Chav
Encyclopedia
A chav is a term that is used in the United Kingdom to describe a stereotype
of teenagers and young adults from an underclass background.
has said that the word is "generally thought to come from Chatham girls", but, according to etymologist Michael Quinion
, the term probably has its origins in the Romani
word "chavi", meaning "child" (or "chavo", meaning "boy", or "chavvy", meaning "youth"). This word may have entered the English language through the Geordie
dialect word charva, meaning a rough child. This is similar to the colloquial Spanish word chaval, meaning "kid" or "guy". Unlike the Geordie variant, the term derived from Chatham can be applied loosely to every culture with a nasty, thieving element.
The derivative chavette has been used to refer to females. The adjectives "chavish" and "chavtastic" apply to stuff designed for or suitable for use by Chavs.
Many urban legends have sprung up around the etymology of the word. These include the backronym
"Council Housed
And Violent" or "Council House-Associated Vermin", and the suggestion that pupils at Cheltenham Ladies' College
and Cheltenham College
used the word to describe the young men of the town ("Cheltenham Average"). Quinion writes that "we must treat supposed acronymic origins with the greatest suspicion; these examples are definitely recent after-the-event inventions
as attempts to explain the word, though very widely known and believed."
By 2005, media references to 'Chavs' had spread the word throughout Britain. The Chav's cultural equivalents are: in Ireland - "Skanger", Scotland - "Ned
", East Anglia - "Yarco", Eastern North America - Guido, Central and South America - Mamón, universal term - Fashion victim
.
, often obtained from chain shops such as Sports Direct
, JJB Sports
and JD Sports
. Brands such as Adidas
, Nike
, Reebok
, Puma, Umbro
, Ecko
, Carbrini and Kappa
are very popular, with many chavs often wearing a full tracksuit or tracksuit bottoms, with a hoodie
or polyester jacket, baseball cap and oversized trainers. Clothing attire is usually navy, white, black, red or grey for the chav male, and pink and white are very common with the "chavette", particularly jogging bottoms, velour tracksuits or shell suits.Stereotypical attire might be accompanied by some form of bling, such as oversized gold hoop earrings and necklaces, bracelets and rings, and an abundance of tattoos.
Several stereotypical traits are associated with chavs; smoking, drinking and taking drugs in gangs on street corners and outside shops, petty thievery and violence, vandalism and graffiti
, an exaggerated "tough" gangster-like voice and lingo and foul, aggressive language (with common expressions such as "Am I bovvered" or "Warru on about"), council house/flat accommodation, unemployment and state benefits scrounging (and despite this still appearing to have money for show), teenage girls being sexually promiscuous and smoking whilst pregnant, driving a highly modified and chromed up Vauxhall Nova (in particular), Vauxhall Cavalier
, Ford Sierra
, Ford Escort
or Austin Metro, usually souped up with alloys, stickers, oversized spoiler, side panels, exhaust pipe and engine, painted white or in some flamboyant colour, enhanced speakers blasting hip-hop, R&B
, garage, drum and bass or rave/jungle music, and chewing whilst being spoken to. Stereotypical chavs tend to sport skinhead
s, or very short hair with short back and sides and fringe, usually gelled
down. In northern British cities such as Manchester, it is fashionable for some chavs to sport longer hair and sides in the Mod fashion. "Chavettes" stereotypically wear their hair tightly scraped back into a ponytail or bun, known as the "Council house face lift".
Burberry
is a clothing company whose products became associated with the "chav" stereotype. Burberry's appeal to "chav" fashion sense is a sociological example of prole drift
, where an up-market product begins to be consumed en masse by a lower socio-economic group. Burberry has argued that the brand's popular association with "chav" fashion sense is linked to counterfeit
versions of the clothing. "They’re yesterday's news", stated Stacey Cartwright, the CEO
of Burberry. "It was mostly counterfeit, and Britain accounts for less than 10% of our sales anyway."
