Lauren Clark
English 101
18 November 2010
Italian Stereotyping on Jersey Shore
Jersey Shore, an MTV reality television series that made its debut on December 3, 2009, follows eight Italian-American housemates, Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, Paul “Pauly D” DelVecchio, Jenni “JWoww” Farley, Ronnie Ortiz-Magro, Sammi “Sweetheart” Giancola, Vinny Guadagnino, and Angelina Pivarnick, as they spend their summer in Seaside Heights, New Jersey. The cast, consisting of men with washboard abs, jewel-encrusted t-shirts and gelled up hair and overly tan women wearing little clothing that flaunts their good figure, or lack thereof, are filmed “creeping” on girls, having sex, otherwise known as “smushing,” looking for “juice heads” and “gorillas,” getting into fights and partying at bars and clubs. The show became an instant hit, averaging 2.7 million viewers in the first season. The second season, which was filmed in Miami and debuted on July 29, 2010, also became the number one television series in the P12-34 demographic. The reality show series created many popular slogans and catchphrases such as “beat up the beat,” “GTL: gym, tan, laundry,” and “t-shirt time.” Although the show became an instant hit and garnered a massive amount of success, not everyone is a fan of “Guido’s” and “Guidette’s” drunken debauchery. The show gained criticism for being offensive and negatively stereotyping the Italian culture almost as fast as it rose to instant popularity.
André DiMino, the president of UNICO National, a service organization for Italian Americans, states, “Their behavior is reprehensible and demeaning in all respects. I don’t see any redeeming value in the show. [The cast members] are an embarrassment to themselves and to their families” (Willett). UNICO’s Jenny DiMino, specifically targeting Snooki, chimes in, “UNICO’s stance, against defamatory labels and reprehensible behavior that exposes negative stereotypes of Italian Americans in ‘Jersey Shore’ and by MTV, is a necessity. Your behavior, not only on the ‘show’ but in how you carry yourself in public, is exactly why there is need for an organization like UNICO” (Iainad). Although the cast members take pride in being Italian-Americans, self-righteously dubbing themselves as Guidos and Guidettes, critics believe that the show poorly represents true Italian-Americans, causing the public to think that all Italian-Americans are, “egocentric, argumentative, unintelligent, and superficial” (Willett) due to the ostentatious manner of the Jersey Shore members. Most of the problems stem from the cast mates constantly referring to themselves as guidos and guidettes. Many believe the term is derogatory and should stop being repeated on the hit reality show. Joe Vitale, the Senator for New Jersey, states, “For me using ‘guido’ is like using the n-word” (Rohrer). Andre Vitale adds in, “It would be close to using the n-word. It is an insulting term. When I was younger that was a term where you would fight for your honour. It indicates an uneducated, boorish, stupid, low-class Italian-American” (Rohrer). Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino, however, states that a Guido is just “a good-looking Italian guy.” According to a study done by Donald Tricarico, “Guido: Fashioning an Italian-American Youth Style”, “Guido elaborates a “new,” nontraditional ethnicity. It is expressed in youth cultural symbols and meanings” (Tricarico). While traditional Italian-Americans may see the term as being derogatory, younger generations see it more as a way of life. There are many words that have a strong cultural tie and are often undeclared in order to avoid public controversy: “the N word among African-Americans, the F word among gays; the C word among Chinese-Americans” (Brooks). If these words are mostly unmentioned within the media due to the level of offensiveness it has, the use of the G word should also be refrained in order to avoid controversy, whether people believe it is insulting or not.
Critics argue that the show is highly stereotypical of Italian-Americans, leading the public to believe that all Italian-Americans are tan, arrogant, muscular, and to put it bluntly, idiotic. The show films the cast mates constantly getting into fights and brawls between each other and outsiders, having sex with multiple women, degrading one another, slacking and goofing off at work, and referring to some women as “grenades,” and “hippos.” Viewers watching the show may come to the conclusion that this is the behavior that is present in all Italian-Americans, a stereotype that is certainly not true. MTV released a statement saying, “This show is not intended for every audience and depicts just one aspect of youth culture. Our intention was never to stereotype, discriminate or offend” (Willett).
