Германские языки | Филологический аспект №07 (111) Июль 2024

The Case of Essex: A Cultural and Linguistic Study of Essex Girl and Essex Man Stereotypes

Кованова Евгения Анатольевна
Кандидат филологических наук, доцент кафедры английской филологии и лингвокультурологии Санкт-Петербургского государственного университета
Напольских Екатерина Андреевна
Магистр филологии

Аннотация: The paper deals with the existing ethnic and gender stereotypes about inhabitants of Essex in modern British society. The images of Essex girl and Essex man are closely studied, their origin is outlined. The analysis of data drawn from dictionaries, online forums and press has shown that the majority of heterostereotypes about Essex residents are extremely negative. It is argued that the major role in negative stereotyping is played by tabloid media and TV which create and recreate the pejorative images of Essex girl/Essex man, rather than just reflect the phenomenon. The reasons behind the mockery lie in British class division and snobbery associated with it, as well as in ingroup favouritism. The comparative analysis of two stereotypical images reveals the gender bias. When expressing autostereotypes, residents of the county tend to highlight positive characteristics, speak about the media bias and use defensive self-presentation strategies.
Ключевые слова: Essex girl, Essex man, ethnic and regional stereotypes, autostereotypes, heterostereotypes, mass media, TOWIE.

Kovanova Evgeniya Anatolyevna
Candidate of Philological Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of English Language and Cultural Studies, St. Petersburg State University, e.kovanova@spbu.ru
Napolskikh Ekaterina Andreevna
Master of Philology, katissik@yandex.ru

Major studies of stereotypes carried out by psychologists, sociologists and linguists agree that stereotypes express generalized or simplified ideas and beliefs used to describe or represent a particular object, person or group: pictures in our heads [1]; “simplified mental representations of different categories of people, exaggerating points of similarity between them and ignoring differences” [2, p. 236]; “beliefs about the characteristics, attributes, and behaviours of members of certain groups” [3, p. 240]. Many researchers define stereotypes as stable, resistant to new information, emotionally charged, evaluative, biased and inaccurate [4; 5].

Ethnic stereotypes which fall into the category of social stereotypes and are widely spread in all cultures serve as a stable image of a typical representative of a stereotyped ethnic group. They are heavily influenced by social, historical and political context. Ethnic stereotypes can perform a number of functions such as preservation and protection of individual values and self-esteem, saving mental effort, justification of actions toward the out-group, intergroup differentiation, maintaining the collective image of We and others [3; 6; 7]. Ethnic stereotypes are often used to express the opposition us-them in political discourse, especially within the strategy of discreditation of others [8, p. 54]. Stereotypes shared by members of a particular ethnic group about themselves (autostereotypes) usually contain positive evaluation and serve as a mechanism of maintaining social identity, while opinions about other ethnic groups (heterostereotypes) vary and tend to be negative. In other words, the process of stereotyping is characterized by ingroup favouritism studied by Tajfel [9], i.e. the tendency to favour members of one’s own group over those in other groups, as a way to boost their own self-esteem. Bartmiński stressed the connection between heterostereotypes and the history of neighboring countries: the farther away the country, the less negative is the stereotype [10].

This paper deals with stereotypes about inhabitants of Essex, a county in the East of England. Despite some existing studies of East Anglian accents and identity (see Trudgill [11]), the region is not widely researched. The research on stereotypes about East Anglians observed in the British media has revealed that Essex is the most stereotyped county out of all the counties in the East of England [12]. The image of the county is closely linked with two stereotypical images of Essex girl and Essex man that emerged in the late 1980-s and early 1990-s. The highly negative characteristics of these images have contributed to the fact that nowadays some residents of Essex try to distance themselves from their local identity [13]. Let us look closer at the examples drawn from the monolingual dictionaries and mass media in order to identify the list of attributes that comprise these images, reflect on the origin of these images, as well as understand the reasons and factors behind the stereotyping. The issue is approached from the multimodal point of view; the methods used in the present research include linguistic description, context analysis, pragma-communicative analysis and comparative analysis.

