PALIN MITENK BLOG

By Paul Harris

Less of this.... Reality TV celebrities Jodie Marsh, left, and Chantelle Houghton, both born in the county, have risen to fame with the help of the 'Essex girl' image

She is bold, blonde and brassy, and her white stiletto heels are considerably sharper than her mind.

For decades, she has had to endure hurtful jokes that call into question everything from her intellect to her sexual preferences.

But now Essex Girl has a new champion. A charity has been set up to 'empower' the women of Essex to combat the image that has plagued them for so long.


More of this .... Singer Pixie Lott, left, and TV presenter Denise Van Outen are two celebrities the charity is promoting as positive role models


Or, as the group puts it: 'To stop them feeling disadvantaged and disenfranchised ... to broaden their vision, self worth and belief ... to inspire them to reach further, higher, and to live the dream of an enhanced future.'

Even for an Essex girl, it's quite a mouthful. But organisers are adamant that it is time to call a halt to what project organiser Daphne Field called 'the image of Essex Girls as dumb, stiletto-wearing, wine-swilling blondes'.


Role models: Actress and author Martine McCutcheon, from Brentwood, and X Factor's Stacey Soloman

To fortify its campaign, the Essex Women's Advisory Group (EWAG) has created a pink-fonted website that showcases home-grown role models such as former lads' mag pin-up and TV presenter Denise Van Outen, singer Pixie Lott, ex-EastEnders actress Martine McCutcheon and X Factor contestant Stacey Solomon.


Also featured are Olympic champion Sally Gunnell, author Jilly Cooper and actress Dame Maggie Smith.

The charity, which has links to the Prince's Trust, has already raised £38,000 for projects including art and poetry competitions, sports events, fashion shows and women's refuges.

A celebrity-studded 'Essex Girl' Day is being organised for the summer 'as a celebration of girls and women and the role they can play at all levels of society, and to publicise Essex Girls past and present as role models'.

Elizabeth Hart, EWAG patron and Essex County Council chairman, said: 'I am sick and tired of people putting Essex Girls down.

'Our girls are bright and fun but then you see them crumble when people start putting them down for where they come from.

'No one talks about the Kent Girl or the Hampshire Girl - we just ended up with this tag.

'But there's nothing wrong with being an Essex Girl.'

Daphne Field, vice-chairman of the Prince's Trust in Essex and an EWAG board member, said: 'A lot of the girls we were helping were suffering so much from the stereotypical image so we decided to do something.

'There are many successful girls in Essex and we wanted to promote this.'


The group said it thought 'long and hard' about choosing a suitable name and settled on EWAG deliberately to capitalise on its tongue-in-cheek association with footballers' wives and girlfriends.

Only two men are among the 14 members, who include senior police officers, councillors and businesswomen.

Chairman George Courtauld, the county's vice lord lieutenant, said: 'Flash and gaudy they may be, but Essex girls are also very clever.

'We have some of the top girls' schools in the country and some highly successful and accomplished Essex women.

'Having travelled three-and-a-half million miles around the world as a Queen's Messenger, I can tell you that Essex girls are particularly special.

'They may be noisy and blowsy and laugh a lot, but it's because they're cheerful, self confident, and capable of achieving a great deal.'


: The group of Essex women want to make Essex girls feel better about where they come from




source: dailymail