I've found it!

Much like the brothels in Las Vegas, the origination of the Jersey Girl was all about the sex and sand in Atlantic City!

Down Here It's Just Winners And Losers...

I'm stretching the Jersey Girl myth slightly by referencing "Atlantic City" by Bruce Springsteen, but I feel that it encompasses the feeling of New Jersey, leading to the Jersey Girl.

Interview With A True Blue Jersey Girl

One of the components of our paper is to do an interview. Ideally, since most of my sources are from pop culture and the web, I really wanted to interview someone in academia. But then I thought, who better to talk to than another Jersey Girl?

I did an initial interview with my mom, which was great, but I think I'm going to send the same questions to my cousin and best friend to get different viewpoints and answers.

Some of my favorite responses from my mom were:

What do you think of the stereotypes about Jersey accents and the differences between North and South?

Can't stand it!  South Jersey and North Jersey are two different locales and should have made into two States long ago.

How do you feel about shows like Jersey Shore that portray New Jersey in a negative manner?  
Wouldn't even watch junk like that.




Can't you just picture a Jersey Girl saying stuff like that?!

Don't Believe Everything You See On TV

When I first came to school in Boulder in 2008, and I would tell people I was from New Jersey, the first thing people would ask was "Why don't you have an accent?" Most people don't recognize that they have an accent, but I can honestly say that I don't. Never have, never will probably. I even trained myself to say "water" without the South Jersey accent of pronouncing it "wood-er".

Now the question on everyone's lips is the question of Jersey Shore. "How do you feel about that show?" "Do you watch it?" "Is that how people in Jersey really are?" Most of the people I talk to are thankfully educated enough, and can take one look at me and know that at least the latter of the questions is pretty much going to earn a negative response.

iMDb describes Jersey Shore as "A reality-based look at the vapid lives of several New Jersey 20-somethings and their respective friends and/or hook-ups."

My goal is not to talk for pages and pages about Jersey Shore, because that's not what my myth is concerned about. However, I do have this article from The New York Daily News where Gov. Chris Christie puts the show in its place, and I just have to use it.

It has come to this.

I am now using an elementary school lesson plan as a source. Has some great facts!

Not exactly a scholarly resource, but insightful.

The Pros and Cons of Being a Jersey Girl


This is whole entry is me to a T, but this one is eerily correct: Jersey girls take pride in their roots. We know a lot about our state's history and broadcast to everyone who'll listen that we're from New Jersey. We ignore the sounds of laughter when we tell people we're from Jersey. Occasionally, a comeback is created to defend our state by pointing out the flaws of someone else's home state. Reiterate that not every state is perfect so stop making fun of New Jersey. This should stop people from making fun of where you come from. If not, move on to something else. It's not your problem they don't like New Jersey. You're proud of where you come from, and that's all that matters.

It Takes a Lot More Than a Mall to Make a Real Jersey Girl

Even though this is from the NY Times in 1996, it has some great material.