The word Chav has been described in the Cambridge English dictionary as “an insulting word for someone, usually a young person, whose way of dressing, speaking, and behaving is thought to show their lack of education and low social class”. It’s used in the British slang as an informal derogatory word. When looking at the Oxford Dictionary they use a description of origin as a youth who is described as being ‘Romany’. The word Chav is thought to have come from the Romani word ‘boy’ or ‘chavvy’ meaning ‘youth’. It’s thought that this word may have come from the Geordie dialect word ‘Charva’, meaning a ‘rough child’. They are said to be violent teenagers, of a working class background, who are usually found to be on a street corner somewhere
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Jones shows how the label Chav is used to insinuate that poverty is in the fault of the class and their personal choices for example laziness and refusing to work rather than blaming the system itself. Jones argues that “derogatory working class caricatures gained currency because the working class has little power over how it’s represented”. He argues that class is not about how much you earn, what type of home you live in or the way you live your life. Instead he defines the working class as “people who have no means or sustenance other than the sales of labour” and who lack independence or control over …show more content…
The article explores the unnatural and comic figure the chav within a series of British media. In particular television comedy, and the internet which have focused on the role played by reactions in the era and the flow of the chav symbol through such popular media. Taylor concentrates in particular on the female chav and the denigration of young white working class mothers. She also argues that the reason character Vicky Pollard caught the eye of the public was because she represents such an accuracy to several of the misfortunes of modern Britain: “aggressive all female gangs of embittered, hormonal, drunken teenagers; gym slip mums who choose to get pregnant as their career option: pasty-faced, lard-gutted slappers who’ll drop their knickers in the blink of an eye”. These people do actually exist and are every bit alive and a constant target for social ridicule (James Delingpole, The Times, April 13
Jones shows how the label Chav is used to insinuate that poverty is in the fault of the class and their personal choices for example laziness and refusing to work rather than blaming the system itself. Jones argues that “derogatory working class caricatures gained currency because the working class has little power over how it’s represented”. He argues that class is not about how much you earn, what type of home you live in or the way you live your life. Instead he defines the working class as “people who have no means or sustenance other than the sales of labour” and who lack independence or control over …show more content…
The article explores the unnatural and comic figure the chav within a series of British media. In particular television comedy, and the internet which have focused on the role played by reactions in the era and the flow of the chav symbol through such popular media. Taylor concentrates in particular on the female chav and the denigration of young white working class mothers. She also argues that the reason character Vicky Pollard caught the eye of the public was because she represents such an accuracy to several of the misfortunes of modern Britain: “aggressive all female gangs of embittered, hormonal, drunken teenagers; gym slip mums who choose to get pregnant as their career option: pasty-faced, lard-gutted slappers who’ll drop their knickers in the blink of an eye”. These people do actually exist and are every bit alive and a constant target for social ridicule (James Delingpole, The Times, April 13