The company has taken a number of steps to distance itself from the stereotype. It ceased production of its own branded baseball cap
in 2004 and has scaled back the use of its trademarked checkered/tartan design to such an extent that it now only appears on the inner linings and other very low-key positions of their clothing. It has also taken legal action against high-profile infringements of the brand.
The large supermarket chain Asda
has attempted to trademark the word "chav" for a new line of confectionery. A spokeswoman said: "With slogans from characters in shows such as Little Britain
and The Catherine Tate Show
providing us with more and more contemporary slang, our Whatever sweets – now nicknamed chav hearts – have become very popular with kids and grown-ups alike. We thought we needed to give them some respect and have decided to trademark our sweets."
s and casuals.
The widespread use of the "chav" stereotype has come in for some criticism. Some argue that it amounts to simple snobbery and elitism. Critics of the term have argued that its users are "neo-snobs", and that its increasing popularity raises questions about how British society deals with social mobility
and class.
In a February 2005 article in The Times
, Julie Burchill
argued that use of the word is a form of "social racism
", and that such "sneering" reveals more about the shortcomings of the "chav-haters" than those of their supposed victims. The writer John Harris
argued along similar lines in a 2007 article in The Guardian
.
.
By 2004, the word was used in national newspapers and common parlance in the UK. Susie Dent
's Larpers and Shroomers: The Language Report, published by the Oxford University Press
, designated it as the "word of the year" in 2004. A survey in 2005 found that in December 2004 alone 114 British newspaper articles used the word. The popularity of the word has led to the creation of sites devoted to cataloguing and mocking the "chav" lifestyle.
The Welsh rap
group, Goldie Lookin Chain
, have been described as both embodying and satirising the "chav" aesthetic, though the group themselves deny any such agenda, simply making a mockery of the subject. The British car-tuning magazine Max Power
once had a beige Mk3 Vauxhall Cavalier
stickered to make it look like the Burberry check, named it the "Chavalier" and gave it to the band.
R&B
singer/rapper Jentina
, footballer Wayne Rooney
and his wife Coleen, rapper Lady Sovereign
, glamour model Jordan
, actress Danniella Westbrook
, former Big Brother
contestant Jade Goody
, and Kerry Katona
have also been labelled "chavs" by British tabloids and broadsheets.
In the BBC TV series Doctor Who
, Episode New Earth, 15 April 2006, the character Lady Cassandra is transplanted into Rose Tyler's
body (Billie Piper
). When Cassandra sees herself in a mirror, she exclaims "Oh my God...I'm a chav!".
The 2007 film St Trinian's includes among characters who form cliques in a girls' boarding school, the "chavs", depicted as anti-social bullies.
Characters described as "chavs" have occurred in a number of British television programmes. The character, clothing, attitude and musical interests of Lauren Cooper
and her friends in the BBC comedy series The Catherine Tate Show
have been associated with the chav stereotype. The comedy series Little Britain
features a character with some similarities, Vicky Pollard
.
In the Channel Four G4 TV show Freaky
, the magician Michael J. Fitch uses a persona called "The Chav".
In the British television series Misfits
, the character of Kelly Bailey
is presented as a stereotypical "chav". Lauren Socha
, the actress who portrays Kelly, has described the character as being "a bit chavvy". The Times
has referred to the character as "[a] chavvish girl", and the character has been said to possess a "chav accent".
Stereotype
A stereotype is a popular belief about specific social groups or types of individuals. The concepts of "stereotype" and "prejudice" are often confused with many other different meanings...
of teenagers and young adults from an underclass background.
Etymology
The Oxford University PressOxford University Press
Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
has said that the word is "generally thought to come from Chatham girls", but, according to etymologist Michael Quinion
Michael Quinion
Michael Quinion is a British etymologist and writer. He runs the web site World Wide Words, devoted to linguistics. He graduated from Cambridge University, where he studied physical sciences after which he joined BBC radio as a studio manager.-Writer:...
