'Choni' is a term used to slut-shame girls in Spain, used by teenagers in opposition to the 'pija'.

What is it about?

This article starts out by showing that in an international context of demonization of the working class, the 'choni' has become an epitome of the female incarnation of the failed underclass in Spain, similarly to the 'chav/chavette' in the UK. During our focus group discussions with 16- to 20-year-olds, girls evoked clear-cut images of the tasteless, shameless and sexualized 'choni' as a stigma to avoid, in contrast with the more classy 'pija'. The study shows how these terms operate as class markers by sexualizing girls from the working class in Spain.

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Why is it important?

Our findings show that Spanish youngsters read the 'choni' phenomenon as inappropiate behaviour, suggesting that girls with choni features are actually sluts. Most teenagers we talked to eluded or ignored structural explanations based on class, and instead pointed to the ‘moral standards’ that chonis supposedly fail to attain. We argue that online spaces make it more difficult for 'chonis' (lower-class girls) to avoid the slut stigma than for 'pijas' (middle or higher-class girls).

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