It is important to note that the stereotypes of Essex girl and Essex man fall into the category of ethnic/regional stereotypes and at the same time – gender stereotypes [14], since these images combine opinions or beliefs about attributes or characteristics that are possessed by women or men who live in Essex. Although both images arose in the late 1980s, it seems like Essex has long been denigrated, while its people viewed with condescension. The art historian Nikolaus Pevsner once suggested that the county’s image problem predates the Roman invasion. Though only a few miles away from London, rural Essex folk have often been seen as backward by their neighbours in the capital – poor, poorly educated, clinging to superstitions long discarded by their urban counterparts [23]. Burrows writes in his book “The Invention of Essex: The Making of an English County” that the othering of Essex went on throughout modern history; the county has long been identified with the outlandish and excessive and is often portrayed as despoiled and devilish [15].

Stereotypes about Essex residents emerged in media with the electoral successes of Conservative Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and quick accumulation of wealth by the working-class. These stereotypes stem from the post-war history of Essex. After the Second World War stricken Londoners of the lower orders (working class) were moving out of the war-torn capital to newly rebuilt Essex to start a new life there. According to Burrows, Essex has since become a place simultaneously embraced as home to the real, authentic England and scorned as the crudest, stupidest symbol of Englishness [23]. Sunday Telegraph journalist Simon Heffer was the first to coin the term Essex man in 1990 to describe “a bloke” he met on train: a “young, industrious, mildly brutish and culturally barren” worker in London’s financial centre, whose roots lay in east London, and whose political views were “breathtakingly rightwing”. The accompanying illustration featured a bull-necked young man in a shiny suit standing outside his bought council house with a satellite dish on the roof and a new motor outside [24]. Thus, Heffer grasped the new cultural phenomenon that had emerged in the late 1980s. Essex man was useful shorthand for why Thatcherism was successful, thought Heffer: “The barrow boy who uses instinct and energy rather than contacts and education... He is unencumbered by any ‘may the best man win’ philosophy. He expects to win whether he’s the best man or not.” (Heffer 1990, as cited in [24]). Nowadays the phrase Essex man is mainly used as a collective description of a median voter; for upper classes it embodies a vulgar capitalism [23]. The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English explicitly states that a negative stereotype is defined and lists a number of characteristics related to political views, behaviour, education and wealth: the negative stereotype of a man from Essex in southeast England. In jokes and stories, Essex men are badly educated but they earn a lot of money, drive fast cars, talk loudly, and have right-wing political opinions [25].

Unlike Essex man that has political connotations, his female counterpart Essex girl emerged as a form of social commentary – representing the downside to these economic transformations [13]. Most dictionary definitions of Essex girl are less than flattering and characterize them as stupid, materialistic, lacking in taste and promiscuous, as the following definition from the Cambridge Dictionary suggests: an insulting word for a young woman who dresses and behaves in a way that attracts attention, and shows that she is not intelligent or stylish, thought of as typical of some people from the English county of Essex [26]. While dictionaries provide definitions for this phrase, they do so by including a label «insulting/derogatory/disapproving», as it is viewed as inappropriate for reputable sources to perpetuate demeaning stereotypes.

Many researchers observe that Essex types are often recruited as comic staples of reality shows such as Love Island, First Dates, Big Brother and X Factor, as well as of stand-up comedy where mockery and ridicule of Essex girls are quite common [16]. However, the show that brought the Essex girl phenomenon into pop culture and helped propel Essex to global fame was The Only Way is Essex (TOWIE), which was heavily criticized for its stereotypical representation of Essex women. Another TV series that contributed to the phenomenon was a sitcom Birds of a Feather. Over time, the names of its lead characters, Sharon and Tracey, came to represent sexually promiscuous and somewhat dim women from the south of the county [23]. Piltz calls it one of the tragedies of the working class: how it is perceived and depicted by the other classes, as well as by the media and many politicians; its image is not very flattering [17, p. 92].

