The stereotype of the dumb blonde seems like it has been around for quite some time. As a blonde I have had to deal with it for as long as I can remember, but for the life of me I cannot understand why or how people can even think it makes any sense. If I, or any other blonde, is to make a mistake or say something ditzy then we are considered dumb. This is all because we have blonde hair? I remember being infuritated one day at work when I was 17. I worked in a bakery and accidentally wrote a cake order wrong. The assistant manager, Diane, came to discuss the error with me, and since it was just one simple thing I messed up, we laughed it off. However, before she walked away she turned to me and said "Wow, Katie. You really are a dumb blonde huh?" I felt like my jaw hit the floor when she said that to me. This was supposed to be a professional work place and she was a woman of power. How could she possibly think it was ok to say such a sexist and outdated comment to me. I told some of the guys and girls I was friends with in the bakery about Diane's comment and almost all of them told me not to take it serious and to see it has a compliment. One guy even said "Every body loves blondes." I couldn't help but think, "Then why are we considered dumb, and WHY are we all shoved into one category?" That was 6 years ago now but her words still haunt me. I wish I had the courage to stand up to her like I have since learned to do.
After some research into the "dumb blonde" origin, I found out that it has been around and haunting blonde females since 1925! It seems to have all started when author, Anita Loos, released her novel Gentlemen Prefer Blondes: The Illuminating Diary of a Professional Lady. Her book was later turned into a film. It stared one of the most famous blondes in history, Marilyn Monroe. However, according to an article in USA Today, the negative blonde image has been around since the days of ancient Rome, "Women who took the time to color their hair were considers bimbos... without serious intentions." Another explanatation, also dated back to medieval Europe, explains that members of the upper class tended to have darker hair and the peasants tended to have lighter hair because of all the time they spent in the sun. Peasants were also considered to not be as smart as the upper class, and this is believed to have started the association between light hair and light skin with intelligence level.
Films and the media today are not doing much to help the sterotype come to an end. Marilyn Monroe's many films started the trend but it continued on heavily to Hugh Hefner and his need for platinum blonde playboy bunnies at his side at all times. Legally Blonde, starring Reese Witherspoon, was one of the first films to shed a new light on the sterotype. Reese's character, Elle, was a carefree blonde, but proved to be so much more than that. She went on to earn a law degree from Harvard University when the odds were against her. She faced several cracks against her hair color but refused to give up. In the second film, she put her knowledge and law degree to good use by saving animals from a cruel animal testing facility. Elle's bravery was a true inspiration and showed that hair color does not determine one's intelligence level or place in society.
I think we can all agree that when really taking the time to think about the sterotype it does not make sense. It is unfair insult that blondes have tried to go against for far too long. So I ask, before you laugh at a dumb blonde joke, or go to mock a young woman for a mistake she has made, don't blame it on her hair color or lack of intelligence. Frankly, it's very hurtful, and much like the mean words my assistant manager had the nerve to say to me, it doesn't just go away. Girls face enough pressure these days. Our hair color, which we have no control over, shouldn't be one of them.
http://www.26magazine.com/the-dumb-blonde-and-her-origin/
