User:Vanessa.DelucoFrom The Peopling of New York City
Mommy, What's a "Guido?"A "Guido" is a person, typically though not always of Italian descent, who acts and dresses in a certain way. He is often overconfident and behaves in an offensive manner. He cares little for the opinions of others and attempts to act tough and thuggish, though he often comes from a rich family. He is narcissistic and spends hours in the gym building the perfect body, only to go to tanning after. Often seen wearing muscle shirts, sweatsuits, and oversized jewelry he can most often be found in the clubs and bars of New York and the Jersey shore. He spends his nights getting drunk and hitting on women. It should be noted a female version of the "Guido" exists, the "Guidette." At least that is how the stereotype goes.
What Do People Really Think?Staten Island: "the fake Borough of New York City," "a place where the makeup is thick and the accents thicker," "where Italian people go to die," "the South shore is the Sopranos meets Clueless(the movie)," "the North shore is the ghetto." These are just a few of the definitions given on the popular user content generated urban dictionary, and the "nicer" ones at that. In a poll many residents of both Staten Island and New Jersey assosiated negative terms with Staten Island youth. Among those frequently repeated were "lazy," "selfish'" and the word "Guido" itself. Even the young people of Staten Island reluctantly accepted this stereotype. Those interviewed may have denied fitting the stereotype themselves, but claimed to know many that did.
Bad PressTrue Life: I'm a Staten Island GirlOne of MTV's most popular series, True Life, struck in October of 2006. "True Life: I'm a Staten Island Girl" follows the lives of three "typical" female Island residents and tells their stories. Everybody currently lives at home, with their often wealthy parents, but want to move off the Island to pursue their dreams. Danielle (21) wants to be an actress, but is scarred her heavy Staten Island accent will prevent her from landing serious roles. Lauren (22) considers Staten Island her home, but is desperate to move off the island to seek the diversity she first encountered in college. Thousands of dollars in debt she fears her dream may never become a reality. Angela (25) fears she is getting old and has to find a nice guy to settle down with. Sadly, all the men she attracted to are "typical Staten Island guys," tan, muscle-bound, and unwilling to commit to one girl. The girls seem like nice enough people, but their behavior is often shameful and embarrassing. Each one feels entilted to what they want when they want it, and demand unreasonable goals. Lauren wants to rent an exspensive apartment in Manhatten even though she is thousands of dollars in debt, in only one month no less. The other girls are hardly more reasonable. They are so excessively tan that they have an orange glow about them and they often hit the gym to stay in shape. Superficial, each goes shopping often, and sport the newest outfits. Jersey ShoreMTV strikes again. In 2009 "Jersey Shore' aired amid much controversey. The reality show follows the social and personal lives of 8 housemates who live and work in Seaside Heights, New Jersey. The members of the cast get to live and party in the shore house in exchange for working shifts in the landlord's t-shirt shop. Controverey arose over the cast's often outlandish behavior. In the opening episode each housemate arrived in all their tan glory. In later episodes they were shown spending their days "picking up" men and women at the beach and partying late into the night. The boys often invited several girls back to the house to go in the hot tub, and one of the girls, "Snooki," would often spend the night with random men. Once she even woke up on the beach with a man she just met the night before. Each is narcissistic to the max. Famous for "GTL" (gym, tan, laundary), each morning they would do just that: hit the gym, go to the local tanning salon, and then prepare their outfit for the night. The men often went to the barber shop, and the girls to get their nails done. Each would spend hours trying to look perfect before they went clubbing. The show became assossiated with Staten Island because 3 of the 8 housemates were born on or currently live on Staen Island. They includes the famously arogant Michael 'The Situation" Sorrentino (who is assistant manager of a gym on Staten Island), Angelina "Jolie" Pivarnick (who was kicked out of the shore house on episode 3 for refusing to work), and oddly normal Vinny Guadagnino (who graduated college and intends to study law if acting does not work out). YoutubeThe guido stereotype is all over the internet. Combined "My New Haircut,""Guido Fan Club," and "True life: I'm a Guido" have over 1,434,642 hits alone. In each video the men are shown sporting gelled or blown out hair, gold chains, and either muscle shirts or pooped collar dress shirts. They curse and use rather vulgar language, often referring to females as b******. A heavy emphasize is placed on being "tan and jacked." The connections to Italian Americans could not be clearer. Italian flags and logos are all over their clothing. What Can We Do To Change People's Opinions?One Person CAN Make a DifferenceThe best way is to talk to people about it. Really get them to question what they believe and why. The next is to get the message out. If negative youtube videos can hurt Staten Island's image it is logical to believe positive ones can help change people's opinions. Lastly S.I. youth need to get active in their community. If people see them out helping the community they will think more highly of them, and stop associating negative terms with them. Two SiblingsShortly after MTV's "True Life: I'm a Staten Island Girl" aired a brother and sister pair took matters into their own hands. They went around the island and took photographs and videos of important places. They interviewed people, and got their opinions, both of the island and how they felt about the negative assossiations that had become attached to it. Their goal was to answer two question: should Staten Island be saved, and can it be saved. They then posted this content on their website, SaveStatenIsland. The site is now under reconstruction and editing. Another project, PositivelyStatenIsland, will be launched soon. Citations"Staten Island." Urban Dictionary. Web. 16 Mar. 2010. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=staten+island. "My New Haircut." Youtube. Web. 14 Mar. 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4JMOh-cul6M. "Guido Fan Club." Youtube. Web. 15 Mar. 2010. http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Guido+Fan+club&aq=f. "True Life: I'm a Guido." Youtube. Web. 15 Mar. 2010. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5td_RlwO4s. Staten Island Mall Survey Jersey Gardens Survey Focus group and youtube video screening with 7 college students (3 from CSI) 4/4/2010 Save Staten Island. Web. 20 Apr. 2010. <http://www.savestatenisland.com/>. |