British researcher Richard Corlett investigated the influence of television in relation to the image of an ‘Essex girl’ and found that the vast majority of words used to describe Essex women came from media, i.e. the language was reshaped to fit the narrative perpetuated by the media. He hypothesized that the behavior of Essex women, in certain aspects, also changed to fit in the newly formed stereotype [13]. Thus, the programmes like TOWIE are actively creating the ‘Essex girl’ stereotype, rather than reflecting the phenomenon that already exists [13]. Essex girl and Essex man images are frequently used in media, both quality press and tabloids. These stereotypical images usually contain negative evaluation and when they are evaluated positively it is only done through the lens of humour, i.e. it is fun to make fun of them:

1. For decades the nation has delighted in poking fun at the appearance and intellectual capabilities of Essex girls and boys with their happy-go-lucky attitude of always being good for a laugh [27].

The data collected from online forums (Reddit, Quora) and British newspapers reveals a set of negative characteristics attributed to the image of Essex girl and Essex man such as unnatural look, low intelligence, lack of taste, inappropriate behaviour, new money and right-wing political views. These characteristics are often presented using evaluative lexis with negative connotations (eg. obnoxious, flashy, trashy, tacky):

1. Essex has similar stereotypes to New Jersey - loud, strong accents, new money, flashy and trashy, fake tan, teeth whitening and hair extensions - Essex girls are meant to be all this plus a bit slow/less educated [28].
2. Essex boys are more like a Jack the lad type and are the ‘typical’ geezer, thinks they are smooth and classy but usually are obnoxious and self obsessed because they are usually rich [28].
3. Essex has a reputation for a lot of clubbing, fake tan, working class or where new trashy money will buy a big tacky mansion [28].
4. Essex Man was a confident self-starter, who would have once been more likely to vote Labour, but who backed Mrs Thatcher through the Eighties when her economic policies increased his wealth and social mobility [29].

While the male equivalent to the Essex girl exists in the British culture, it should be noted that instead of a «boy» the word «man» is used. This can suggest a gender bias that leads to the infantilization of women. In fact, the analysis reveals that characteristics of Essex man are more positive than those of their female counterparts: they are unintelligent, self-obsessed and lack tact, but they are rich, confident and can afford fast cars. Another fact that points towards a disproportionate amount of negative bias is the fact that there are no descriptions of physical appearance or sexual relationships in definitions of Essex man. Essex men are being stereotyped for their style and behaviour, which is deemed to be uncouth by people of higher social status.

Essex girls, however, are subjected to stereotyping at a much higher rate than Essex men. Gender and sexism cannot be ignored when it comes to this ethnic stereotype, as sexuality is an important feature of an Essex girl image:

1. Loose women with more front than Clacton-on-Sea [23].
2. Such is the stigma surrounding Essex girls — that we're vacuous, tasteless, promiscuous and there to be sneered at [29].

Essex women are criticized for their frivolous spending habits, a stereotype that also applies to Essex men, except instead of cars they spend it on clothes and beauty procedures. Their spending and wealth are deemed inappropriate as it does not confirm to the existing standards of aristocratic or middle-class Britain:

8) The Essex girl is a monstrous figure of consumption [23].

9)      When faced with a woman, newly solvent and released from the shackles of class and societal restraints, who was suddenly earning enough money to buy herself nice new things, people dismissed Essex Girl as materialistic and lacking in taste [29].

Visually a typical Essex girl is often associated with heavy make-up, fake tan, bleached blonde hair, white stilettos, miniskirts and a handbag. These attributes are often played up in media and jokes, as they are associated with lower class. The Sugar Hut nightclub (ex. 11) featured in TOWIE is viewed as a place that a lot of Essex girls frequent:

10)    She is bold, blonde and brassy, and her white stiletto heels are considerably sharper than her mind [30].

11) If you go into the Sugar Hut (nightclub), you'll see all the girls dolled up to the nines, but it's not what the rest of us are like [31].

12)    A blonde, big-breasted, brash bombshell, in a miniskirt and white stilettos. And Essex Girl was born [29].

