# What \*is\* the "Girl next door" type? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 14, 2004, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-girl-next-door-type/274724 "2004-11-14T17:25:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-girl-next-door-type/274724/41 "2004-11-17T08:31:04Z")
> [@bughunter](#): > > Let’s find out, then: > > East: Twentysomething Family Counselor with PhD in Psych and a pair of dogs named Xena and Lucy who are treated like children and spoiled even worse. Married to a city attorney who rides a BMW motorcycle to court. Is Lucy named after Lucy Lawless? If she is then that GND is an unashamed Xena fanatic. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-girl-next-door-type/274724/42 "2004-11-17T16:23:51Z")
> [@racer72](#): > > I read years ago that the girl next door is a chef in the kitchen and a whore in the bedroom. With my luck I always end up with someone who is a whore in the kitchen and a chef in bed. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![jgroub](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b77776/32.png) [@jgroub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jgroub)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-girl-next-door-type/274724/43 "2004-11-17T18:30:37Z")
Every day, I come to this site, and I still see people responding to this thread. :smack: The answer was given above: it’s Mary Ann from Gilligan’s Island, dammit! She is the quintessential girl next door. We all know she was a chef in the kitchen; we can only hope that she was a whore in bed! But really, if anyone has ever seen the “real” Mary Ann (actress Dawn Wells) on interviews, etc., she is just as sweet as Mary Ann ever was, but realizes that she’s sweet. That’s all you need to know! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-girl-next-door-type/274724/44 "2004-11-17T18:37:14Z")
> [@jgroub](#): > > The answer was given above: it’s Mary Ann from Gilligan’s Island, Due to age, geographical location, and probably taste, I have never seen this ‘Mary Ann’. ---
**Author:** ![jgroub](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b77776/32.png) [@jgroub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jgroub)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-girl-next-door-type/274724/45 "2004-11-17T18:47:15Z")
**Lobsang** : Hmm, you’re right - I forgot the teeming millions were worldwide. :smack: Well, you could do a Google search for Dawn Wells (click on images) so you could see what I mean. But you’d really have to watch an episode (any episode, it doesn’t really matter) of the show to fully understand. My humble apologies. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-girl-next-door-type/274724/46 "2004-11-17T18:56:18Z")
Ah, yes. The girl next door. You grew up with her and are about the same age. Before puberty, you caught frogs together and competed to see who could climb trees the fastest. After puberty, you saw her in a much different light. She was familiar enough to almost be your sister, but distant enough to be exciting. Because of the familiarity, you dated others, but used each other as confidants. She was always your fallback date. Pretty, but not model-stuckup-glamorous. You experimented a little sexually, but you were too close to make it a permanent arrangement, and all your life you wonder if you should have. In some ways, the perfect girl – desirable, attainable, yet… ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-girl-next-door-type/274724/47 "2004-11-17T19:42:43Z")
> [@jgroub](#): > > **Lobsang** : Hmm, you’re right - I forgot the teeming millions were worldwide. :smack: > > Well, you could do a Google search for Dawn Wells (click on images) so you could see what I mean. But you’d really have to watch an episode (any episode, it doesn’t really matter) of the show to fully understand. > > My humble apologies. 😃 No apologies necesary 😉 [So this is who the girl next door is](http://www.celebrity8x10s.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=SCP&Category_Code=wells) ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-girl-next-door-type/274724/48 "2004-11-17T19:50:45Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > Ah, yes. The girl next door. You grew up with her and are about the same age. Before puberty, you caught frogs together and competed to see who could climb trees the fastest. After puberty, you saw her in a much different light. She was familiar enough to almost be your sister, but distant enough to be exciting. Because of the familiarity, you dated others, but used each other as confidants. She was always your fallback date. Pretty, but not model-stuckup-glamorous. You experimented a little sexually, but you were too close to make it a permanent arrangement, and all your life you wonder if you should have. > > In some ways, the perfect girl – desirable, attainable, yet… So Peter Parker’s Mary Jane is the girl next door type?!~!+\*!! Kirsten Dunst \ Are all girls next door called Mary something? ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-girl-next-door-type/274724/49 "2004-11-17T19:54:24Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > So Peter Parker’s Mary Jane is the girl next door type?!~!+\*!! for [many reasons](http://sfstory.free.fr/images/Spiderman/KirstenDunst_1024x768.jpg) I’d like to be the guy next door to that girl next door. ---
**Author:** ![jgroub](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b77776/32.png) [@jgroub](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jgroub)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-girl-next-door-type/274724/50 "2004-11-17T21:11:55Z")
> [@Lobsang](#): > > So Peter Parker’s Mary Jane is the girl next door type?!~!+\*!! > > Kirsten Dunst \ > > Are all girls next door called Mary something? Mary something: It don’t hoit. (That’s Brooklynese for hurt.) And yes, Kirsten Dunst is a girl-next-door type. Ditto on the drool. So what did you think of Mary Ann/Dawn Wells? That first pic sort of captures a bit of Mary Ann’s essence. Dawn is still lookin’ good in her 60s (see the last pic). ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-girl-next-door-type/274724/51 "2004-11-17T21:19:48Z")
Kirsten Dunst as Mary Jane is closer to a “Girl Next Door” type than the version that appears in the comic strip. The comic strip (or book) Mary Jane is definitely the “Girl Around the Corner a few times” ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2004, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-girl-next-door-type/274724/52 "2004-11-17T21:22:20Z")
> [@jgroub](#): > > So what did you think of Mary Ann/Dawn Wells? That first pic sort of captures a bit of Mary Ann’s essence. Dawn is still lookin’ good in her 60s (see the last pic). She’s attractive, but she doesn’t do it for me like Kirsten. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-girl-next-door-type/274724.md?page=2)