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46-442: (Redirected from Blonde Bombshell ) Blonde bombshell may refer to: Blonde bombshell (stereotype) , a stereotype for women with blonde hair The Blonde Bombshell (album) , a 1961 album by Trisha Noble Harlow: The Blonde Bombshell a 1993 documentary about Jean Harlow hosted by Sharon Stone The Blonde Bombshell , a 1999 two part mini-series by Robert Bierman, based on
92-552: A gender role of a certain kind. In feminist critique , stereotypes like the "blonde bombshell" or the "dumb blonde" are seen as negative images that undermine the power of women. The blonde bombshell is a gender stereotype that connotes a very physically attractive woman with blonde hair. A review of English language tabloids from the United Kingdom has shown it to be a recurring blonde stereotype, along with "busty blonde" and "blonde babe". Jean Harlow started
138-400: A musical on Broadway , and two films released in 1928 and 1953 . The Encyclopedia of Hair describes Marilyn Monroe's blonde role in the second film as that of "a fragile woman who relied on her looks rather than on intelligence—what some people refer to as 'dumb blonde'." At the same time, in the film she demonstrates a certain amount of wit regarding her life position expressed in
184-409: A "classic war between blonde and brunette love interests", including The Office (where lighter-haired Pam Beesly competes with brunette Karen Filipelli for the attention of Jim Halpert), Suits (where blonde Jenny Griffith competes with brunette Rachel Zane for the attention of Mike Ross), and Dexter (where blonde Rita Bennent and brunette Lila West compete for the affections of Dexter Morgan,
230-470: A 2012 interview with NBC News , Lisa Walker, Sociology Department Chair at the University of North Carolina said that hair color "absolutely" plays a role in the way people are treated and claimed that numerous studies had shown that blonde women were paid higher salaries than other women. In a study by Diana J. Kyle and Heike I. M. Mahler (1996), the researchers asked subjects to evaluate photographs of
276-503: A French courtesan named Rosalie Duthé , satirised in a 1775 play Les Curiosités de la Foire for her habit of pausing a long time before speaking, appearing not only stupid but literally dumb (meaning mute). The latter stereotype of "dumb blonde" is exploited in blonde jokes . In Brazil , this extends to blonde women being disparaged, as reflected in sexist jokes, as sexually licentious. Alfred Hitchcock preferred to cast blonde women for major roles in his films as he believed that
322-545: A blonde. Many actors and actresses in Latin America and Hispanic United States have blonde hair and blue eyes and/or pale skin, such as Christina Aguilera and Shakira . Annette Kuhn divides blonde stereotypes in cinema into three categories in The Women's Companion to International Film : In cognitive linguistics , the stereotype uses expressivity of words to affect an emotional response which determines
368-560: A boy or man and usually brunette when used of a girl or woman". Although brunet is the masculine version of the popular diminutive form used to describe a little boy or young man with brown hair, the use of "brunet" is uncommon in English. One is more likely to say about a man or boy, "He has brown hair" or "He is brown-haired" than to say, "He is a brunette" (or brunet). Lighter or darker shades of brown hair may be referred to as "light brunette" or "dark brunette", though in such cases one
414-444: A brunette. However, when the researchers interviewed the men who spoke to her, the men rated her more intelligent and physically attractive as a brunette than as a blonde. At the same time, there are many examples where the stereotype is exploited only to combat it. The film Legally Blonde starring Reese Witherspoon featured the stereotype as a centrepiece of its plot. However, the protagonist turns out to be very intelligent and
460-480: A historian of women in films, says of the two top blonde bombshells of the time that " Mae West , firing off vocal salvos with imperious self-assurance, and Jean Harlow, merchandising her physical allure for the masses, transformed the idea of passive female sexuality into an aggressive statement of fact". The notion of "dumb blonde" has been a topic of academic research reported in scholarly articles and university symposia, which tend to confirm that many people hold to
506-541: A more even skin tone. The range of skin colors associated with brown hair is vast, ranging from the palest of skin tones to a dark olive complexion . Brown hair comes in a wide variety of shades from the very darkest of brown (almost black) to lightest brown (almost blond) showing small signs of blondism . Shades of brown hair include: In Western popular culture, a common stereotype is that brunettes are stable, serious, smart and sophisticated. According to Allure magazine, in 2005, 76 percent of American women believed that