, the term probably has its origins in the Romani
Romani language
Romani or Romany, Gypsy or Gipsy is any of several languages of the Romani people. They are Indic, sometimes classified in the "Central" or "Northwestern" zone, and sometimes treated as a branch of their own....
word "chavi", meaning "child" (or "chavo", meaning "boy", or "chavvy", meaning "youth"). This word may have entered the English language through the Geordie
Geordie
Geordie is a regional nickname for a person from the Tyneside region of the north east of England, or the name of the English-language dialect spoken by its inhabitants...
dialect word charva, meaning a rough child. This is similar to the colloquial Spanish word chaval, meaning "kid" or "guy". Unlike the Geordie variant, the term derived from Chatham can be applied loosely to every culture with a nasty, thieving element.
The derivative chavette has been used to refer to females. The adjectives "chavish" and "chavtastic" apply to stuff designed for or suitable for use by Chavs.
Many urban legends have sprung up around the etymology of the word. These include the backronym
Backronym
A backronym or bacronym is a phrase constructed purposely, such that an acronym can be formed to a specific desired word. Backronyms may be invented with serious or humorous intent, or may be a type of false or folk etymology....
"Council Housed
Council house
A council house, otherwise known as a local authority house, is a form of public or social housing. The term is used primarily in the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. Council houses were built and operated by local councils to supply uncrowded, well-built homes on secure tenancies at...
And Violent" or "Council House-Associated Vermin", and the suggestion that pupils at Cheltenham Ladies' College
Cheltenham Ladies' College
The Cheltenham Ladies' College is an independent boarding and day school for girls aged 11 to 18 in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.-History:The school was founded in 1853...
and Cheltenham College
Cheltenham College
Cheltenham College is a co-educational independent school, located in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England.One of the public schools of the Victorian period, it was opened in July 1841. An Anglican foundation, it is known for its classical, military and sporting traditions.The 1893 book Great...
used the word to describe the young men of the town ("Cheltenham Average"). Quinion writes that "we must treat supposed acronymic origins with the greatest suspicion; these examples are definitely recent after-the-event inventions
Backronym
A backronym or bacronym is a phrase constructed purposely, such that an acronym can be formed to a specific desired word. Backronyms may be invented with serious or humorous intent, or may be a type of false or folk etymology....
as attempts to explain the word, though very widely known and believed."
By 2005, media references to 'Chavs' had spread the word throughout Britain. The Chav's cultural equivalents are: in Ireland - "Skanger", Scotland - "Ned
Ned (Scottish)
Ned is a derogatory term applied in Scotland to hooligans, louts or petty criminals, latterly with the stereotypical implication that they wear casual sports clothes. Such usage in Glasgow dates back to the 1960s or earlier.-Early use of term:...
", East Anglia - "Yarco", Eastern North America - Guido, Central and South America - Mamón, universal term - Fashion victim
Fashion victim
Fashion victim is a term claimed to have been coined by Oscar de la Renta that is used to identify a person who is unable to identify commonly recognized boundaries of style....
.
Stereotype
Chavs are widely known for their counterfeit designer clothing and sportswearSportswear
Sportswear or activewear is clothing, including footwear, worn for sport or physical exercise. Sport-specific clothing is worn for most sports and physical exercise, for practical, comfort or safety reasons....
, often obtained from chain shops such as Sports Direct
Sports Direct
Sports Direct International plc is a British retailing group. Founded in 1982 by former county squash coach Mike Ashley, the company is now the UK's largest sporting retailer through a number of retail subsidiaries and sports equipment brands. Although now a publicly traded company on the London...
, JJB Sports
JJB Sports
JJB Sports plc is a United Kingdom sports retailer. It currently operates 251 stores in the UK and Ireland.- History :The sportshop chain was founded in 1971, when ex-footballer Dave Whelan acquired a single sports shop in Wigan. The original store was established by JJ Broughton in the early...
and JD Sports
JD Sports
JD Sports Fashion plc, more commonly known as just JD, is a sports-fashion retail company based in Bury, Greater Manchester, England with shops throughout the United Kingdom and with one in Ireland...
. Brands such as Adidas
Adidas
Adidas AG is a German sports apparel manufacturer and parent company of the Adidas Group, which consists of the Reebok sportswear company, TaylorMade-Adidas golf company , and Rockport...
