Just saw this cute article… and thought I ought to post it.
Still collecting thoughts on le divorce, and am thinking of posting about it but am not sure if it’s an appropriate topic for this blog.. 
THE BLONDE MYSTIQUE
The Blonde Mystique asks: Is blonde just a hair colour, or is it something more?“I do think that the very fact that blondes often are blondes by choice, it’s an indication that they probably want to have more fun. It’s a statement; it’s a way of getting noticed.” – Hugh Heffner
The editor-in-chief of Playboy is just one of several experts to speak on the subject. The statement invoked an angry reaction from me, much in the same way my blood boils when a guy ignores my friends at a bar to focus on me, and my brunette friends shrug their shoulders, roll their eyes and mutter the standard accusatory justification: “it’s because you’re blonde.”
Like it’s my fault.
Going back with in time with this documentary gave me clarity on where it all started.
Only one in every six women is a natural blonde. What is this fascination with having lighter hair?
In the 13th century, women tried everything from crocus flowers and yellow arsenic to vinegar and pigeon droppings to get the look. In the 1950s, home hair dye sales went up 400 per cent in just six short years.
In the United States today, approximately 40 per cent of all women add one or more of the 500-plus different blonde shades now available to their hair.
“Being blonde is definitely a different state of mind. I can’t really put my finger on it, but the artifice of being blonde has some incredible sort of sexual connotation.—Madonna
Apparently I’m not the only one who reacts so strongly to such stereotypes, stereotypes the women in this documentary set out to expose. Field tests include a bar, a “broken down” car and random street interviews, culminating with the women changing their hair colour and retesting the same subjects.
“I’m not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know that I’m not dumb… I also know I’m not blonde.” –Dolly Parton
Unfortunately, most women don’t know what they’re signing up for. Blonde females are rejected for jobs more often than equally qualified brunettes, and are paid less than their dark-haired counterparts for the same types of work.
About a year ago, I decided that I was sick and tired of people seeing me as dumb, flirty or ready to steal someone’s boyfriend just for the fun of it. I went to the hair salon and told the girl to make my hair as dark as possible.
All of a sudden, guys stopped hitting on me at bars. Girls were a thousand per cent friendlier towards me. And I got a promotion at work. Was it my attitude or the way people perceived me? I can’t put my finger on what it was, but either way, the dark hair just didn’t feel like me. My body physically rejected it, and the blonde forced its way through after several shampoos.
Do blondes really behave in a “blonde” way? Or are they playing dumb to get an advantage? Should they be reinforcing those stereotypes if they are? Does blonde hair make a woman look younger? And what is it about blonde hair that men find so darned appealing?
Read the entire article here.
Kind of silly to judge someone on their hair colour. But I can see with the social and cultural connotations attached to being blonde, why they react this way.. my friend was a natural light blonde and dyed her hair brown once, and she enjoyed being a brunette MORE than being a blonde. (She’s uber smart and funny by the way and kept on getting compared to Anna Kournikova)…
What about redheads? Are they seen as the sexy, smoldering, mysterious vixen?
- Fashion Crimes on the Subway
- Your laughs for the day
- Most despised office "types"
- What if everyone wore flipflops?
- Experiment: Washing my hair (less)
Rae
on Nov 18th, 2007
@ 11:11 PM:
The divorce would fit in just fine, if you’re comfortable with it…
I can’t even toy with being blonde, as I’m Asian. I’ve always wished I was blonde, though – but not because “blondes have more fun”. I’ve just always wanted to dye my hair without bleaching it. It sounds fantastic. lol!
j.lowe
on Nov 19th, 2007
@ 12:31 AM:
Haha, I’ve always wished I were blonde too, and I’m asian. I wonder if wishing that has anything to do with the fact that asians tend to be perceived as serious, smart people…
I think that redheads are perceived as friendly and different. I know that most of the redheads I know *seem* cheerier and friendlier. Or maybe that’s because people always treated them nicer because they look different?
Valley Girl
on Nov 19th, 2007
@ 2:03 PM:
I think they may attract men more easily than others simply because blonde hair is eye-catching, and it falls into the “blonde hair, blue-eyed” type that many of us have been programmed to find attractive.
But the real question is, do girls with big boobs have more fun? =) Methinks the answer is a resounding “yes!”
