Valley girl
From ArticleWorld
Valley Girl is a term used to discuss the stereotypical ditzy blond living most likely among the San Fernando Valley in Southern California. Similar to the main character in the movie Legally Blonde starring Reese Witherspoon and released in 2001, valley girls show a penchant for fashion, shopping and a general disregard for self improvement.
Another term often used for Valley Girl is Val. Vals are stereotyped into a group of dyed blondes from rich families who assisted in popularizing Valspeak and many fashion trends including mixing neon colors with pastel.
Parents during the 1980s found this developing trend among U.S. teenagers very disturbing, there were psychologists specializing in de-programming valley girls, and books published on the topic.
While the valley girl stereotype spread in popularity among U.S. girls, a similar phenomenon began to arise in the U.K., the Sloane Ranger movement. The two share the attributes of being completely uninterested in matters of social or political prominence including social equality and matters of economic importance on a national or international level.
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Movies
Valley Girl was a movie with Deborah Foreman and Nicholas Cage that was released in 1983.
Popular Music
The only song performed by Frank Zappa to gain popularity in the U.S. was the song Valley Girl (song) that he performed with his then teenaged daughter, Moon Unit Zappa where she rambled off a string off valspeak behind the lyrics of the song. The older Zappa attempted to sue the producers of the movie by the same name, unsuccessfully.
In general, New Wave Music gained popularity through same time period.
Television and Film Valley Girls
- Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon) in Legally Blonde
- Hilary Banks (Karyn Parsons) in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
- Janice, the Muppet, of The Electric Mayhem (The Muppet Movie (1979) also from The Muppet Show)
See also
- dumb blonde
- valspeak
- bimbo
- Julie Brown is among the performers from the era who personified and popularized the valley girl image.