Girl next door
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The cultural and sexual stereotype of the girl next door or the All-American girl is invoked in American contexts to indicate wholesome, unassuming femininity, as opposed to the culture's other female stereotypes such as the tomboy, the valley girl, the femme fatale, girly girl, or the slut. The male equivalent is the "boy next door". Both gender examples of the "Next Door" archetype are quintessentially addressed with Thornton Wilder's Our Town in the characters of Emily Webb and George Gibbs or in Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer series within the characters of Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher.
During World War II, American propaganda often invoked her as the symbol of all things American.[1] Songs on force request programs were not of Rosie the Riveter but of the girls who were waiting for soldiers.[2] Many such songs were also popular at the home front.[3] Themes of love, loneliness and separation were given more poignancy by the war.[4]
Examples
- Marilyn Monroe in Love Nest
- Dawn Wells on Gilligan's Island
- Barbara Eden on I Dream of Jeannie
- Jayne Mansfield in Kiss Them for Me
- Britney Spears[5] in her "Sometimes" video.
- Gwen Cooper, as she is introduced in Torchwood.[6]
- Emily Jones[7] (Elizabeth Banks) in Definitely, Maybe
- Kylie Minogue[8] in her "I Should Be So Lucky" video.
- Penny[9] (Kaley Cuoco) in The Big Bang Theory
- Christina Aguilera in her Genie in a Bottle, What a Girl Wants & I Turn to You music videos.
- Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) in Spider-Man
- Elisha Cuthbert in The Girl Next Door
See also
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Look up girl next door in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
References
- ^ Meghan K. Winchell, Good Girls, Good Food, Good Fun p 73 ISBN 978-0-8078-3237-0
- ^ John Costello, Virtue Under Fire p 125 ISBN 0-316-73968-5
- ^ William L. O'Neill, A Democracy At War: America's Fight At Home and Abroad in World War II, p 262 ISBN 0-02-923678-9
- ^ Robert Heide and John Gilman, Home Front America: Popular Culture of the World War II Era p 116 ISBN 0-8188-0927
- ^ BRITannica (2011-05-06). "'Sometimes' Music Video Premieres". Britney.com. Sony Music Entertainment. http://www.britney.com/us/britstory/sometimes-music-video-premieres. Retrieved 2011-10-03.
- ^ Rowland, Paul (2006-02-24). "Welsh star in Doctor Who spin-off". The Western Mail. http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/0200wales/tm_objectid=16741728%26method=full%26siteid=50082%26headline=welsh%2dactress%2deve%2din%2ddoctor%2dwho%2dspin%2doff%2d-name_page.html. Retrieved 2006-03-22.
- ^ Is her mother Will's college sweetheart, the dependable girl next-door Emily?
- ^ [1]
- ^ "Beauty and the Geeks". New York Post. January 25, 2010. http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/tv/beauty_and_the_geeks_WP5Pfo3NHqRImMqKnyPRWM.
Further reading
- Deborah Jermyn, "Death of the Girl Next Door": Celebrity, Femininity, and Tragedy in the Murder of Jill Dando, Feminist Media Studies, Vol. 1 No. 3 (Nov. 2001)
- Michael Levine, Feeling For Buffy — The Girl Next Door in Michael Levine and Steven Schneider, Buffy and Philosophy, Open Court Press 2003
- Frank Rich, Journal: The Girl Next Door, New York Times, Feb. 20, 1994
- Michael Walker, SHE SPITS ON THE GIRL NEXT DOOR, Los Angeles Times, Feb. 6, 1994
- Elizabeth Wurtzel, Women: Read my lips: Are you a girl next door or a second wife?, The Guardian, Dec. 22, 1998
