Blondes' sis: Valley Girl

Valley girl – also known as Val – is a term which practically goes hand-in-hand with 'dumb blond' stereotype and is used to define upper-middle class young gals from the neighbourhood of San Fernando Valley. Valley girl's characteristic features are: gold-digger – a true material girl, ego-centric chick who is good-looking, chases after physical pleasures, money and careless sexual relations – makes one's mind immediately picture Paris Hilton, wouldn't you agree?

In the 80 – 90s the term acquired such qualities as love for shopping, obsession with looks and social status and no attention paid to lack of intellect and any personal achievements.

What is peculiar about the image of Valley Girls is that they are characterized by having their own sociolect called 'Valspeak'. It became popular in the US in the 80-90s and successfully 'stuck' to US teenage slang. Valspeak is characterized by such fun emphasizers (qualifiers) as 'way', 'as if!', 'totally', 'like' and 'duh', the latter being widestly popular even in Britain nowadays. Other exciting examples of this sociolect are: 'Betty' – a good-looking woman, 'Fer shur' – for sure, 'Baldwin' – a handsome man etc.

Regarding the image of Valley girl in pop culture, its traces can be found in music (Frank Zappa's song 'Valley Girl' with numerous examples from 'Valspeak'). In 1983 the film called Valley Girl was released starring Nicolas Cage and Deborah Foreman.