, Nike
Nike, Inc.
Nike, Inc. is a major publicly traded sportswear and equipment supplier based in the United States. The company is headquartered near Beaverton, Oregon, which is part of the Portland metropolitan area...
, Reebok
Reebok
Reebok International Limited, a subsidiary of the German sportswear company Adidas since 2005, is a producer of Athletic shoes, apparel, and accessories. The name comes from the Afrikaans spelling of rhebok, a type of African antelope or gazelle...
, Puma, Umbro
Umbro
Umbro is an English sportswear and football equipment supplier based in Cheadle, Greater Manchester, England. The company is now part of Nike. Umbro designs, sources, and markets sport-related apparel, footwear, and equipment...
, Ecko
Ecko
Eckō unltd. is a brand of urban lifestyle clothing founded by fashion designer Marc Ecko, that has been popular since the late 1990s, and moved into the mainstream urban culture in the early 2000s. It is most often associated with hip-hop people. The style is based on graffiti art.The creation of...
, Carbrini and Kappa
Kappa (company)
Kappa is an Italian company specialized at the manufacture of sporting clothes and accessories, that started as a sock and underwear manufacturer in 1916 in Turin.-Logo:...
are very popular, with many chavs often wearing a full tracksuit or tracksuit bottoms, with a hoodie
Hoodie
A hoodie is a sweatshirt with a hood. The characteristic design includes large frontal pockets, a hood, and a drawstring to adjust the hood opening. They are sometimes worn with sweatpants. Some hoodies have zippers on them to allow easy removal much like a jacket...
or polyester jacket, baseball cap and oversized trainers. Clothing attire is usually navy, white, black, red or grey for the chav male, and pink and white are very common with the "chavette", particularly jogging bottoms, velour tracksuits or shell suits.Stereotypical attire might be accompanied by some form of bling, such as oversized gold hoop earrings and necklaces, bracelets and rings, and an abundance of tattoos.
Several stereotypical traits are associated with chavs; smoking, drinking and taking drugs in gangs on street corners and outside shops, petty thievery and violence, vandalism and graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
, an exaggerated "tough" gangster-like voice and lingo and foul, aggressive language (with common expressions such as "Am I bovvered" or "Warru on about"), council house/flat accommodation, unemployment and state benefits scrounging (and despite this still appearing to have money for show), teenage girls being sexually promiscuous and smoking whilst pregnant, driving a highly modified and chromed up Vauxhall Nova (in particular), Vauxhall Cavalier
Vauxhall Cavalier
The Vauxhall Cavalier is a large family car sold primarily in the UK by Vauxhall Motors, the British division of General Motors , from 1975 to 1995...
, Ford Sierra
Ford Sierra
The Ford Sierra is a large family car that was built by Ford Europe from 1982 until 1993. It was designed by Uwe Bahnsen, Robert Lutz and Patrick le Quément. The code used during development was "Project Toni"....
, Ford Escort
Ford Escort
Ford Escort may refer to:* Ford Escort , a vehicle manufactured by Ford Motor Company's European division from 1968 through 2003* Ford Escort , a compact car that was manufactured by the Ford Motor Company for the North American market...
or Austin Metro, usually souped up with alloys, stickers, oversized spoiler, side panels, exhaust pipe and engine, painted white or in some flamboyant colour, enhanced speakers blasting hip-hop, R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
, garage, drum and bass or rave/jungle music, and chewing whilst being spoken to. Stereotypical chavs tend to sport skinhead
Skinhead
A skinhead is a member of a subculture that originated among working class youths in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, and then spread to other parts of the world. Named for their close-cropped or shaven heads, the first skinheads were greatly influenced by West Indian rude boys and British mods,...
s, or very short hair with short back and sides and fringe, usually gelled
Hair gel
Hair gel is a hairstyling product that is used to stiffen hair into a particular hairstyle. The results it produces are usually similar to, but stronger than, those of hair spray and hair wax, and weaker than those of hair glue.-Types:...
down. In northern British cities such as Manchester, it is fashionable for some chavs to sport longer hair and sides in the Mod fashion. "Chavettes" stereotypically wear their hair tightly scraped back into a ponytail or bun, known as the "Council house face lift".
