Essex girl
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - Cite This Source"Essex girl" is a pejorative slang term used in the United Kingdom used to refer to what people believe are promiscuous, blonde, unintelligent women. It was most widely used and gained popularity during the 1980s and 1990s. Its use has waned somewhat since the increase in popularity of the "chav" label. One of main reason for the origin of the term may be due to Essex's geographical proximity to London. Essex is the next big city with somewhat distinct (working class) identity from London. During weekdays, many people from Essex commute to London for work and, during the weekends, many Essex people goes to London for a night out.
Unlike the comparable "Essex man", which developed originally as a political term broadly describing aspirational working-class voters in the South and East of England who voted for Margaret Thatcher, "Essex girl" did not carry such explicit political denotations.
Image
The stereotypical image was formed as a variation of the dumb blonde/bimbo persona, with references to the Estuary English accent, white stiletto heels, peroxide blonde hair, promiscuity, loud verbal vulgarity, and socialising at downmarket nightclubs in large groups.Time magazine has written:
The term initially became synonymous with the lead characters of Sharon and Tracey in the BBC sitcom Birds of a Feather. These brash and uninhibited women had escaped working class backgrounds in London and moved to a large house in Chigwell.
The image has since been epitomised in celebrity culture with the likes of Denise Van Outen, Jodie Marsh, Jade Goody and Chantelle Houghton all rising to fame predominantly with the help of their 'Essex Girl' image.
Essex girl jokes
Essex girl jokes are primarily of variations of Blonde jokes though often more sexually explicit. The jokes' derogatory nature and persistence caused some commentators to speak out publicly against them.In 2004, Bob Russell, the Liberal Democrat MP for the Colchester district of Essex appealed for debate in the House of Commons on the issue and encouraged a boycott of The People tabloid, which has printed several derogatory references to girls from Essex.
Examples of famous Essex Girl jokes:
1) An Essex girl is driving down the A13 when her car phone rings. It's her boyfriend, urgently warning her, "Treacle, I just heard on the news that there's a car going the wrong way on the A13. Please be careful! "It's not just one car!" shrieks the Essex girl, "There's hundreds of them!"
2) An Essex girl is involved in a nasty car crash and is trapped and bleeding. The paramedics soon arrive on site.
Medic: It's OK I'm a paramedic and I'm going to ask you some questions.
Girl: OK
Medic: What's your name?
Girl: Sharon
Medic: OK Sharon, is this your car?
Sharon: Yes
Medic: Where are you bleeding from?
Sharon: Romford, mate!
3) How does an Essex girl turn off the lights when she has sex?
She shuts the car door.
4) What does an Essex girl put behind her ears to make her more attractive? Her Ankles.
5) What's the difference between the Titanic and an Essex Girl? You know how many men went down on the Titanic.
6) How do you know when an Essex girl is having an orgasm? She drops her bag of chips.
7) What's an Essex girl's favourite wine? "Ohhh, please, can we go to lakeside?"
References
Further reading
- Christie Davies Jokes and Their Relation to Society. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 3110161044.
See also
- Chav
- Dumb blonde
- Valley girl
- Westie (person) (Australia/New Zealand)
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia © 2001-2006 Wikipedia contributors (Disclaimer)
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Wednesday March 12, 2008 at 12:10:06 PDT (GMT -0700)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation