It’s sad, O British cousins. In the days of Mod you were the world’s most fashion forward nation. Joe Jackson sang odes to looking sharp. Ian Dury ranked sartorial pleasures along with sex, drugs, and rock-‘n’-roll. Every bi’ of clothing ought to make you pretty. See my tailor, he’s called Simon, I know it’s going to fit.
Oh man, do those photos ever remind me of my teenage years, working in a mall in Yonkers. But back then the guys’ hair was slick, not spikey, and they were more prone to the muscle shirt look. And a girl’s hair wasn’t done if she hadn’t poofed it out with the help of half a can of AquaNet. (Think of Melanie Griffith’s blue collar friends in Working Girl.)
Chav itself is said to come from the Roma word “Chaaver” meaning prostitute.
The sad, sad thing about Buckfast is that it was originally made by some Benedictine monks, they must be so sad to see who drinks it now. It’s popular among Irish students too.
Guido violence seems to emerge in the context of drugs and alcohol, and especially if there are women involved, if the observations of this NYC nightclub bouncer are any indication.
The blog, which is sometimes fascinating and sometimes self-congratulatory pap, details the author’s experience as a bouncer at a club frequented by the “bridge and tunnel” Guido crowd. If his observations are accurate, Guidos seem very quick to take offence at anyone even looking at them sideways, or at “their” women. The author has little but contempt for them.
Julie Burchill writes with some authority on Chav culture in The Times newspaper. I particularly like the way they’ve subverted exclusive clothing brands, thus devaluing the currency. It appeals to my sense of mischief.
At the end of the day, Chavs are just working class young people who know how to have a good time. They’re no more criminal or anti-social than any other tribe from any other class, and they really don’t deserve all the hate.
Not sure if it’s changed, but when i lived in England in the early '90s (before the term “chav” came into common usage), “slapper” was sometimes used as a fairly generic term for women of dubious moral character.
Of course, as with many such epithets, women were often criticized for behavior that, if carried out by a man, would be seen as unproblematic or even admirable.
Mhendo is right, that ‘slapper’ is more universal than chav. The whole concept of ‘chav’ is pretty much gender-neutral. Anyone can dress that way, behave that way, act that way when stopped & searched.
Ummm - I think we must be working from slightly different definitions of ‘chav’. Compared to, say, Goths (hang around wearing black and whining) or surfers (hang around wearing shorts and boasting) chavs (hang around wearing Burberry threatening one another) are definitely more anti-social.