Commercial effect
Burberry
Burberry Group plc is a British luxury fashion house, manufacturing clothing, fragrance, and fashion accessories. Its distinctive tartan pattern has become one of its most widely copied trademarks. Burberry is most famous for its iconic trench coat, which was invented by founder Thomas Burberry...
is a clothing company whose products became associated with the "chav" stereotype. Burberry's appeal to "chav" fashion sense is a sociological example of prole drift
Prole drift
Prole drift, short for proletarian drift, is a trend in whichproducts, styles or other aspects of culture previously considered to be upscale or upper class become popular among working class people...
, where an up-market product begins to be consumed en masse by a lower socio-economic group. Burberry has argued that the brand's popular association with "chav" fashion sense is linked to counterfeit
Counterfeit
To counterfeit means to illegally imitate something. Counterfeit products are often produced with the intent to take advantage of the superior value of the imitated product...
versions of the clothing. "They’re yesterday's news", stated Stacey Cartwright, the CEO
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
of Burberry. "It was mostly counterfeit, and Britain accounts for less than 10% of our sales anyway."
The company has taken a number of steps to distance itself from the stereotype. It ceased production of its own branded baseball cap
Baseball cap
A baseball cap is a type of soft cap with a rounded stiff brim. The front of the cap typically contains designs or logos of sports teams ,...
in 2004 and has scaled back the use of its trademarked checkered/tartan design to such an extent that it now only appears on the inner linings and other very low-key positions of their clothing. It has also taken legal action against high-profile infringements of the brand.
The large supermarket chain Asda
Asda
Asda Stores Ltd is a British supermarket chain which retails food, clothing, general merchandise, toys and financial services. It also has a mobile telephone network, , Asda Mobile...
has attempted to trademark the word "chav" for a new line of confectionery. A spokeswoman said: "With slogans from characters in shows such as Little Britain
Little Britain
Little Britain is a British character-based comedy sketch show which was first broadcast on BBC radio and then turned into a television show. It was written by comic duo David Walliams and Matt Lucas...
and The Catherine Tate Show
The Catherine Tate Show
The Catherine Tate Show is a British television sketch comedy written by Catherine Tate and Aschlin Ditta. Tate also stars in all but one of the show's sketches, which feature a wide range of characters. The Catherine Tate Show airs on BBC Two and is shown worldwide through the BBC...
providing us with more and more contemporary slang, our Whatever sweets – now nicknamed chav hearts – have become very popular with kids and grown-ups alike. We thought we needed to give them some respect and have decided to trademark our sweets."
Criticism of the stereotype
A BBC TV documentary suggested that "chav" culture is an evolution of previous working-class youth subcultures associated with particular commercial clothing styles, such as mods, skinheadSkinhead
A skinhead is a member of a subculture that originated among working class youths in the United Kingdom in the 1960s, and then spread to other parts of the world. Named for their close-cropped or shaven heads, the first skinheads were greatly influenced by West Indian rude boys and British mods,...
s and casuals.
The widespread use of the "chav" stereotype has come in for some criticism. Some argue that it amounts to simple snobbery and elitism. Critics of the term have argued that its users are "neo-snobs", and that its increasing popularity raises questions about how British society deals with social mobility
Social mobility
Social mobility refers to the movement of people in a population from one social class or economic level to another. It typically refers to vertical mobility -- movement of individuals or groups up from one socio-economic level to another, often by changing jobs or marrying; but can also refer to...
and class.
In a February 2005 article in The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
, Julie Burchill
Julie Burchill
Julie Burchill is an English writer and journalist. Beginning as a writer for the New Musical Express at the age of 17, she has written for newspapers such as The Sunday Times and The Guardian. She is a self-declared "militant feminist". She has several times been involved in legal action...
argued that use of the word is a form of "social racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
", and that such "sneering" reveals more about the shortcomings of the "chav-haters" than those of their supposed victims. The writer John Harris
John Harris (critic)
John Rhys Harris is a British journalist, writer, and critic.-Early life:Harris was raised in Wilmslow in north Cheshire by a university lecturer and a teacher, daughter of a nuclear research chemist...
argued along similar lines in a 2007 article in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
.