Whittle observes that the Essex Girl sums up the working class and the issue of ‘disgust’ that many authors talk of in relationship to women and the way in which they are presented. The way in which the Essex Girl presents herself is not what the middle class would call good taste. The appearance of a lack of effort is important, to appear to be natural, whereas in Essex it is important to appear to have made an effort [18]. Similarly, Carter writes that certain groups in the UK find themselves routinely devalued; white, working-class women often face denigration through the cultural signifier of the ‘Essex Girl’ [16]. According to Perry, the phenomenon of the Essex girl is both modern and the latest iteration of the old misogynist scapegoating and witch-hunting: it is easy to blame a woman, especially if she is working class and consequently voiceless [19].

While heterostereotypes expressed by people from outside the county and perpetuated by the media are predominantly negative, the statements with autostereotypes attribute positive characteristics to people from Essex, thus performing the function of maintaining the positive group identity and the collective image of We [7]. The respondents are aware of the notorious reputation that residents of Essex have and the role of mass media in perpetuating the stereotypes. They often express the sentiment that the prejudice they face from outsiders is unjustified:

13) The people are genuine hard working and mostly uncomplaining. The worst thing is the derogatory remarks from ignorant self important outsiders [32].

14) The reputation that it's gotten really isn't all that fair. While the stereotypes do exist, not everyone is like that. Essex is a big place and I currently live in a part called Colchester (coming from West London originally, currently at University of Essex) and you rarely see the orange people that the TV always seems to show. It's a place like any other, it has its ups and its downs [28].

Celebrities like Michelle Dockery, a star of Downton Abbey, issue statements which imply the negative characteristics attributed to the image and use the defensive self-presentation strategy: ‘I’m a proud Essex girl. I’ll never sound like Lady Mary’ [33].

A close study of examples collected from British press shows that Essex residents are not mocked for their lack of money (in fact a lot of the stereotypes revolve around them having money), but rather for how they spend it as their consumer choices are deemed not smart by people of middle and upper classes. Besides, people from Essex are viewed as supporters of the Conservative party, which is perceived negatively by liberal and centrist media sources. Upper-middle, white, older people who traditionally make up the majority of Conservative voters seem to view Essex residents negatively because their lifestyle and appearance do not match the expectations of a stiff upper lip Tory (ex. 15). Class discrimination is prevalent in statements regarding Essex residents, with their spending habits and style perceived to be quite «lowbrow» by upper-class and middle-class. This indicates that Essex people are on the receiving end of snobbery from the rest of the British society:

15) Although Essex man voted Conservative, many Conservatives viewed him with a mixture of fear and horror [23].

To support this hypothesis, the passage from the autobiography of Billy Bragg, an Essex-born singer, musician and political activist, is provided where he argues that Essex man is a myth created by middle class, although such people did exist: “‘Essex Man’ was a term invented to demonize the newly affluent white working-class, whose predilection for sovereign rings and right-wing Thatcherism made them into folk devils in the eyes of the predominantly middle–class media. Such people did undoubtedly exist, but they lived all over the South East…” (Bragg 2006, p. 17, as cited in [18]). “Hypocritical/self-delusional nature of English class-consciousness (particularly among middle classes)” that Kate Fox writes about [20, p. 406] has also contributed to the phenomenon.

An integral characteristic related to the images is Essex accent/dialect as it is a regional variety that was greatly influenced by cockney, a highly stereotyped London-based working-class accent. A salient feature such as [l]-vocalization (ex. 16) is mentioned in a mocking manner. The accent is often associated with lower education level (ex. 18) and can be viewed as a hindrance for Essex residents during the job searching process (ex. 16, 17), which is why some of them prefer to imitate the more acceptable RP in an attempt to sound posher (to posh up) (ex. 16, 19):

16)    'Field has an L in it, Julia, not a W,' some plummy-voiced producer pointed out, making me want to crawl out the fire exit. I didn't get the job. Would the short vowels of a Mancunian or the lilt of a Dubliner have been similarly picked apart? Of course they wouldn't. I felt I had no choice but to 'posh up'. I hope today's Essex girls don't bother. I want to hear those Essex vowels loud and proud, and applaud every one [29].

