer to them as "Valley Women" now that they've grown up.

But yeah, the stereotype is probably secure in the collective imagination by now.
JGoldman10
 
  0  
Reply Tue 16 Jul, 2019 05:36 am
@hightor,
Ha ha ha. I meant, are/were there any NEW generations of Valley girls THIS century, in REAL LIFE?

I have not been in school in over 2 decades- I do not know that much about current youth culture.

0 Replies
 
Linkat
 
  1  
Reply Tue 16 Jul, 2019 07:53 am
Maybe they are called "up talkers" now -

At the very least - the speech sounds the same.
izzythepush
 
  1  
Reply Tue 16 Jul, 2019 08:22 am
@JGoldman10,
Over here the same stereotype is applied to Essex girls.
0 Replies
 
tsarstepan
 
  1  
Reply Wed 17 Jul, 2019 09:41 am
@Linkat,
Linkat wrote:

Maybe they are called "up talkers" now -

At the very least - the speech sounds the same.

Up talking still exists. But I don't think that's the same thing as being a Valley Girl. It's safe to say... Valley Girls only exist in really bad and outdated parodies and not en masses as an active or popular movement in the real world.
JGoldman10
 
  1  
Reply Wed 17 Jul, 2019 09:56 am
@tsarstepan,
tsarstepan wrote:

Linkat wrote:

Maybe they are called "up talkers" now -

At the very least - the speech sounds the same.

Up talking still exists. But I don't think that's the same thing as being a Valley Girl. It's safe to say... Valley Girls only exist in really bad and outdated parodies and not en masses as an active or popular movement in the real world.


I asked the topic question elsewhere and was told, "No, not as much as they were back in the '80s and the '90s. But they do still exist in places like Cali, as that's where they originated from."
tsarstepan
 
  1  
Reply Wed 17 Jul, 2019 10:30 am
@JGoldman10,
JGoldman10 wrote:

tsarstepan wrote:

Linkat wrote:

Maybe they are called "up talkers" now -

At the very least - the speech sounds the same.

Up talking still exists. But I don't think that's the same thing as being a Valley Girl. It's safe to say... Valley Girls only exist in really bad and outdated parodies and not en masses as an active or popular movement in the real world.


I asked the topic question elsewhere and was told, "No, not as much as they were back in the '80s and the '90s. But they do still exist in places like Cali, as that's where they originated from."

And? Just because someone (using likely anecdotal evidence) answered elsewhere doesn't mean the group in question is a sizable ... let alone popular one.

So? Why ask this question in the first place? What's the point of it all? Beyond rampant sentimentality towards a long gone time of childhood?
JGoldman10
 
  1  
Reply Thu 18 Jul, 2019 01:04 am
@tsarstepan,
I'm a cartoonist and writer. I wanted to know if I created any Valley girl characters, would kids today relate to them and know what Valley girls are.

They were staples of '80s/'90s American youth subculture.
hawkeye10
 
  -3  
Reply Thu 18 Jul, 2019 01:08 am
@JGoldman10,
JGoldman10 wrote:

I'm a cartoonist and writer. I wanted to know if I created any Valley girl characters, would kids today relate to them and know what Valley girls are.

They were staples of '80s/'90s American youth subculture.

Hell no....They need to be spreading a lie about how men suck, about how they are victims of men...or boys...the abusers need to be male....perhaps make a male dog the abuser.....that is the only story that sells with these victim groomed morons!
JGoldman10
 
  1  
Reply Thu 18 Jul, 2019 02:22 am
@hawkeye10,
That's ridiculous- I am not doing any FEMINIST crap. Mad
I am not doing that or anything LGBTQI-related.
0 Replies
 
JGoldman10
 
  1  
Reply Thu 18 Jul, 2019 03:15 am
Bugger off. I am aiming my toons and comics at KIDS. I'm the CREATOR. You are not part of my target demographic.

Kids do not need to be subject to such perversions and aberrations.

You're forgetting I'm a Christian.

What "universe"?

Are you trying to make this a racial thing? Or is this because I'm a Christian?
izzythepush
 
  2  
Reply Thu 18 Jul, 2019 03:18 am
@JGoldman10,
Ignore him, he's an attention seeker desperate to be noticed.
JGoldman10
 
  1  
Reply Sat 20 Jul, 2019 02:10 am
@izzythepush,
https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/48328294827_2c4f9d3f7b_b.jpg
0 Replies
 
 

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