The Influence Of Valspeak In Valley Girl Subculture

Exploring How Valspeak in Valley Girl Subculture Exposes Biases in Mainstream Speech Styles

In California, the 1980s were a time of self-exploration, full of groups of young adults on a quest to form a unique identity, different from the rest. One of these subcultures was the Valley Girl subculture from San Fernando Valley. A typical valley girl during that time was a fashionable young White girl from a middle-class family who was usually associated with the entertainment industry due to their proximity to Hollywood. Valley girls had their own specific way of dressing up, which showed in their clothing and hair. However, a big part of their identity was their particular speech pattern, known as Valspeaks. Speech styles are increasingly shaping

When the subculture had just emerged, the use of Valspeaks served to recognize one another as a Valley girl and set them apart from others. However, as the subculture grew, their speaking style entered the media. For instance, In the movie “Clueless,” Cher Horowitz, the main character, embodies the stereotypical White Valley Girl persona. She is depicted as a wealthy, famous, and fashionable high school student living in Beverly Hills, California. Cher’s way of talking and speech patterns align with the classic Valley Girl language traits, such as frequent use of expressions such as “as if,” “whatever,” and “totally.”. Alongside “Clueless,” a song by Moon Zappa further popularized Valspeaks among the American Youth. Zappa’s song was a parody to make fun of Valspeak, and it went completely viral. Most of the verses in the song contained numerous examples of Valspeaks such as “like,” “totally,” “You know what I’m saying,” “Gag me with a spoon,” and “OH MY GOD,” all in an exaggerated Valspeak dialect. Zappa sang the song in the Valley Girl dialect to poke fun at their speech pattern and ridicule the valley girl mannerism. The song further pushed these negative stereotypes about valley girls being self-absorbed intelligent girls whose only hobby is to go shopping and who can’t form a single formal sentence without a filler word. While both the song and movie mocked valley girls, they also popularized the subculture and allowed it to go further than just Southern California’s