Tyler, Imoger (2008) 'Chuv Mum, Chav Scum.' In Feminist Media Studies, vol. 8 pp17-34

In this text, Imogen Tyler explores how a white-working class stereotype has become prominent in contemporary British media. Not only emerging as a comic figure but also along with it a general public disgust for their very existence. It is not their physical appearance that Tyler examines as identifiers but more so their characteristic and behaviours that have inherently led to the labelling of a specific group of the white working-class becoming branded 'chavs'.

Tyler explores the word itself explaining it origins not only within East End and Romany communities but also within acronyms such as "council house and violent" reiterating the fact chavs are known for both their actions and economic backgrounds of deprivation. The word itself seems to have started as a nick-name for a specific stereotype of the white working class, but when newspapers across England started perpetuating a narrative of disgust for chavs branding them, petty criminals and teenage pram-pushers as Tyler further explains, it created "a new publicly sanctioned wave of middle-class contempt for the lower classes".

When the word 'chav' was being openly used and printed, this then created another platform online for many to add their definitions and sustain what Tyler describes as the generation and circulation of the chav figure.

Although the chav figure could be both male and female, with the release of shows such as Little Britain it seems in recent years to have taken on more of a female embodiment. Tyler touches on this in her article and notes the emphasis the internet forums online, press and media have on the sexuality and fertility of the female 'chav'.

The problem with chav stereotype within shows such as Little Britain is the fact there is an undertone of racism, they add to the condemnation of white-working class women who date other races and further turns the single mum into a comical figure. Many British films such as Green Street, glorify the same football hooligans associated with being a chav yet, within British television and online the female chav is laughed and at times vilified for having a mixed raced baby.

Chav is a term that has been utilised online, and in print primarily by the white-middle class to distinguish superiority and create a class divide within British society. With characters such a Vicky Pollard becoming a cultural phenomenon, comedy was used as a way to sustain a negative narrative, and more so as a way to hide the insecurities and anxieties of the white-middle class in regards to fertility and interracial relationships.