Girl next door

:"For other uses, see Girl Next Door."

The cultural and sexual stereotype of the girl next door is invoked in American contexts to indicate wholesome, unassuming, "average" femininity; as opposed to the culture's other female stereotypes such as the tomboy, the valley girl, the femme fatale, and the slut. "The Girl Next Door" is the girl counterpart to the "boy next door."

In the idealised American context, falling in love with the "girl next door" is an archetypal romantic fiction. Unlike the femme fatale, the girl next door does not have hidden plans of her own, because her character and personality are open and straightforward, and because her social, economic, and sexual intentions do not need to be concealed. Unlike the princesse lointaine, she seldom is richer or of a higher social status than the boy protagonist. The girl next door likely is a girl whom the protagonist has known most of his life, but in the past could not appreciate the depth of his feelings for her because of his youth.

The girl next door is always physically in close range, yet simultaneously detached from the male protagonist (she needn't literally live next door). She is the sweet-tempered girl he sees daily, a really great 'pal' friend, hence the "perfect" girl to take home to his parents. Often, she is a sexual virgin, and, because of that, her "innocent" manner is the façade of many American erotic fantasies portraying her "girl next door" image as the pretense behind which is the true, very sexually aggressive woman. The friction of these contradictions in the archetype is the key story theme in the film "The Girl Next Door" (2004).

Examples from fiction

*Emily Webb in "Our Town"

In comics

*Betty Cooper from "Archie Comics"
*Lois Lane in the Superman comics
*Barbara Gordon in the Batman comics

In video games

* in ""
*Tifa Lockhart from "Final Fantasy 7"

In film

*Betsy Booth (Judy Garland) in "Love Finds Andy Hardy", "Andy Hardy Meets Debutante", and "Life Begins for Andy Hardy"
*Mary Bailey (Donna Reed) in "It's a Wonderful Life"
*Lorraine Baines (Lea Thompson) in "Back to the Future"
*Dorothy Boyd (Renée Zellweger) in "Jerry Maguire"
*Ashley Carlson (Sarah Roemer) in "Disturbia"
*Sabrina Fairchild (Audrey Hepburn) in "Sabrina"
*Jules Harbor (Amy Smart) in "Varsity Blues"
*Kathleen "Kiki" Harrison (Julia Roberts) in "America's Sweethearts"
*Ali Mills (Elisabeth Shue) in "The Karate Kid"
*Wendy Wu (Brenda Song) in ""
*Gabriella Montez (Vanessa Hudgens) in "High School Musical 1, 2 and 3"
*Maggie Carter (Marla Sokoloff) in "Whatever it Takes"
*Jamie Palamino (Amy Smart) in "Just Friends"
*Mary Jane Watson (Kirsten Dunst) in the "Spider-Man film series"
*Ursula Ditkovich (Mageina Tovah) in the "Spider-Man film series"
*Toni Williams (Lori Loughlin) in "Secret Admirer"
*Stephanie Jameson (Chelsea Staub) in "Minutemen"
*Julia Sullivan (Drew Barrymore) in "The Wedding Singer"
*Cherry Valance (Diane Lane) in "The Outsiders"
*Judy (Natalie Wood) in "Rebel Without a Cause"
*Gwen Stacy (Bryce Dallas Howard) in "Spider-Man 3"
*Heather (Mena Suvari) in "American Pie"
*Ellen Aim (Diane Lane) in "Streets of Fire"
*Sloane Peterson (Mia Sara) in "Ferris Buellers Day Off"
*Lane Leonard (Schuyler Fisk) in "Snow Day"
*Megan (Zena Grey) in "Max Keeble's Big Move"
*Samantha "Sam" Baker (Molly Ringwald) in "Sixteen Candles"
*Lindsey Kelloway (Missy Crider) in "Powder"

In animation

*Susie Carmichael on "Rugrats" and "All Grown Up"
*Patti Mayonnaise on "Doug"
*Nazz on "Ed, Edd, n Eddy"
*Gwen Stacy on "The Spectacular Spider-Man"

On television

*Madeline Fitzpatrick (Ashley Tisdale) on "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody"
*Haley James Scott (Bethany Joy Galeotti) on "One Tree Hill"
*Marcia Brady (Maureen McCormick) on "The Brady Bunch"
*Laurie Partridge (Susan Dey) on "The Partridge Family"
*Laura Ingalls Wilder (Melissa Gilbert) on "Little House on the Prairie"
*D. J. Tanner (Candace Cameron) on "Full House"
*Charlene Robinson (Kylie Minogue) on "Neighbours"
*Donna Pinciotti (Laura Prepon) on "That '70s Show"
*Joey Potter (Katie Holmes) on "Dawson's Creek"
*Chloe Sullivan (Allison Mack) on "Smallville"
*Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk) on "Smallville"
*Mary Ann Summers (Dawn Wells) on "Gilligan's Island"
*Winnie Cooper (Danica Mckellar) on "The Wonder Years"
*Marissa Cooper (Mischa Barton) on "The O.C."
*Topanga Lawrence (Danielle Fishel) on "Boy Meets World"
*Melody Hanson (Christine Taylor) on "Hey Dude"
*Kelly Kapowski (Tiffani Thiessen) on "Saved by the Bell"
*Malini Sharma (Sriti Jha) on "Dhoom machao dhoom"
*Kathy (Erin Chambers) on "Drake and Josh"
*Robin Wheeler (Tinashe Kachingwe) on "Out of Jimmy's Head"
*Meena Paroom (Maiara Walsh) on "Cory in the House"
*Rory Gilmore (Alexis Bledel) on "Gilmore Girls"
*Ellen Josephine Hickle (Alison Fanelli) on "The Adventures of Pete & Pete"

Further reading

* Deborah Jermyn, "Death of the Girl Next Door": Celebrity, Femininity, and Tragedy in the Murder of Jill Dando", Feminist Media Studies, Vol. 1 No. 3 (Nov. 2001)
* Michael Levine, "Feeling For Buffy — The Girl Next Door" in Michael Levine and Steven Schneider, "Buffy and Philosophy", Open Court Press 2003
* Frank Rich, "Journal: The Girl Next Door", New York Times, Feb. 20, 1994
* Michael Walker, "SHE SPITS ON THE GIRL NEXT DOOR", Los Angeles Times, Feb. 6, 1994
* Elizabeth Wurtzel, "Women: Read my lips: Are you a girl next door or a second wife?", The Guardian, Dec. 22, 1998

ee also

*Ingenue
*Girly girl
*Yamato Nadeshiko

External links

* [http://www.askmen.com/dating/dating_advice_100/111_dating_tips.html The Appeal Of The Girl Next Door]
* [http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=girl+next+door Urban Dictionary: Girl next door]
* [http://mythumps.blogspot.com/2006/07/girl-next-door_17.html My Thumps: The Girl Next Door]