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#1732797636459552-416: A presumed attractive color. The purported validity of this explanation is purely hypothetical and has been corroborated earlier by its applicability to a similar pervasiveness of the " dumb athlete " stereotype. At the same time, newer data have shown that natural blondes have the highest IQ among white women, which is already explained by the scientists as possible greater incentive to intellectual activity in
598-702: Is a category of jokes called "blonde jokes" that employs the dumb blonde stereotype. It overlaps at times with other jokes that portray the subject of the joke as promiscuous and/or stupid. Some blonde jokes rely on sexual humour to portray or stereotype their subjects as promiscuous . Many of these are rephrased sorority girl or Essex girl jokes, much as other jokes about dumb blondes are based on long-running ethnic jokes. Many of these jokes are mere variants on traditional ethnic jokes or jests about other identifiable groups (such as Italian jokes involving Carabinieri , Sardarji jokes or Pathan jokes ). Similar jokes about stereotyped minorities have circulated since
644-604: Is brunette. In the French folk song " Au clair de la lune ", the likable Lubin visits his brunette neighbor at Pierrot's suggestion. In the Irish song "The Star of the County Down" the narrator falls in love with a woman with "nut-brown" hair, called Rose McCann. In popular culture, brunettes may be portrayed as being in a rivalry or competition with blonde women. The rivalry may take the form of competitive sports or as part of
690-636: Is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Blonde bombshell (stereotype) Blonde stereotypes are stereotypes of blonde - haired people. Sub-types of this stereotype include the " blonde bombshell " and the "dumb blonde". Blondes have historically been portrayed as physically attractive , though often perceived as less intelligent compared to their brunette counterparts. There are many blonde jokes made on these premises. However, research has shown that blonde women are not less intelligent than women with other hair colors. The blonde bombshell
736-607: Is generally referring only to the hair color, not using the term as a descriptor for the person; one would be unlikely to say, "She is a light brunette." Rather, one would say, "She has light-brown hair." Brown-haired individuals predominate in most parts of Europe . In northern and central Europe medium to light brown shades are the most common, while darker shades prevail in the rest of the continent. Brown hair, mostly medium to light brown shades, are also dominant in Australia , Canada , South Africa among White South Africans and
782-497: Is often stereotyped that men find blonde women more physically attractive than women with other hair colors. For example, Anita Loos popularized this idea in her 1925 novel Gentlemen Prefer Blondes . Blondes are often assumed to have more fun; for example, in a Clairol commercial for hair colorant, they use the phrase "Is it true blondes have more fun?" Some women have reported they feel other people expect them to be more fun-loving after having lightened their hair. In much of
828-401: Is one of the most notable and consistently popular female character types in cinema . Many Hollywood celebrities have used it to their advantage, including Jean Harlow , Marlene Dietrich , Marilyn Monroe , Jayne Mansfield , Brigitte Bardot and Mamie Van Doren . There are several aspects to the stereotypical perception of blonde-haired women. In contemporary popular culture, it
874-675: Is predominant in the Mediterranean parts of Europe, the Middle East , North Africa , Central Asia , and South Asia . Very dark brown hair, easily mistaken for black hair , can be found occasionally in parts of East Asia . This is also true of Southern Cone of South America ( Chile , Argentina , Uruguay , Paraguay , central-southern Brazil ), Colombia , Andean Region of Venezuela , Costa Rican Central Valley and Puerto Rico . A study of 1,023 students in Chile found that
920-481: Is shown to have been underachieving due to society's low expectations of her. Singer Dolly Parton , aware of this occasional characterization of her, addressed it in her 1967 hit " Dumb Blonde ". Parton's lyrics challenged the stereotype, stating "just because I'm blonde, don't think I'm dumb 'cause this dumb blonde ain't nobody's fool". Parton has said she was not offended by "all the dumb- blonde jokes because I know I'm not dumb. I'm also not blonde." The author of
966-551: Is still commonly used in Scotland, particularly in rural areas, and is also the word for "brown" in the Scandinavian languages . In modern English usage, however, it has lost the diminutive meaning and usually refers to any brown-haired girl or woman, or the associated hair color. Merriam-Webster defines "brunet" as "a person having brown hair"—with which they may have "a relatively dark complexion—spelled brunet when used of
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#17327976364591012-478: Is the darkest; brown eumelanin is much lighter than black. A small amount of black eumelanin in the absence of other pigments causes grey hair . A small amount of brown eumelanin without any other pigments causes yellow ( blond ) color hair. Often, natural blond or red hair will darken to a brown color over time. Brown-haired people have medium-thick strands of hair. Brown-haired people are thought to produce more skin-protecting eumelanin and are associated with having
