Sunday, April 29, 2018

Blondes vs. Brunettes: Stereotype or Reality?


For decades it's been a matter of speculation, possibly even for centuries—blondes have more fun, but brunettes are smarter.

Is there any truth to that stereotype? The one that claims blondes are dumb as far as intellect is concerned but have that innate ability to manipulate men with their sex appeal? The one that claims brunettes are by far the more intelligent and capable but lose out in the sex symbol department?

Even Hollywood has played into the hands of the stereotype, by making changes in the image they present to the movie going public. In the days of the silent movie, blond Mary Pickford was the sweet and virginal heroine while brunette Theda Bara was the bad girl sex symbol whose screen persona was the vamp who stole boyfriends and wrecked marriages.

Then in the 1930s the show biz image changed. The blonde became the home wrecking hussy, the gold digging sex symbol while the brunette was either the dutiful wife, the hometown girl next door girlfriend, or the then uncommon situation of the intelligent woman who stepped out of the housewife mold and pursued a career in the business world as a single woman.

Most of the big screen sex symbols were blondes, a few natural and most from the beauty salon. There were a few brunette sex symbols and the occasional redhead such as Rita Hayworth. Probably the most famous of all time is the iconic Marilyn Monroe whose name became synonymous with sex symbol. Marilyn co-starred with a brunette sex symbol of the time, Jane Russell, in the ultimate blonde vs. brunette movie—the 1953 release of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.

But do gentlemen really prefer blondes? Results from a study conducted by the University of Westminster in the U.K. and the Scandinavian Journal of Psychology show something quite different. Their study shows that men actually prefer brunettes. The study was conducted with a woman going to three different nightclubs as a brunette, a blonde, and a redhead to see how many men approached her. She was approached most as a blonde, second as a brunette and least as a redhead. That would seem to prove the gentlemen preferring blondes theory.

However, follow-up with the men in the same three nightclubs showed that the men found her most appealing overall as a brunette. They said she came across most attractive, intelligent, approachable and dependable as a brunette, more temperamental as a redhead, and needy as a blonde. Previous studies had upheld the stereotype by showing that men prefer blondes.

Interestingly, women of all hair colors prefer men with dark hair…another stereotype of heroic tall, dark, and handsome. And apparently that choice applies to female lions as well. Male lions with dark manes are more likely to be pride leaders.

In a different study in 2011 in the U.K., 2000 men were surveyed and blondes were selected as the preference. Then when the same study was conducted in France, U.S., Spain, Italy, and Brazil, the preferred hair color was dark. Psychologists say that women who are not natural blondes usually go blonde because thy want to stand out. Since only about 10% of the population are natural blondes, this tactic works.

Hmmm…I guess those psychologists forgot about the mature women who go blonde because it softens their facial features, i.e. makes the wrinkles not as noticeable while not being that mature gray color.

However, old stereotypes die hard. Society has observed more blond women dying their hair dark in order to be perceived as more professional in the work place and thus less likely to be laid off.

Interesting Fact:  Natural blondes have significantly more hair than brunettes. Evolutionary science tells us that hair evolved in part to protect our scalp from the sun's rays. With less pigmentation than brunettes, blondes developed more hair to achieve that protective barrier.

10 comments:

Ashantay said...

The larger question for me is why are stereotypes so difficult to overcome? Why do we persist in making sure they "come true?" This is an intriguing post. Thanks much!

Mary Gillgannon said...

Interesting post. One of your last comments echoed something I read, that because a lot of people are blond as children and then their hair darkens, blond hair is associated with youthfulness, which is another reason that a lot of women go lighter as they get older. I've been all three hair colors, and in my experience, blondes are seen as more approachable. I'm currently have auburn hair (thanks to henna, my solution to the gray hair dilemma), and I think I am happiest this color. It allows me to stand out and yet to be taken more seriously. My daughter (who has classic redhead skin and reddish brown hair naturally) has been very blond and then went back to more reddish (although she dyes it so she has dramatic burgundy red hair now) She thinks she attracts more serious, stable men as a redhead. As a blonde, she was perceived more as a party girl. With social media, we are so much a culture of icons and images. I don't the stereotypes are going to go away.

JENNIFER WILCK said...

Very interesting. Especially about the amount of hair that blonds have!

Susan Coryell said...

I gave up on the whole blondes have more fun thing and let my hair go natural--white! Now I resemble a Q-Tip! Fun blog post!

Cat Dubie said...

Another great post, Samantha. I think that stereotype lives because we've grown up with it – in movies and TV, maybe even some books. I have naturally dark hair, and in my 20s I occasionally wore a blonde wig when we went out to a club or dance. Had more fun because I wasn't my real self. Now that I'm "mature" I have blonde streaks to hide the gray, but my hair is getting thinner, so I'll have to stop that practice soon and be a normal old lady. :-)

Cat

Samantha Gentry said...

Ashantay: An even more difficult thing to ponder in today's society/world of social media. It seems that all it takes is a declaration on twitter or post on facebook and millions of people buy into it as the truth.

Thanks for your comment.

Samantha Gentry said...

Mary: I think stereotypes of all sorts will be with us as long as society exists.

Me, too, on the auburn hair color. My brunette started showing gray when I was in my late 20s so I started frosting it with blonde streaks to hide the gray until I realized I was spending money to put in the blonde and I actually had as much silver streaking for free so I let it go natural. Then I got tired of the gray and went auburn.

Thanks for your comment.

Samantha Gentry said...

Jennifer: I found the information about the amount of hair natural blondes have in comparison to the other colors interesting, too.

Thanks for your comment.

Samantha Gentry said...

Susan: I'll probably go back to my natural color someday...but not this week!

Thanks for your comment.

Samantha Gentry said...

Cat: My birth certificate says I'm an old lady, but I'm not ready to accept it yet. :)

Thanks for your comment.