Characterisation in the media
Response to the stereotype has ranged from amusement to criticism that it is a new manifestation of classismClassism
Classism is prejudice or discrimination on the basis of social class. It includes individual attitudes and behaviors, systems of policies and practices that are set up to benefit the upper classes at the expense of the lower classes...
.
By 2004, the word was used in national newspapers and common parlance in the UK. Susie Dent
Susie Dent
Susie Dent is an English lexicographer, well known as the resident dictionary expert and adjudicator on Channel 4’s long-running game show Countdown. As of January 2009, she is the longest-serving member of the current on-screen team, having first appeared on the show in 1992.Dent was educated at...
's Larpers and Shroomers: The Language Report, published by the Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
, designated it as the "word of the year" in 2004. A survey in 2005 found that in December 2004 alone 114 British newspaper articles used the word. The popularity of the word has led to the creation of sites devoted to cataloguing and mocking the "chav" lifestyle.
The Welsh rap
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
group, Goldie Lookin Chain
Goldie Lookin Chain
Goldie Lookin Chain is a comedic rap music group based in Newport, South Wales. The group produces humorous, controversial and often explicit songs that satirise hip hop, today's consumer society, the ‘chav’ culture and life in Newport and south Wales in general.-Background:Many of the songs...
, have been described as both embodying and satirising the "chav" aesthetic, though the group themselves deny any such agenda, simply making a mockery of the subject. The British car-tuning magazine Max Power
Max Power (magazine)
Max Power was a UK-based magazine, headquartered in Peterborough, which covered the performance-tuning car market, boy racers and softcore pornography....
once had a beige Mk3 Vauxhall Cavalier
Vauxhall Cavalier
The Vauxhall Cavalier is a large family car sold primarily in the UK by Vauxhall Motors, the British division of General Motors , from 1975 to 1995...
stickered to make it look like the Burberry check, named it the "Chavalier" and gave it to the band.
R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
singer/rapper Jentina
Jentina
Jentina Rose Chapman professionally known as Jentina, is a British Hip hop/R&B singer, rapper, songwriter and model of Gypsy descent.-Biography:...
, footballer Wayne Rooney
Wayne Rooney
Wayne Mark Rooney is an English footballer who plays as a striker for Premier League club Manchester United and the England national team...
and his wife Coleen, rapper Lady Sovereign
Lady Sovereign
Louise Amanda Harman , better known by the stage name Lady Sovereign, is an English rapper & grime artist. She is noted for her professional success in performing styles of music generally dominated by males...
, glamour model Jordan
Jordan (Katie Price)
Katie Price , previously known under the pseudonym Jordan, is an English media personality, author, former glamour model, occasional singer and businesswoman....
, actress Danniella Westbrook
Danniella Westbrook
Danniella Westbrook is an English actress and television presenter. She is known for being the original actress to play Samantha Mitchell in the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders from 1990–93, 1995–96, 1999–2000 and 2009–10. Away from EastEnders she has presented various shows, and was also a...
, former Big Brother
Big Brother (UK)
Big Brother UK is the British version of the Dutch Big Brother television format, which takes its name from the character in George Orwell's 1948 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four...
contestant Jade Goody
Jade Goody
Jade Cerisa Lorraine Goody was an English celebrity. She came into the public spotlight while appearing on the third series of the Channel 4 reality TV programme Big Brother in 2002, an appearance which led to her own television programmes and the launch of her own products after her eviction from...
, and Kerry Katona
Kerry Katona
Kerry Jayne Elizabeth Katona is an English media personality and singer best known for her television work, predominantly in light entertainment and reality shows. She has also been a pop singer with girl group Atomic Kitten, a magazine columnist, an actress, and the author of ghostwritten books...
have also been labelled "chavs" by British tabloids and broadsheets.
