“Ladette”: A word and culture that should be consigned to history
Last week, in a BBC Radio 4 broadcast, the former Radio 1 DJ Sara Cox complained about the word “ladette.” Barely able even to utter this irksome description, “Coxy” described how, during her tenure as the presenter of The Radio 1 Breakfast Show, this became the culture of the day.
The term “ladette” first came into being in the 1990s but didn’t enter the dictionary until 2001. In it’s simplest form, it is said to refer to: “A young woman whose social behaviour is similar to that of male adolescents,” but in reality it sums up a much nastier type of creature.
Led by the likes of Billie Piper, Charlotte Church and Cat Deeley, these noisy women swilled beer, swore and vomited wildly whilst watching football. They assaulted one another and anyone else who got in their paths in nightclubs and bars and generally caused havoc wherever they went. All in all they, like the “chavs” many now talk of, were a menace to society.
Actress Joan Collins, like Cox, rightly had little time for the ladettes of Great Britain:
“I don’t understand the fascination of getting as drunk as possible and having as many partners as possible… Is this what the suffragettes worked for? What real, decent man is going to want to marry a girl like that?”
A television show named Ladette to a Lady attempted to stem the activities of this group of horrors but it seems to have achieved little. The ladette is most definitely not dead. When I visited a large Tesco store in Devon a couple of days ago, I was unfortunate enough to see plenty of women of this type stocking up on WKD and Hooch. It was not a pleasant sight especially as many were pushing prams full of mini-me’s.
The talk of the moment might be of Andrew Mitchell MP calling a policeman a “pleb” but frankly, this nation really ought to get Roman and end the era of the common ladette.
In actual fact ITV’s Ladette to Lady did change the lives of many of the girls involved in the three series produced by RDF for ITV and the two x six part series produced by RDF for Channel 9 Australia. However I totally agree it would appear nothing has been done to curb this loathsome culture.
My article was not meant as an attack on the show, Liz. I have utterly no problem with the show and don’t doubt that it did much good.
The culture, as you rightly say, does not seem to have disappeared and just like Mr Mitchell and his “plebs,” it doesn’t seem to be going away. It is time that this nation returned to it’s civilised roots and such people learnt to behave with dignity.
We love the show and can’t wait for the next series. We all hope that the girls groomed by Liz Brewer retain their given charm for the rest of their lives, and if these few girls in the show are fortunate to be plucked from the gutter then there is less in the world to clog up the rest of the drainage system! Why girls try to socially emulate boys is a mystery but regardless of lad or ladettes, we need to educate as best we can in order to limit this unpleasant social scourge.
As a respectable pillar of my community in Wellingborough, I must suggest that my husband raises this issue in the House. I once saw Kerry Katona on one of her television “shows.” My thoughts: If a foreigner saw this, they’d think Great Britain had gone down the toilet. Miss Katona and her ilk should be banished to a far, far away place. I feel for her children.
Tom:
The remarks you send to The Steeple Times about Glenmore Trenear Harvey and others have reached a stage where they have become a little tiresome.
Glenmore is a gentleman and having known him for many years, I cannot understand why you show such bitterness towards him. Your latest comment about Sir Jimmy Savile (note correct spelling) is quite beyond inappropriate and frankly sickening.
The Steeple Times prospers because we have wonderful contributors and an enthusiastic readership. We will not be closing down or deleting any article. Generally we receive a most positive response to our articles. At first, it seemed strange that your mantelpiece interview was the only one that attracted such negativity but given the way you have provoked and attacked others, it no longer that odd at all.
I gave you the right to reply to all comments and instead of being polite, you took the most curious course of spouting vitriol. I do not believe that was at all wise but we do pride ourselves on freedom of speech and equally, as such, others are entitled to respond to your remarks as well.
You are most welcome to continue to attack me and my publication, but remember this: it was you that requested to be featured. Nobody forced you into an interview and nobody forced you to make the statements that you did.
On another note, however, it would be greatly appreciated if you would just cease to pontificate about others.
Thank you and best wishes
Matthew Steeples
Mr McL – Hail Mary. You’ve truly stepped over the line now. You’ve gone as far as to offend the esteemed editor. What a silly billy you truly are. I hear from a certain maître d’ in W1 that you go around claiming to work as a brand ambassador for AMEX but don’t have a business card and operate from the Gmail account [email protected]. Do you really work for them or is this just another of your little games? You give out the stick, but you don’t seem able to take it back. I shall have to ask Mr Bone to investigate further and I’ll certain urge him to get his friends in the House to look into your past. Best regards, Mrs Bone
Matthew and all others, you ought to beware of Mcloughlin. I banned him from my restaurant ages ago. Do not believe a word this man says. He’s got nothing to do with Amex.
To Mr McLoughlin: To which people are you referring to “who know where Matthew lives”? They must know more than Matthew and I do.
He appears to think he knows an awful lot about an awful lot. It seems others know an awful lot about his awful lot too.
The problem with these ‘ladies’ is they are just plain dumb. Not only do most of them look like they’ve sneezed and hit their faces in a Superdrug budget line cosmetics shelf, but just how few brain cells do you have to have to think that going out drinking for the sole purpose of getting completely wasted whilst wearing the shortest of skirts and 6″ heels is a fabulous idea?
They clearly have no planning skills either as most of them get lost and never make it home, on the same note, they can’t pick their friends very well either.
The key to a successful night’s drinking is to plan ahead, dress for the occasion and go prepared. You need to make the choice before you leave your fairy light covered bedroom of are you going to look good tonight? Or drink your male friends under the table? Both are do-able, but never should they be done at the same time. Puke just doesn’t go with the shade of that dress you swam through TKMaxx for.
Spot on. Well said!
Liz Brewer – Great to see you here. On the Ladette to a Lady show you get it so right when you put those minxes in their boxes. You have done the world of good for them and I hope they thank you. Do you keep in touch with many of them?
Sure do…. and been invited to their weddings AND even the christening of their children! We did in fact made 6 series over seven years.