17)    I have quite a strong Essex accent, which probably made me an easier target [for job discrimination] [29]

18) When I meet new people, I can see their surprise when I tell them, in my best Canvey Island accent, that I'm head of maths in a secondary school [29].

19)    “Initially, when I was at college meeting new people, I had a chance to change. I actually hated my Essex accent. “I felt really insecure about it and so I started speaking in a much ‘posher’ voice. I tried so hard to get rid of the twang. I was really ashamed of it [34].

These observations are in line with recent research which has shown that some of the most stigmatized accents in Britain are spoken in south-east England – particularly in Essex. Often mocked and mimicked accents of Essex girl/man reflect middle-class gatekeeping towards social status [21].

As Burrows observes in the Guardian long-read The Invention of Essex: how a county became a caricature, “Many nations have an Essex: a much-mocked place that has grown up in the shadow of a major city to become the supposed spiritual homeland of the nouveau riche. As much as they are mocked, these places come to symbolise something quite fundamental to the country that named them. They are viewed as the nation’s id, its rawest and truest essence, but also its deepest shame at being a bit too much” [23]. Thus, every nation seeks to find an ethnic/regional group that can be viewed with condescension. In the British culture, it is not only Essex that is mocked – lots of negative stereotypes exist about Scots and Irish people, which feature in English jokes about these nations. Mocking negative characteristics of the out-group allows to create the feeling of superiority among the members of the in-group and helps to maintain the positive group identity [22].

However, the trend of challenging these negative stereotypes is on the rise. Some journalists, activists and scholars state that Essex residents are the victims of an unjustified hate campaign perpetuated by the media and entertainment industry. According to them, the prevalence of the damaging stereotypes provides a negative evaluation to the ones stereotyping and not the ones being stereotyped:

20) The persistence of the Essex caricature actually proved the opposite – that snobbery was still alive and well … Essex people were damned if they did and damned if they didn’t [23].

Regarding the image of Essex girl, some Essex women admit feeling ashamed of their heritage and try to hide where they are from as it harms their social and occupational opportunities:

21)    I told him I was from a 'small town on the East Anglian coast, virtually in Suffolk' [29].

However, there are activists who try to dismantle the negative image of Essex girl. To combat the spread of the negative stereotypes the Essex Women’s Advisory Group was formed in 2010. The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary removed the phrase after a campaign group called the Essex Girls Liberation Front said using the expression was “very offensive” [35]; the Collins Dictionary had to change the definition [29]. Activists speak about the stigma and a mistrust of Essex women that dates back to the 16^th century [29]; they highlight the positive attitude that Essex women have (ex. 23), which often makes them the subject of misogynistic and xenophobic jokes. Because Essex girl is often pictured to have below average intelligence, activists try to bring attention to the academic achievements and success of Essex women (ex. 22, 24). They also highlight the fact that while Essex women might fit the visual stereotypes, they can still be intelligent and skilled, as in the eyes of society they are incapable of being both at the same time (ex. 25). Thus, they reverse the stereotypes or dismantle them:

22)    We have some of the top girls' schools in the country and some highly successful and accomplished Essex women [30].

23)    They may be noisy and blowsy and laugh a lot, but it's because they're cheerful, self confident, and capable of achieving a great deal [30].

24)    But as head of maths in a secondary school, I earn a living from using my brain [29].

25)    The flipside of the Essex Girl debate for me is seeing pupils in school who maybe do fit the stereotype to look at, but who are really bright and aspirational [29].

Summing up, the following conclusions can be made regarding the image of Essex in the British culture. Stereotypical images of Essex girl and Essex man that emerged in the late 1980s are closely linked to the economic, political and social context of the region. Both include a number of negative stereotypes, with Essex girl scoring higher than Essex man, which reveals the gender bias and sexist attitudes. Negative stereotyping of Essex, although rooted in the past, has boomed in the last decades due to the impact of tabloid media and TV. Another reason for negative stereotyping of the region can be found in the class divide of Britain and snobbery targeted at Essex residents.   

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