Amy, 17 from Essex spoke candidly with me about her experiences living in Essex and why she can't wait to move to London.
Where do you live?
I live in Corringham/ Stanford-le-Hope. I can't wait to move out of this place and I want to live in a city. I'll move away when I go to Uni next September.
I'd describe a typical Essex girl... fake tan, loud, drinks a lot, big jewellery and lots of make-up, under-age drinking and maybe pregnant, probably smokes (haha). They love Jordan and Cheryl Cole, god knows why?!
What do you think of Upminster?
It has an older community not filled with as many young people hanging around the shops and streets etc. It has mainstream shops like Boots and Costa which wouldn't be seen in little Corringham filled with cafes and even an arcade, which is odd!
My favourite thing about Upminster would probably be the duck pond its a lovely little walk around their, and the worst, um, not sure about that I love the place!
I'm always at Lakeside working and shopping, its got everything their people need, shops, restaurants and cinema. I go to Southend often on a night out.
How is Essex different to London?
In London you can escape from some of the stereotypes associated with people living in Essex. Its much larger with lots of places to go to, not as many restrictions as when going out in Essex. If you was to go out for the night in Romford it's not hard to imagine what to expect however LDN provides a wider variety of people, places, culture etc.
Any final thoughts?
I hate being associated with anything and everything about Essex. It's to hard to stereotype people living in the capital because theirs such a range, wish I could move right now!
Friday 9 April 2010
Famous inhabitants
Sir Bobby Moore - The beloved footballer who captained the England National football squad for 10 years. His legacy includes the Bobby Moore Fund, a charity set up by Cancer Research UK to help raise money for bowel cancer research. According to Wikipedia:
My dad has a mini shrine to Sir Bobby to the left of the telly. Some of the trinkets are older than I am.
John Constable - The painter who captured Essex like no other had or has. John was born in Essex in 1776.
Ian Dury - Raised in Upminster by his aunt, Ian Dury is the pride of Essex, let alone Upminster. When one of the local pubs was to be refurbished and renamed, by dad campaigned to have it called The Dury. Alas, corporate B.S. prevailed and it was given the awe-inspiring name - The Crumpled Horn. The new management did put a plaque and a frame up of Ian to commemorate this local hero. Did you know that Ian Dury and The Blockheads even released an album called Lord Upminster? You do now.
Alan Davies - Britain's wittiest and brainiest hales from this fine county. Not everyone could keep up with Stephen Fry and remain super cool.
Denise Van Outen - Our favourite Essex Girl - A national treasure. Someone who manages to insert an innuendo into every sentence but remain incredibly classy. Denise was born in Dagenham. And has been very vocal about this since before she was a presenter on The Big Breakfast.
The funds were spent on high-quality bowel cancer research to be carried out by leading scientists across the UK. The money raised funded 17 Bobby Moore Research Fellowships, a new bowel cancer laboratory at St Mark's Hospital in London (subsequently closed by CRUK on 1 October 2006) and 3 additional research projects
My dad has a mini shrine to Sir Bobby to the left of the telly. Some of the trinkets are older than I am.
John Constable - The painter who captured Essex like no other had or has. John was born in Essex in 1776.
Ian Dury - Raised in Upminster by his aunt, Ian Dury is the pride of Essex, let alone Upminster. When one of the local pubs was to be refurbished and renamed, by dad campaigned to have it called The Dury. Alas, corporate B.S. prevailed and it was given the awe-inspiring name - The Crumpled Horn. The new management did put a plaque and a frame up of Ian to commemorate this local hero. Did you know that Ian Dury and The Blockheads even released an album called Lord Upminster? You do now.
Alan Davies - Britain's wittiest and brainiest hales from this fine county. Not everyone could keep up with Stephen Fry and remain super cool.
Denise Van Outen - Our favourite Essex Girl - A national treasure. Someone who manages to insert an innuendo into every sentence but remain incredibly classy. Denise was born in Dagenham. And has been very vocal about this since before she was a presenter on The Big Breakfast.
Essex Girls are "victims of prejudice"
Aimed at empowering the girls who live in Essex, the Essex Women's Advisory Group has been set up by women sick of the prejudice they've always experienced, believing that the stereotype leads girls to feel disenfranchised and disadvantaged. The story was in The Times just last month.
The group has already raised tens of thousands of pounds for women's refuges in Essex. I guess it's easy to laugh the sterotype off without considering that it can really hinder someone's chances of success.
essexwomensadvisorygroup.com/
Mrs Field, of Galleywood, said: "A lot of the girls we were helping were suffering so much from this image, so we decided to do something.
"There are so many successful girls in Essex and we wanted to promote this."
She added that Essex girls will often claim to be from Kent, or "just outside London" to avoid any potential embarrassment
The group has already raised tens of thousands of pounds for women's refuges in Essex. I guess it's easy to laugh the sterotype off without considering that it can really hinder someone's chances of success.
essexwomensadvisorygroup.com/
Jersey Girls
Is it me or are the words ‘Essex girl’ in the jokes in my last blog interchangeable with ‘blonde girl’ or ‘irish’? It turns out the US have a very similar ‘group’ who are also the scapegoat for what the rest of the population is doing.
