Who doesn’t like listening to jokes? Be it a cocktail party, corporate retreat or a social gathering; jokes are a good way of breaking the ice. We often catch ourselves cracking various kinds of jokes, without realizing that they are in fact reinforcing stereotypes. The most commonly reinforced stereotypes are those regarding blondes. We all have good laugh over the “blonde jokes”; I’m sure you have come across many, but the next time you come across one, remember it can actually be damaging to the image of the blondes. Not only jokes but the media too through its wide arrays of toys like movies, TV shows, stand up comedy acts help sear a mental image in our mind regarding blondes which gives rise to misconceptions. These are often deeply demeaning. So the next time you find yourself laughing along with a blonde joke, remember these are nothing but stereotypes held by society and are far from the truth. Here are some of the most common blonde stereotypes, so the next time you find yourself conforming to one of these, take a moment and think it through.
10) Blondes always get their way
It is often believed that the blondes can get away with anything. As the river parted for Moses, people believe that problems automatically part ways for blondes, and their life is much easier. Sadly, this gives rise to a feeling of antagonism amongst the rest of the society whose hair color is slightly different. This often undermines the struggles and problems that the blondes have to go through, as based on their hair color people judge them to have a much simpler and easier life, devoid of hardships and complication; whereas the reality remains that life can often get tough, irrespective of your hair color.
9) Blondes are weak
When you catch any action-packed movie, it’s mostly testosterone dominated. But if it does have a female character, she is often just eye candy or a damsel in distress, and more often than not, she is blonde. If the movie does have a female character that is strong, and is equally kick-ass she is usually a brunette or black haired. Be it the Fast and Furious series, or Mission Impossible 4, both the female characters are strong and bold, but not blonde. Try picturing The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo as blonde, somehow it doesn’t fit right, that’s because of the age-old stereotype which has been fitted in our minds, that blonde’s are weak, and can’t hold their own in a battle.
8) Blondes are only interested in their looks
Blondes are often considered to be involved and interested in only one thing, looks. They are portrayed as people who spend their entire time at salons, obsessed with makeup and grooming. Movies often portray blondes as spending their time shopping, taking frequent trips to the makeup salon and fussing over their hair and looks, incapable of doing anything else. Looks like people have forgotten about powerful women like Margaret Thatcher who was capable of running political organizations while being blonde.
7) Blondes are popular
If you watch any typical teen high school based movie or TV show, the most popular girl walking around the corridors is always a blonde. Be it movie’s like 10 things I hate about you, or TV shows like Gossip girl, the most popular girl in both, Bianca and Serena were blondes. This just makes people automatically believe that you’ll be popular and the center of attention if you are blonde, taking away the spotlight from redheads, brunettes and black haired girls alike.
6) Blondes are mean
People often believe that blondes are self-centered and narcissistic with a total disregard for other people’s feelings or emotions. They believe them to be mean and spiteful towards others; often making people harsh and judgmental towards blondes, thereby approaching them with hostility and anger. This preconceived notion often changes people’s attitudes towards blondes, making them less friendly. Moreover, Hollywood movies like Mean Girls, where the clique of blonde girls is not only popular but also as the name suggests mean to the others, does not help in dispelling this stereotype.
5) Blondes have low IQ
Many consider blondes to be low on intelligence and IQ. They don’t think blondes are capable of holding a rational chain of thought or continuing a conversation. People often think that kids are smarter and have better IQ than blondes. This, however, is not true. IQ is nothing but intelligent quotient, which has got nothing to do with the color of someone’s hair. And blondes are equally likely to have a high IQ just as the rest of their colored haired counterparts.
4) Blondes aren’t street smart
If you refer to any popular culture, be it a book, a movie, or a TV show, blondes are shown as existing and surviving in the posh, protected safe areas of towns. They often drive around town in cars and strut down the walkways in heels. They are always dressed immaculately. Rarely are blondes depicted as toughing it out in some rain forest, that deadly task being left to their brunette counterparts. This gives people an overall impression that blondes aren’t street smart and cannot survive in the tough world, outside their bubble. Which is far from the truth, and they are just as capable and efficient, when it comes to being exposed out into the unprotected world.
3) Blonde bombshell
Blondes are considered to be sexy and sultry and the synonym of beauty. Whenever you talk about good looking girls, the first image that pop’s into people minds is that of a blonde. People often forget the redheads and brunettes, who are just as good looking as their blonde counterparts. But the media has reinforced the stereotype that if you are blonde, you are automatically beautiful, thereby sidelining all the beautiful and empowering women out there.
2) Dumb Blonde
This has to be the most common misconception of all. The number of “blonde jokes” signifies the dumbness of a blonde. They are considered to be stupid, and not smart enough to really understand what is going around them, often eliciting a response, not relevant to the discussion at all. In movies and TV shows the blondes are often shown as clueless, needing the plot to be explained to them. The movie Legally Blonde is a perfect example of this stereotype, with people thinking the character of Resse Witherspoon can’t be a successful lawyer because she is blonde. But she sure proves them and the society wrong.
1) Blondes are only female
So far if you have noticed, all the stereotypes that society holds, regarding blondes, are particularly with respect to the female gender. In all the jokes that we have ever heard regarding blondes, they are all females. When it comes to being blonde, people forget that males can be just as blonde as females. People tend to forget, that all these stereotypes are just as applicable to males as females. After all, these misconceptions are based only on hair color, aren’t they? So they should be equally applicable to blonde men. But such is not the case, and blonde females are the ones that find themselves at the brunt of this misconception.
These are all fake
Maybe you are a lucky person and frankly ignorant who doesn’t have to deal with it or just an asshole whole decided to name themselves blonde girl and be like “No your lying” like a damn 5-year-old on Roblox.