Oh yeah!!! Blog Post! Yeahhh!

Fake tans.

Big hair.

Rock hard abs.

GTL

Grenade!

“The cabs are here!”

“It’s t-shirt timeeeeeee.”

As much as we don’t like to admit it, MTV’s “Jersey Shore” has crept up on every single one of us.  Whether you’re caught singing the theme song, “I’m in Miami, bitch!” or you can’t put down the remote when Snookie is waddling around with bedroom slippers on, Jersey Shore has become a current part of culture.

Some of you may argue that Jersey Shore is not the best representation of young Italians everywhere, but this community of guidos and guidettes actually does exist, ever since the Gotti brothers.  Thinking back to a few years ago when the Gotti brothers had their own reality television show, almost every boy in town wanted that perfect “blow out” or that glistening tan.  Jersey Shore’s cast represents this community, perfectly, with a little exaggeration.

While it is true that if Jersey Shore did not exist, none of us would be so impacted by the Italian community, I think it’s not just about their Italian culture, but it’s about our day and age and how our youth act as compared to times before.

In the Jersey Shore, the cast is determined to go out every night, party, get wasted, get laid, and then they can call their night, successful.  The things that they do are not just a stereotype of Italians; in fact some members of the cast aren’t even Italian.  They have a love for Italy, no doubt about that, but the things that they do don’t in any way reflect everyone who is a part of the Italian community.

Nowadays, whether we like it or not, the new “in” thing to do is to go clubbing.  Clubs have always been around, but now they are even more popular.  While browsing through social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, we come across pictures, statuses, and comments that talk about the way in which our friends spent their weekend—the majority of them partying it up.  The regular movie and dinner Friday date night has turned into “Let’s all go to the club, get wasted, take lots of slutty pictures, and get laid or say that we did, so we can all be cool.”  Where was this custom originated?  Although I have not done enough research to answer that question myself, it is undoubtedly a part of our American culture, especially in NYC and NJ.

Body image is also a large part of our culture.  Our teenagers face body image issues every day of their lives, whether they’re the average Joe/Jane or even if they’re as famous Demi Lovato.  Although this is sad and disturbing, this is what our society has come to.  In Jersey Shore, the guidos refer to overweight and unattractive girls as “grenades” and underweight and unattractive girls as “landmines.”  These references and names are a perfect way to show how shallow our society has become, and these are direct causes of increasing body image issues amongst girls who are different.

Sex.  Many of us feel weird when talking about it with elders or our parents, but we find it okay to broadcast how many girls or boys were DTF (down to fuck) with us last night at the hippest, new club to 800 of our “closest” friends on Facebook.  This obviously doesn’t make any sense, but it is inevitable.  More teenagers are having sex as compared to times before where sex wasn’t even mentioned in television shows for teenagers.

So, will the next generation look at Jersey Shore and think, “wow my mom was a guidette?”  Surely not.  Do we all look back at shows like The Fresh Prince of Bel Air (thanks for the idea Michelle Martins) and think, “wow my dad must have had an afro and pre-school colored plastic pants?  Definitely not.  These two are very different shows that preserve a particular culture at a particular time.  The Fresh Prince of Bel Air portraying the black community in the 80s to the 90s and the Jersey Shore portraying the young Italian community as well as other youth in New York City and New Jersey currently.

This past Halloween, there are Snookie’s, Pauly D’s, and Situation’s roaming abour almost everywhere.  Even my AP US History teacher dressed up as Snookie during my high school’s Halloween parade this year.

Whether we like it or not, Jersey Shore has become a part of our culture and it will be looked back upon a few years from now by future generations.  It is our culture.