Offensively funny...
After scouring the internet, trawling through Essex Girl jokes, I’ve compiled a list of the ones that I find funny and/or think you will find funny. In sociological terms, these jokes do an excellent job of summing up the mindset of what Essex Girls are like . Warning: Unsurprisingly many of these jokes are sexually explicit.
Q: What makes an Essex girls eyes light up?
A: A torch shone in her ear.
Q: What's the difference between an Essex girl and an ironing board?
A: An ironing boards legs are difficult to part.
Q: How does an Essex girl turn the light off after sex?
A: She closes the car door
Q: What is the difference between a supermarket trolley and an Essex girl?
A: A supermarket trolley has a mind of it's own.
Q: What does an Essex girl say after sex?
A: "Do you really all play for the same football team?"
I remember hearing this one at an early age and thinking it was hysterical. My all time favourite:
Q: What's an Essex girls favorite wine?
A: aw go-on take me to lakeside please please go-on take me
Hi, I'm Jude and I am an Essex Girl
Yesterday Joe at work came out of the staff room because he had overheard me telling someone I was from Upminster in Essex. ‘Did I hear you say you were from Upminster? You don’t seem like it.’
He meant it as a compliment but why would he say that? What did he mean? What do girls from Essex seem like? I’ve been surrounded by the stereotype since growing up in one of the UK’s most populous counties but having not lived there in a few years, it almost seems like a distant memory and an antiquated notion…. How is it still mentioned nearly every time I tell someone where I’m from? We’re famous – or infamous – in other continents. While living in New York City in 2008, more than a few times I’d be jeered at once they heard where I was from.
Time Magazine describes the phenomenon as follows:
"In the typology of the British, there is a special place reserved for Essex Girl, a lady from London's eastern suburbs who dresses in white strappy sandals and suntan oil, streaks her hair blond, has a command of Spanish that runs only to the word Ibiza, and perfects an air of tarty prettiness. Victoria Beckham — Posh Spice, as she was — is the acknowledged queen of that realm..."
I asked a few people to describe their impression of Essex girls.
Jim, 27 from Birmingham. “Thick; bottle blonde, short skirt, stilettoes, no knickers, horrible accent. That's ten; if I had twelve I'd mention fake tan or sunbed use. Not really silly or serious; that's just what the stereotype is.”
Caterina, 33 from Stockholm. “Someone who says "Ooooooo isn't this posh" in a horrible accent in tacky Dubai bars and is obsessed with obvious brands.”
Pete, 29 from Stockport. “She's got a bloke called Kevin who reads the Star and thinks alloy wheels are something worth spending money on. She thinks her tits are an appropriate topic of conversation for the dinner table. She drinks alcopops or vodka Red Bulls and will have cirrhosis of the liver by the time she's thirty. She cried when Jade Goody died and still has the memorial copy of Hello magazine.”
The injustice! What can be done?
He meant it as a compliment but why would he say that? What did he mean? What do girls from Essex seem like? I’ve been surrounded by the stereotype since growing up in one of the UK’s most populous counties but having not lived there in a few years, it almost seems like a distant memory and an antiquated notion…. How is it still mentioned nearly every time I tell someone where I’m from? We’re famous – or infamous – in other continents. While living in New York City in 2008, more than a few times I’d be jeered at once they heard where I was from.
Time Magazine describes the phenomenon as follows:
"In the typology of the British, there is a special place reserved for Essex Girl, a lady from London's eastern suburbs who dresses in white strappy sandals and suntan oil, streaks her hair blond, has a command of Spanish that runs only to the word Ibiza, and perfects an air of tarty prettiness. Victoria Beckham — Posh Spice, as she was — is the acknowledged queen of that realm..."
I asked a few people to describe their impression of Essex girls.
Jim, 27 from Birmingham. “Thick; bottle blonde, short skirt, stilettoes, no knickers, horrible accent. That's ten; if I had twelve I'd mention fake tan or sunbed use. Not really silly or serious; that's just what the stereotype is.”
Caterina, 33 from Stockholm. “Someone who says "Ooooooo isn't this posh" in a horrible accent in tacky Dubai bars and is obsessed with obvious brands.”
Pete, 29 from Stockport. “She's got a bloke called Kevin who reads the Star and thinks alloy wheels are something worth spending money on. She thinks her tits are an appropriate topic of conversation for the dinner table. She drinks alcopops or vodka Red Bulls and will have cirrhosis of the liver by the time she's thirty. She cried when Jade Goody died and still has the memorial copy of Hello magazine.”
The injustice! What can be done?
A boil on the bum of the nation?
It's described in a Spitting Image song as the only UK county with no redeeming features. The home of the "Essex Girl", the "Essex Boy". Is everything in Essex housed between inverted commas?
How can a place this pretty have such negative connotations attached to it? How can the birthplace of Dame Maggie Smith and Sir Bobby Moore have such a bad rep?
Essex and its inhabitants get a hard time, but do they deserve it? Can a place really have no redeeming features? I’ll look at some famous residents (and see if they back up or crush the stereotype!), examine the phenomenon of the Essex girl, take a look at cultural references and any current issues facing Essex. All things devoted to Essex. It’ll be fun!
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