I have often heard the word "blonde" use in connection with being an airhead, dumb, having no substance etc. How did having a particlar hair color come to be associated with this behavior?
Also where did "like a red-headed" step child come about?
WG
"Blonde" moments - The origin?
by Wordlygirl 2 Replies latest social entertainment
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OnTheWayOut
The 1925 Anita Loos novel, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes: The Illuminating Diary of a Professional Lady (later used as source for a 1953 film by the same name starring starring Marilyn Monroe) featured the character Lorelei Lee, a beautiful but empty-headed singer.
Some look to the blonde bombshell, Marilyn, as the source for the concept in modern culture. Numerous actresses of the 20th century have played characters labeled as “dumb blondes.” These include Marilyn Monroe, Jean Harlow, Suzanne Somers, and Goldie Hawn. Of course these films have only further brought the stereotype into the limelight. And lets not forget Barbie, the doll, in all our theories of modern culture. Her and her emphasis on looks and dreamhouses.
One explanation dates back to medieval Europe when members of the upper class tended to be darker-haired than the peasantry. This was because the lower classes spent more time outside in the sun. Since peasants were often considered less intelligent than the upper class, an association between fair-haired persons and a lack of intelligence surfaced.
Another explanation suggests that the ancient Greeks and Romans so admired their flaxen-haired neighbors to the north, they would bleach their hair to make it blonde. Seeing as they didn't exactly have the health standards we have today, a considerable amount of bleach repeatedly placed on the scalp and being inhaled could have some effect on one's mental status.
There is also a jealousy factor. If blonde women get the guy, then non-blonde women might need to find some other fault with them. "Sure they look good, but they are as dumb as an ox." Guys who don't get the girl have to insult the good looking blonde who turns them down. "She must be a lesbian or just stupid." It's also known that women who lighten their hair are joked about as being artificial. But boobs get the same treatment. "All boobs and no brains" seems to indicate that people like to assume that everybody gets one thing, be it a talent or good looks or intelligence, but gets the short straw in other departments.
It has even been suggested that studies prove that blondes worked slowly on tests to try to avoid mistakes, after reading about how dumb they are supposed to be.
And don't many children start out life with blonde hair? As they get smarter and older, some grow out darker hair. Some children have a more playful outlook in life or a more sports-oriented outlook than others and would run around in the sun and have fun outdoors causing their hair to remain lighter.
Notice my focus in modern culture was almost entirely on women and blonde hair. It's just that men find "dumb blonde women" jokes to be much funnier than women find them and extremely much more funny than "dumb blonde men" jokes. The backfire joke on men is this one:
Question: Why do men like blonde jokes?
Answer: They're easy to understand.
Dolly Parton once said that she was not offended by dumb blonde women jokes. She said "I know I am not dumb. I know I am not blonde." I don't think it helped the cause.Here's my favorite: A blonde needed to raise some money, so she asked her neighbor is he had any chores he would pay her to do.
Wanting to be helpful he said, "Sure, you can paint my porch. The paint's in the garage."
About an hour later, she rang the bell and informed him she was done and that she had done it all with just one can of paint."
"Just one can of paint? How is it possible to paint the whole porch with one can of paint?", he asked.
"It was really very easy." She replied. "And by the way, it's not 'porch', it's 'Porsche'." -
OnTheWayOut
As to the red-headed stepchild, culture has shown us that step-children often get worse treatment than biological children. That goes back to Cinderella. But the red-headed step-child is not only not biological, but he/she is a constant reminder to the parent (particularly the father) that they are not biological if the red hair is not normally present in his or his wife's family. They would also be a reminder to others outside the family that they are not his children, hence the perpetuation for the Cinderella treatment.
I am reasonably certain that the phrase "beaten like a red-headed stepchild" can be traced to the American black experience. The singling out of a stepchild for shoddy treatment crosses all ethnic barriers, but the red-headed part can be attributed to the mixed-race offspring, who often have red hair, of a black mother and a departed biological white father. Hence the shame and anger of the child's black stepfather, whose betrayal is on display for all the community to witness.
It's harder to make a joke about this subject as the phrase is virtually interchangeable with "beaten like a rented mule."