Many of you may already know this but I have a soft spot for the Jersey Shore. Be it the artistic ruins of Asbury Park, the overpriced bungalows of LBI or the Wildwoods; the Jersey shore has a deep history filled with sandcastles, prominent rock bands and Mickey Rourke characters.

Asbury Park, Dec. 27
Recently, and I blame The Sopranos and Life of Gotti for this one, the Jersey Shore has become riddled with bad New Jersey stereotypes that have hindered the growth of the Garden State past Zac Braff and closeted governors.
Yes, I’m talking about the “guido-culture.” And no, I’m not being racist.
“Guido” has transcended from a slur to put down Italian-Americans and has turned into a slur to rightfully put down the steroid-infused, fashionably minded, Patron drinking, nightclubbing youths of the east coast. Long Island, NY and New Jersey are hotbeds for this brand of night warrior during the summer, while migratory patterns show a movements towards the colder weather of upstate New York in the winter months.
Sadly, during the summer, many members of this night culture look to find love on the Jersey Shore. It’s a fact, MTV reported on it in the 90’s.

Fairly Accurate
Youth culture has evolved dramatically over the last seven decades or so. From Zoot-Suiters and Swing, to Punks and Gen-X’ers, youth culture has been liquid and changed dramatically and, at times, on the flip of a coin.
But with youth culture also comes a belief system filled with ideals that help to motivate and change the surrounding and overarching society. The Hippies in the 60s made conservative America look at the power of the youth movement and the debacle of Vietnam, Zoot-Suiters stood up against rationing during WWII, and even the Original Gangsters of Compton made the outside world look at inner-city L.A. with suspicion.
Neither the club-goers of Jersey/Long Island/NYC nor their university counterparts, the “Bros,” have shown any sort of ideals past sexual misdeeds and drinking. Don’t take me as a prude, far from it for me to wave the morality stick in any one groups face, but the allure of being 21 disappears when you have to start buying the beer yourself and Eric Prydz loses his appeal after the DJ plays “Proper Education” for the 90th time.
Which brings me back to my original point, while having fun and ‘being young’ is something we all yearn for, “guido-culture” has made a mockery of Gen-Y and their hopes and dreams. Alongside bringing a whole new culture stereotype to a state that has been mocked for Oil Refineries, Mobsters, Bon Jovi and Highway Management (I’m looking at you NJ Turnpike) New Jersey has also become a bustling social stereotype that makes the normal people of that fine state look hideous to the outside world.
Of course, without the aforementioned “guido-culture,” I suppose rock bands from the New Brunswick area would have less to rebel about.
They say Jersey Girls aren’t trash because trash will inevitably get picked up, but I beg to differ. With this brand of fast living and misunderstood anger, “guido-culture” is flat and easily forgotten. In a way, much like the conservative youth movements of old, this new culture causes backwards thinking and entrenches ideals of the past generation onto the new before any individualized thought can be processed.
The worst part of all this is, of course, that they fill up the Jersey Shore in the summertime. A place Springsteen once romantacized and talked about with a heavy heart.
Lucky for him, he moved to Philly. Some of us weren’t so lucky.
Hopefully, in time, the “guido-culture” of the East will be usurped with something more tangible, like, say a neo-Mod movement. If there was anything the Mod movement wasn’t about it was the allure of flashy fashion statements and alcohol abuse.