1982 THROWBACK: “VALLEY GIRLS“

Valley girl is a socio-economic 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 English-speaking female—primarily in the United States and Canada—who engendered the associated affects of ditziness, airheadedness, and/or greater interest in conspicuous consumption than intellectual or personal accomplishment. In 1982, composer Frank Zappa released the single “Valley Girl“, with his 14-year-old daughter Moon Unit speaking typical “Valley Girl“ phrases. Zappa intended to lampoon the image, but after the song’s release there was a significant increase in the “Valspeak“ slang usage, whether ironically spoken or not. The 1983 film Valley Girl starring Nicolas Cage centered on a group of “Valley