Aside from the behavior that the cast mates portray, they all have a very distinct style. According to “Youth Culture, Ethnic Choice, and the Identity Politics of Guido,” Guido is a youth subculture that is defined by style (Tricarico). In an interview by Tricarico, he found that “Guidos can easily be recognized in a crowd. No matter what the occasion a Guido is dressed like he is going to a club, or on his way to work out at the gym. Tight muscle tee shirts are a wardrobe staple” (Tricarico). The men of the Jersey Shore coined the popular slogan “It’s t-shirt time,” meaning that it is the time in which the men change out of their daytime shirt and put on a shirt that is suitable for the clubs, generally a bedazzled and jewel-encrusted t-shirt or a button up shirt. Girls on the show typically wear short and tight shirts, dresses, skirts and shorts. Guidos focus on hair, clothing and jewelry when pertaining to their style (Tricarico). The men either have extremely gelled-up hair or buzzed haircuts with designs on the side. Snooki is well-known for her “poof” hair-do, even inspiring a wig for Halloween, while Sammi wears extensions and straightens her hair constantly. The style that is presented on the show may represent the small percentage of people who identify themselves as Guidos and Guidettes, but certainly does not portray Italian-Americans as a whole.
Although most of the cast members are, in fact, Italian American, two are not. Jenni “JWoww” Farley is of Irish and Spanish descent and Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi is a Chilean who was adopted by Italian Americans parents. Although not having a trace of Italian blood within them, both ladies still proudly refer to themselves as Guidettes. This leads people to believe that either MTV did not conduct background checks while casting roommates for the television show, or they were blatantly looking for young adults who fit the stereotype in which they had in mind for the reality show. Either way, MTV created a television show solely based on the stereotypical Italian-American Guido and Guidette, yet two of the cast members are not Italian at all.
Although the show is meant to be entertaining, there are parts of the show that should be changed in order to not offend certain members of the public. Similar as to how MTV released a statement after the episode in which Snooki gets punched in the face by an intoxicated man at a bar, MTV should make sure that viewers know that the reality show is not a proper representation of Italian Americans as a whole. MTV and the cast members should also refrain from using the words “Guido” and “Guidette” due to the derogatory history of the word. Referring to how the show openly uses the G word, DiMino says, “There is this tremendous sensitivity to other groups. You don’t see that sensitivity when it comes to Italian-Americans, the only group it is OK to bash in the media” (Rohrer). The executive director of the Jersey Shore Convention and Visitors Bureau, Daniel Cappello, states that Jersey Shore is “a one-dimensional, dramatized version of a very small group of visitors’ summer experiences in one Jersey Shore town” (Willett). In response to the backlash that the show has garnered, Mike “The Situation” Sorrentino has a message for the critics: “If hating is your occupation, I probably got a full time job for you” (Brooks).
Citations
Willett, Brian. "MTV's Jersey Shore: Taking Advantage of Italian Stereotypes?." Associated Content. Yahoo! Inc., 08 Jan 2010. Web. 18 Nov 2010.
Rohrer, Finlo. "Why are some people offended by TV show Jersey Shore?." BBC News Magazine. BBC, 08 Jan 2010. Web. 18 Nov 2010.
Brooks, Caryn. "Italian Americans and the G Word: Embrace or Reject? Read more: http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1947338,00.html#ixzz15fB6REug."Time. Time Inc., 08 Jan 2010. Web. 17 Nov 2010.
lainad, . "Jersey Shore: Does Reality TV Promote Stereotypes?." BlogHer. BlogHer, 08 Jan 2010. Web. 17 Nov 2010.
Tricarico, Donald. "GUIDO: FASHIONING AN ITALIAN-AMERICAN YOUTH STYLE." Journal of Ethic Studies 19.1 1-6. Web. 17 Nov 2010.
Tricarico, Donald. "Youth Culture, Ethnic Choice, and the Identity Politics of Guido." Voices in Italian Americana 18.1 (2007): 1-6. Web. 17 Nov 2010.
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