Essex girl

Challenging the stereotype

In 2004, Bob Russell, Liberal Democrat MP for Colchester in Essex, appealed for debate in the House of Commons on the issue, encouraging a boycott of The People tabloid, which has printed several derogatory references to girls from Essex.

The Essex Women's Advisory Group was set up in 2010 to combat the negative stereotyping of girls living in Essex by supporting Essex-based women's charities helping those in need as well as by funding projects that promote women's and girls' learning and success in science, technology, the arts, sports and business. The charitable fund is administered by the Essex Community Foundation.

On 6 October 2016, Juliet Thomas and Natasha Sawkins of The Mother Hub launched a campaign on social media to draw attention to the negative definition of Essex girl in the Oxford English Dictionary and Collins Dictionary. Their main goal was to raise awareness and to open a dialogue around the derogatory "Essex girl" stereotype. Their campaign centred on changing the definition of "Essex girl" to "a girl from or living in Essex" by encouraging women to use the hashtag #IAmAnEssexGirl and included a petition to change or remove the dictionary definitions. The campaign reached the national press. In December 2020, after campaigning by the Essex Girls Liberation Front, the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, used to teach non-native English speakers, removed the term.

References

References

1. Biressi, Anita. (2013). "Class and Contemporary British Culture". Palgrave Macmillan.
2. (2010-03-05). "Essex girls set up their own charity". The Telegraph.
3. [http://www.essexcommunityfoundation.org.uk/ Essex Community Foundation].
4. (25 October 2016). "Essex girl campaigners meet with dictionary bosses in bid to have term removed". Evening Standard.
5. (2016-10-25). "The only way is out for Essex girl label". The Times.
6. (2016-10-25). "The problem with the phrase 'Essex girl'".
7. Beard, Mary. (2017-08-06). "Essex Girl in Ancient Times".
8. Marsh, Sarah. (2020-12-05). "'Essex girl' removed from dictionary following campaign". [[The Guardian]].
9. (2020-12-09). "Dropping of 'Essex Girl' by Oxford dictionary welcomed by women". [[BBC News]].