From Wikipedia:
What’s a Jersey girl? I mean, apart from the purely denotative meaning of a girl from New Jersey. Is there some sort of stereotype?
From Wikipedia:
What’s a Jersey girl? I mean, apart from the purely denotative meaning of a girl from New Jersey. Is there some sort of stereotype?
Think Fran Drescher from The Nanny. Think Joan Cusack from Working Girl.
So, um, puffy hair?
Not that relevant, maybe - but there’s also an airplane by that name. With Virgin Atlantic being a British company, this might refer to that other Jersey, though.
Big hair, “intricate” makeup (lots of eye shadow, often in multiple colors), high school education, loud wardrobe, probably lots of animal prints, thick Jersey accent, etc.
Fran was supposed to be from Queens.
And Melanie Griffith’s character in Working Girl hailed from Staten Island, IIRC.
They still fit the Jersey girl stereotype.
But “Jersey Girl” flows better than “Queens Girl” or “Staten Island Girl.”
The stereotype is pretty much the same, whether from Queens, Staten Island, or the New Jersey suburbs of NYC. It’s working class New York - brash and savvy but unsophicated in terms of fashion and manners.
I don’t accept Fran Drescher as a Jersey Girl, she is way too much a Long Islander. There is a big difference in accent and a small difference in attitude.
The Stereotypical Jersey girl would be Big Hair, Loud and not willing to take any shit from anyone. Especially in the 80’s when the term really came into general usage.
Watch Clerks and you will see prototypical Jersey Girls. Especially Veronica Loughran character played by Marilyn Ghigliotti.
Fran is more of a Yenta if I have my semi-derogatory terminology correct.
Jim
BTW: for better thought out definitions of a Jersey Girl look here at the UrbanDictionary.
“makeup and shoes are optional”???
I can’t picture Debi Mazar without makeup or shoes. I’m not sure Debi Mazar could.
All I know is when you’re in love with them, you sing “Sha la la la la la.”
Read all 5 combine with my definition and you should have a good working idea of what a Jersey Girl is and what Bruce was singing about.
Strangely enough Kevin Smith captured the Jersey girl perfectly in Clerks and then got further and further from it by the time he made Jersey Girl. Boo Hiss Crap movie.
Jim
Yeah, I got it. The first entry was the odd one out.
I used to know a lot of Jersey Girls. Though I only dated one.
My wife was born and raised in Jersey but she isn’t a “Jersey Girl”
There was definitely a few in my High School and a lot at the Long Branch Amusement Pier where I use to hang out.
At the Stone Pony, I think at least 80% of the Girls were Jersey Girls.
Jim {I got to be security for Bruce once at the Pony during a Jazz & Blues Festival, they asked be to stand in front of the stage to prevent people from jumping up, ah the sacrifices I have made for a good cause}