In the BBC TV series Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
, Episode New Earth, 15 April 2006, the character Lady Cassandra is transplanted into Rose Tyler's
Rose Tyler
Rose Marion Tyler is a fictional character portrayed by Billie Piper in the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who, and was created by series producer Russell T Davies...
body (Billie Piper
Billie Piper
Billie Paul Piper is an English singer and actress.She began her career in the late 1990s as a pop singer and then switched to acting. She started in acting and dancing and was talent spotted at the Sylvia Young stage school by Smash Hits magazine who wanted a "face" for their magazine...
). When Cassandra sees herself in a mirror, she exclaims "Oh my God...I'm a chav!".
The 2007 film St Trinian's includes among characters who form cliques in a girls' boarding school, the "chavs", depicted as anti-social bullies.
Characters described as "chavs" have occurred in a number of British television programmes. The character, clothing, attitude and musical interests of Lauren Cooper
Lauren Cooper
Dame Lauren Alesha Masheka Tanesha Felicia Jane Cooper is a fictional character in The Catherine Tate Show. Lauren is one of the show's main characters and is played by Catherine Tate...
and her friends in the BBC comedy series The Catherine Tate Show
The Catherine Tate Show
The Catherine Tate Show is a British television sketch comedy written by Catherine Tate and Aschlin Ditta. Tate also stars in all but one of the show's sketches, which feature a wide range of characters. The Catherine Tate Show airs on BBC Two and is shown worldwide through the BBC...
have been associated with the chav stereotype. The comedy series Little Britain
Little Britain
Little Britain is a British character-based comedy sketch show which was first broadcast on BBC radio and then turned into a television show. It was written by comic duo David Walliams and Matt Lucas...
features a character with some similarities, Vicky Pollard
Vicky Pollard
Vicky Pollard is a fictional character from the British comedy TV series Little Britain, which aired on BBC.Vicky Pollard is a stereotypical chav. She is a teenage mother and juvenile delinquent and is known for her inarticulate and incredibly fast speech and incessant gossip...
.
In the Channel Four G4 TV show Freaky
Freaky (2008 TV show)
Freaky is a British television series with David Penn in which a group of magicians perform tricks on common bystanders, featured on Channel 4 in the UK and G4's Duty Free TV ....
, the magician Michael J. Fitch uses a persona called "The Chav".
In the British television series Misfits
Misfits (TV series)
Misfits is a British science fiction comedy-drama television series about a group of young offenders forced to work in a community service programme, where they obtain supernatural powers after a strange electrical storm. The first series started broadcasting on 12 November 2009 on E4, and was...
, the character of Kelly Bailey
Kelly Bailey (Misfits)
Kelly Bailey is a fictional character from the British Channel 4 science fiction comedy-drama Misfits, portrayed by Lauren Socha. Kelly first appears in episode 1 of Series 1. The character has been characterised as "chavvish" but with a "heart of gold"...
is presented as a stereotypical "chav". Lauren Socha
Lauren Socha
Lauren Marie Socha is a BAFTA award winning English actress, best known for her starring role in the E4 comedy-drama television series Misfits and a co-starring role in the Channel 4 drama The Unloved. She attended St. George's RC Primary School, Burton College and Saint Benedict School and...
, the actress who portrays Kelly, has described the character as being "a bit chavvy". The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
has referred to the character as "[a] chavvish girl", and the character has been said to possess a "chav accent".
See also
- Folk devilFolk devilA folk devil is a person or group of people who are portrayed in folklore or the media as outsiders and deviant, and who are blamed for crimes or other sorts of social problems ....
- Hooligan
- NEETNEETNEET is a government acronym for people currently "not in education, employment, or training". It was first used in the United Kingdom but its use has spread to other countries, including Japan, China, and South Korea...
- Social structure of BritainSocial structure of BritainThe social structure of the United Kingdom has historically been highly influenced by the concept of social class, with the concept still affecting British society in the early-21st century. Although definitions of social class in the United Kingdom vary and are highly controversial, most are...
Further reading
- Jones, Owen (2011) Chavs: The Demonization of the Working Class