On the subway today, I happened to sit across from a fairly pretty blonde woman.
Ever since visiting Scandinavia, I’ve been much more aware of blond(e)ness, and today my mind began to ramble with the idea. I remembered the supernaturally-gorgeous blonde woman in the refreshment booth in Esplanadi park, Helsinki, from whom I bought a Coke. I remembered seeing tall blond men out of the corner of my eye, and always thinking one of my cousins were coming down the street, and turning and discovering that it was someone else.
I looked around the subway car. Blond(e) people aren’t hugely-common in Toronto, and in a somewhat-crowded car of a hundred people or so, there were maybe seven or eight blondes (all women for some reason).
I believe that there was a …not a stigma, but the opposite of a stigma, a desireability …attached to blond(e)ness in and of itself. I definitely remember commercials for hair colours that implied that ‘blondes have more fun’. (Of course, they said the same thing about redheads and other colours too.) I’m not sure how strong that desirability of blond(e)ness is now.
For those of you that are blond or blonde, do you find that it affects your relations with other people? Do you find that people are intimidated by it? Does it ease social situations or make them more difficult?
(Ironically, I myself was blond when I was a kid, but I had so many other problems that it didn’t help…)
Blonde people aren’t especially common in Toronto? Here they’re a dime a dozen … in fact, when I’m teaching a new class, I usually have to put a cap on the number of blonde girls per group, or I’d never be able to learn all their names.
I can’t say I’ve ever thought about how being blonde affected my relations with other people, except during the four months of my life that I spent on the south coast of Spain. (When you can’t go outside without listening to a chorus of “Oye, rubia,” it does tend to focus the mind a bit.) Basically, it’s a non-issue as far as everyday life is concerned.
I dont know if this is wierd but I like when a woman dies her hair blonde and then it starts to grow out and she has dark roots, is that wrong. I’ve heard that its “tacky” but I kinda like it.
what do you natual blondes think of all the fakers??
My grandmother has dark hair but a pale complexion, and has a Middle Eastern background. When she was young she was quite stunning. My mom tells me that at one point she decided to do a little experiment and wear a blonde wig for a few weeks. She was amazed to find that everywhere she went, people treated her with more deference than she had received as a brunette. People stared at her in the market. Some of this altered treatment was probably manufactured by her self-consciouness, but it can’t have all been in her head. This was probably in the 1960s, but I wouldn’t say that much has changed.
I live in an area of Los Angeles that is even more image-conscious than most (in line to take the SAT in October, I amused myself by counting the fake noses on the girls in line around me) and I’m sure most of the blondes I see are dye-blondes. I don’t get it.
I think blonde women can look good if it’s natural/goes with the complexion (as in, I can’t tell it’s fake), but I think I prefer women with darker hair, maybe because I’m a blond guy, and blonde women look like they’re related to me.
So I guess, while some blonde women ARE utterly gorgeous, I don’t see why so many men prefer (or are said to prefer) blondes to the exclusion of women with brown/black hair.
I’m a natural blonde, but it’s starting to darken now that I’ve reached Middle Age. I’ve never noticed that life is better or worse for us, in general. I had an idiot window salesman tell me that a “Ditzy blonde customer of his didn’t have the sense to buy X number of new windows.” Needless to say, the competition got the contract. (I mean, Jeez…they’re windows – not the Space Shuttle!)
Anyhoo, I’ve started highlighting my hair to brighten it. It looks natural to anyone I’ve ever asked. I don’t mind fake blondes as long as it’s a good job. Usually, at-home color looks cheesy.
I’ve had very light blonde hair my whole life. It used to annoy me that some people would make erroneous assumptions about my intelligence, morality, tolerance for people of color, etc. (a total stranger once called me a Nazi solely on the basis of my appearance), but I’ve learned to live with it. I was often told as a child that I should enjoy being blonde while it lasted, but my hair hasn’t darkened at all over the years. Now it’s starting to go white in places, but I’m fine with that. I guess I’m fortunate that I’ve never given any importance to appearance over character, for myself or other people. I’d rather get to know the soul inside the shell. But what do I know? I’m just another dumb blonde.
My family is the blondest on the planet. Total strangers, close friends, absolutely everyone comments on my blonde horde of children. My wife was naturally blonde, but the kids or age sucked some of that out of her, so she has it lightened now. Even my damn dogs are blonde. I think I am brown, but those with darker hair tend to call me blonde. I make many jokes about Sven the milkman.
The general view seems to be that blondes are better looking, but dumb. One of my girls asked me, as a second or third grader, if blondes really are dumber than other people. Absolutely pathetic, and in case you can’t tell, it makes me mad. All of my kids are quite bright (and not just in a dark room!) but the stereotype sticks. I also hear that brunettes are better in bed.
To get an idea of how much women think that men find blondes more attractive, consider that men tend to be more blonde than women, or so a doctor or two have told me. The reason you see so many more blonde women than men is directly related to a chemical dependency.
Well I’m a blonde/strawberry blonde, and according to the hair dye industry, if you are blonde, you must want to be even more blonde! (blonde-er?) It still irks me that I can’t find a highlighter that tends more toward red than blond. To answer the question, I don’t think I get treated any differently than other people, although my class teachers remember my name faster because I stand out amongst all the brunettes.
It’s really repulsive hen a girl dyes her hair blond and it doesnt go with her complexion. Even if a girl dyes her hair electric blue or green it looks better than a “failed” attempt at blondness.
I prefer redheads anyhow.
I do seem to get checked out more often when my hair is light blonde. Actually, I’ve noticed I get looked at more often if my hair is any extreme: very blonde, very red, or black. But definitely, I get the most attention as a blonde.
Beyond that, I haven’t really noticed any differences.