While on the train to New York Penn Station one Sunday, I sipped my coffee and eavesdropped on the conversation that took place in the seats before me. There sat three girls, no older than 16. They were dressed in tight knit tops tucked into thin mid-waist miniskirts.
They were on their way to an Enrique Iglesias concert at the Prudential Center. Each had a large bottle of Gatorade in one hand, while they passed around a second bottle filled with some kind of clear liquor. One girl took a long swig of the clear bottle, chased with orange Gatorade and said, “We’re totally going to get ‘white girl wasted’ tonight!” Her face was scrunched with bitter excitement.
“White girl wasted?” The new phrase caught me off guard. I glanced at my friends to be sure what I had heard was correct; it was. We kept our laughter hushed until the girls stumbled off the train, shuffling in five-inch heels with upper thighs exposed, exiting at Newark Penn Station.
So what does getting “white girl wasted” mean exactly? The saying has blown up among the young adult community as a way to describe someone who is obnoxiously intoxicated that may make decisions he/she will regret or completely not remember. This term is not only limited to drunk Caucasian females, but can refer to anyone regardless of their sex and race. Getting “WGW” (white girl wasted) even has its own page on Twitter and Facebook.
Comments on the “WGW” Twitter page include, “Money cannot buy happiness, but it can buy drinks,” and “blacked out twice in 24 hours. Mission accomplished.”
Stephanie Luckowsky, a senior at the University, knows the saying is merely a joke but still does not agree with its meaning. “I really am on the fence about it. It doesn’t hurt me nor does it sit right,” she said. “In essence it is derogatory towards white females. It is basically saying that white girls can’t handle their alcohol nor have enough class to simply have fun.”
“To me white girl wasted equals low self-confidence, lack of respect for oneself, and a way to get attention,” says senior Maria Opirhory, 21. She has recently discovered the saying from captions under updated drunken photos on Facebook. “Social networking gives people the ability to joke about it when, in reality, it’s disgusting.”
After learning the definition of getting white girl wasted, I thought of the girls from the train. Each one was young and naïve, on top of being half-clothed and highly intoxicated. This is a dangerous mix for someone wandering around the streets of Newark, New Jersey.
I tried to walk out of my house in a miniskirt when I was about 14- years-old. My parents stopped me on my way out the door for school. “Where do you think you’re going dressed like that? You think you look good?” my father said, outraged.
Explaining to my father that this was the style and that all my friends dressed this way still did not change his mind.
When girls are young, they will do almost anything for some attention. “It will only attract the wrong kind of attention,” he lectured while sending me back to my bedroom. My mom nodded and gave me an agreeing stare. At the time, their comments infuriated me. I stomped back into my room to put on a pair of frumpy jeans that made me feel significantly less sexy.
Girls often try to mature too early and it can lead to dangerous situations. I wonder how the girls’ night went, but maybe I am just overreacting. I’m sure their parents would be awfully disappointed.
