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“[dropcap]M[/dropcap]arilyn Monroe found dead in the nude,” was a common news headline after Marilyn Monroe’s death. She was found on August 5th, 1962, lying face down on her bed, naked, having overdosed on Nembutal. She had been struggling with a mental illness for a couple years and had been fired from the movie Somethings Got to Give. She was a major sex symbol at the time and this took a toll on her. She once said, “being a sex symbol is a heavy load to carry, especially when one is tired, hurt and bewildered.”

During her very famous career, she was in movies such as Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Some like it Hot. In most of her movies, she played the smaller parts, but even though her characters had little to say she still put just as much emotion into them as the main characters had. The director, Billy Wilder describes her as an “an absolute genius as a comic actress.” But during the time period of her career, most blonde women were portrayed as dumb or ditsy.

She was fully aware of how most people thought of her because in her last interview she exclaims, “please don’t make me a joke.”

What are the Stereotypes?

The common assumption that all blondes are unintelligent is actually causing some negative effects. For example, it is affecting blonde’s confidence and their ability to publicly speak. In an article by Huffington Post about a Ted Talk by Cameron Russell, it states, “first, imagine yourself answering […] a question in front of a live audience and video cameras. That’s by itself nerve-wracking, but on top of that, the threat of knowing that a large portion of that audience will automatically think ‘dumb blonde’ if you mess up is all the more likely to make you, well, mess up.” This stereotype puts immense pressure on blondes to never mess up even though people of all hair colors mess up on a daily basis. But the people with other hair colors don’t have to worry about being labeled dumb every time they do mess up.

Another negative of the stereotype is the effect it has in the workplace. In an experiment done by Ohio State University, it concludes that “employers who believe the beauty part of the myth” will most likely hire a blonde woman “to work in front-line positions” where looks and personality are key. Also “employers [who believe] the myth that blondes are dumb” will hire fewer blondes in a position where ‘intelligence is more highly valued than looks.”

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These beliefs about blondes being dumber than other people are making it harder for blondes to be confident about themselves and to achieve what they want in the workforce.

Many people view blonde women as having an advantage over other women. In a survey taken by whatsyourprice.com, a website that surveys men on how much more they would pay on a first date when a woman had a certain characteristic.  The results show that a large majority of men say their idea of a ‘perfect woman’ is one that has blonde hair, blue eyes, slender figure, and a graduates degree. On average men will pay $59.31 more on average on the first date for a woman with blonde hair.This shows that when a blonde woman meets a man most likely all the man is seeing is her appearance.

Blonde women are often seen as beautiful, and most of the time, in other people’s view their beauty will outshine all their other amazing qualities.

How Pop Culture is Spreading the Blonde Assumption

One of the largest industries that use the dumb blonde stereotype to their advantage is the filmmaking industry. If you think about some of your favorite movies, most of them have a blonde woman playing the part of the not so intelligent character.

For example, in the movie Clueless, the main character, Cher is scripted to seem very dim-witted and she is played by Alicia Silverstone who happens to be a blonde. Another example of this is in the 2000s film Legally Blonde.[perfectpullquote align=”right” bordertop=”false” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]“These stereotypes are reinforced in popular culture with the dumb blonde female being a staple of Hollywood movies”[/perfectpullquote]
It is about a ditsy blonde named Elle Woods who tries to get into Harvard Law School to get the attention of her ex-boyfriend, who also attends Harvard. In the movie, Elle is played by the famous actress Reese Witherspoon, who is not only a blonde but has also acted in multiple movies where the main character is a ditzy blonde.

These movie stereotypes are not something that has just shown up in recent years.  They have been there since before the 1950s. Marilyn Monroe, a very well know actress even to this day, is so well known because of her roles in movies like Gentlemen Prefer Blondes where the blonde characters oftentimes are less intelligence than others. In an article published by Ohio State University, it exclaims,“these stereotypes are reinforced in popular culture with the dumb blonde female being a staple of Hollywood movies.”

Many movies that are very well known from all eras have used the dumb blonde assumption as an advantage to relate to the viewers.

Women Defying the Stereotype

There are many successful women that have proven the stereotypes wrong. Betsy DeVos is one of those women. She is the new United States Secretary of Education and happens to be a blonde. She is a very smart woman but because of her position and hair color, she has been the target of many offensive jokes and SNL skits. In the last year, the popular show Saturday Night Live hosted by Jimmy Fallon has produced multiple skits about Betsy, making her seem very stupid and unfit for her job.

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Another example of a woman who has defied the dumb blonde assumption is Hillary Clinton. She is a very well known politician, especially during and after her run in the presidential election in 2016, which she ended up taking 2nd after our current president Donald Trump. Besides her presidential run, she was also the Secretary of State when Barack Obama was president and was a part of the Senate before that. She is no doubt a woman who defies the dumb blonde stereotype with all the things she has been able to accomplish in her life so far.

The final example is the very beloved Princess Diana of Wales. Not only was she the princess, but she was also very involved in charities and helped raise awareness for many causes such as the leftover landmines in war-torn countries such as Angola. Even after her death in a 1997 car crash, she still remains one of Wales most beloved people to this day.

There are so many women all around the world that through their life’s accomplishments have shown that the blonde stereotype is untrue.

Putting the Jokes to Rest

There has been a lot of controversy over whether the dumb blond stereotype is true or not.

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Ohio State University has done experiments in the hopes of finding out if having blonde hair actually makes you slightly less intelligent than others. The results from this experiment “showed that blonde-haired white women had an average IQ of 103.2,” brunettes had an average IQ of “102.7,” redheads “101.2,” and black hairs average is “100.5.” The experiment not only shows that blondes are not dumber than others but also shows that they may be slightly smarter.

In the same paper, Jay Zagorsky, lead researcher, exclaims, “this study shows compelling evidence that there shouldn’t be any discrimination against blondes based on their intelligence.”

With the findings of this experiment, it has helped tremendously to change people’s views on blondes and has made it easier for blondes to be more confident in their intelligence when speaking to others.

Being Confident in Yourself

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Over the last couple decades, the dumb blonde assumption has spread all over the world through movies, television shows, etc. It has added some extra pressures on blondes when it comes to being confident in themselves, especially in front of a crowd. Many women such as Betsy DeVos and Princess Diana have helped show that we cannot let people’s judgments about us affect our goals in life and how we view ourselves. Other people’s opinion of us is not who we are, we must be confident in ourselves and show them what kind of person we truly are.

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