girl next door

The girl next door is a young female stock character who is often used in romantic stories. She is so named because she often lives next door to the protagonist or is a childhood friend. They start out with a mutual friendship that later often develops into romantic attraction. A similar expression is "boy next door". Characteristics A "girl next door" character is often seen as natural and unpretentious. A trope that evokes nostalgia, it is associated with small towns and more local or even rural ways of life. The girl next door is often portrayed as innocent. Doris Day of the 1950s is described as a pioneering embodiment of the "girl next door" image in film, the "Hollywood's girl next door".