How History, Culture, and Commerce Shaped the “Valley Girl”

In the 1980s, the “valley girl” was first introduced into the mainstream through music, pop culture, and the distillation of a Southern California lifestyle. With a distinct accent and disposable income, she became an easy shorthand for superficiality and mindless consumerism. But this influential and enduring gender archetype has much deeper roots in Los Angeles that go well beyond shopping malls.

Join Koa Beck, author of White Feminism: From the Suffragettes to Influencers and Who They Leave Behind, for a discussion on gender, race, and capitalism featuring research from her newsletter, Valley Girl. 

This program is part of , a nationwide celebration of history programming that brings together libraries, parks, museums, historic sites, schools, and community organizations to create opportunities for people to explore the stories of the places they call home.