Anonymous
on Nov 19th, 2007
@ 5:13 PM:
Often guys think you’re more of a slut and “easier” if you’ve gone and dyed your hair. It doesn’t neccessarily mean you are more attractive. Most guys will tell you they don’t prefer blondes as wife material but just someone to fuck…so stop thinking your being hit on because your look hot as a blonde. You look easier.
Anonymous
on Nov 19th, 2007
@ 5:15 PM:
Also blonde hair looks alright on some people and crap on others. I know many people who look much better as brunettes.
Athena
on Nov 19th, 2007
@ 7:42 PM:
I’m curious about what caused the sudden split. I know this is a PF blog, but it also goes into personal matters and god knows divorces can be very much a financial matter, if we want to get technical. .hm. But not all your posts are financial in nature anyway, such as this one. I like reading about the person behind the curtain, which is why I like your blog. You’re a real person learning about and dealing with financial issues just like me.
Re: your post, I used to strongly resent blondes cause I’m the olive toned, dark haired type and often made to feel like the ‘evil’ one, aka the evil smurfette. So many of the ‘good’ women that I was faced with as children were fair. . It really bothered me for a very long time. Even in cowboy movies the villain wears black. Even when they’re uglier, blondes are typically seen as more attractive. . .it just never made sense to me
Then as a teenager it bothered me that fair people could colour their hair anything they wanted, even black(!) while people like me were pretty much stuck with the darkest shades (blonde would look really silly on me.)
As an adult I can look past natural physical attributes. Thank goodness for maturity.
Fabulously Broke in the City
on Nov 20th, 2007
@ 9:54 PM:
Blonde would look quite strange (and does) on asian women… unless they’re half, but even then, it’s still quite odd.
Athena: I’m working on the piece to explain the sudden split.. came kind of out of the blue huh?..
I’m happy you’re still interested in my blog even though it’s not 100% pf (but then again, that’s the objective)
Nelly Furtado for example, is someone MUCH hotter as a brunette…
G.G.
on Nov 21st, 2007
@ 1:16 AM:
“All of a sudden, guys stopped hitting on me at bars. Girls were a thousand per cent friendlier towards me. And I got a promotion at work.” I did this a little over a year ago – it is 100% identical to my experience after going from blonde to brunette. On my way back to blonde, though, because I’m tired of not recognizing myself in the mirror
eyeslikesugar
on Nov 21st, 2007
@ 4:19 PM:
As a (fake) redhead, I find that I get way more compliments on my hair colour than I ever did; even with pink hair. It’s not a “carrot top” colour though. More like a wine red that’s brighter in the sun. But, I think readheads are so rare, that they’re percieved as exotic, blondes as a sex-kitten, and brunettes as either more intelligent than most other hair colours, or homely. Again, a sad stereotype for a gender who makes $.80 an hour for every $1 men make.
Take all the time from your blog as you need. This is a rough time, coupled with work and responsibilities; I’m sure it can get overwhelming. All your readers care!
QuiteLight
on Nov 22nd, 2007
@ 7:34 PM:
Ever since I was little, I wanted dark hair. Specifically, I wanted to grow up to be Asian. My father gently informed me that was unlikely, as I am Scottish/Irish & German/Danish. He tried to convince me my blonde hair was pretty, pointing out millions of women dyed their hair blonde. I would have none of it.
As someone who idolized Morticia Addams from the first time I saw her as a wee kid, & always thought the villainesses were so much sexier & cooler than the perky blonde heroines, lemme tell ya, look-envy goes both ways. Light hair doesn’t colour dark that well either: I dyed my hair a glorious dark purple once, only to have it fade to a sickly, plush animal pink in about 2 weeks & hang there. I looked like an old Star Trek extra.
As an almost 6″ blonde, people don’t know what to make of me; I’m intelligent, serious, mellow & viciously sarcastic when I’m pissed. People like things that match their preconceptions. Different can make them nervous, and I spend a lot of time making other people comfortable around me. I never really associated it with my appearance until right now.
Something to think about, I guess.
Fabulously Broke in the City
on Nov 25th, 2007
@ 12:55 PM:
Quitelight: Wow
I’m glad this post helped out!
Thanks everyone.. *big hugs*