1058-560: The Middle East , Central Asia where it transitions smoothly into black hair. Additionally, brown hair is common among Australian Aboriginals and Melanesians . The term brunette is the feminine form of the French word brunet , which is a diminutive form of brun meaning "brown/brown-haired", the feminine of which is brune . All of these terms ultimately derive from the Proto-Indo-European root * bhrūn- "brown, grey". The form "brun" (pronounced / b r uː n / )
1104-642: The United States among European Americans from the Northern , Central and Eastern European ( British , Scandinavian , Baltic , Dutch / Flemish , German (including Swiss-German and Austrian ), Slovenian , Polish , Ukrainian and Russian ) as well as Southern ( Italian , Spanish , Greek , Portuguese ) and Southeastern European ( Bulgarian , Croatian , Serbian ). Similarly to blond hair, brown hair occurs commonly among Australian Aboriginal and Melanesian populations. Dark brown hair
1150-426: The comic strip Blondie , Chic Young , starting with "Dumb Dora", gradually transformed the titular character into a smart, hard-working, family-oriented woman. Brown hair Brown hair , also referred to as brunette (when female) or brunet (when male), is the second-most common human hair color , after black hair . It varies from light brown to dark hair. It is characterized by higher levels of
1196-453: The stereotype with her film Bombshell of 1933. Following her, Marilyn Monroe, Jayne Mansfield and Mamie Van Doren helped establish the stereotype typified by a combination of curvaceous physique, very light-colored hair and a perceived lack of intelligence. During the 1950s, the blonde bombshell started to replace the Femme fatale as the mainstream media stereotype. Marjorie Rosen ,
1242-570: The Americas, the blonde stereotype is associated with being less serious or less intelligent. However, an analysis of IQ data carried out by the National Longitudinal Surveys on a survey database of American " baby boomers " (NLSY79 data), the natural blonde women in this population category (excluding African American and Hispanic persons) have a slightly higher mean IQ than brunettes, black and red-haired women. On
1288-566: The Future". In the American sitcom Three's Company the blonde girl (originally Chrissy , played by Suzanne Somers , and later Cindy and Terri ) is sweet and naïve , while the brunette ( Janet , played by Joyce DeWitt ) is smart. Country music star Dolly Parton who recorded a song called " Dumb Blonde ", famously said that dumb blonde jokes about her do not offend her because, "I know I am not dumb, and I am not blonde." There
1334-522: The Philippines , Malaysia and Vietnam ) for example particularly when they are young, as well as in many other groups. The pigment eumelanin gives brown hair its distinctive color. Brown hair has more eumelanin than blond hair but also has far less than black. There are two different types of eumelanin, which are distinguished from each other by their pattern of polymer bonds. The two types are black eumelanin and brown eumelanin. Black eumelanin
1380-525: The audience would suspect them the least, comparing them to "virgin snow that shows up the bloody footprints", hence the term "Hitchcock blonde". This stereotype became so ingrained that it spawned counter-narratives, such as in the 2001 film Legally Blonde , in which Reese Witherspoon succeeds at Harvard Law School despite biases against her beauty and blonde hair, and terms such as cookie-cutter blonde (CCB), implying standardized blonde looks and standard perceived social and intelligence characteristics of
1426-540: The dark pigment eumelanin and lower levels of the pale pigment pheomelanin . Brown hair is common among populations in the Western world , especially among those from Northwestern Europe and the United States , as well as populations in Central Europe , Southeastern Europe , Eastern Europe , Southern Europe , Southern Cone , Brazil , Colombia , Costa Rica , Puerto Rico , and also some populations in
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1472-617: The first female president of the United States will have brown hair. Anita Loos , the author of the novel and play Gentlemen Prefer Blondes , wrote a sequel entitled But Gentlemen Marry Brunettes . A film of this was made, Gentlemen Marry Brunettes , starring Jane Russell and Jeanne Crain . The Lady of Shalott from Alfred, Lord Tennyson 's poem is depicted as a brunette in most paintings. The woman portrayed in Leonardo da Vinci 's most well-known painting, Mona Lisa ,
1518-553: The invariably dim-witted, and sexually promiscuous, women makes them even more sexist. In the 20th century, a class of meta-jokes about blondes (i.e. jokes about blonde jokes) has emerged. In a typical plot of this type, a blonde complains about the unfairness of the stereotype propagated by blonde jokes, with a punch line actually reinforcing the stereotype. In a 16 November 2011 article titled " Blondes vs. Brunettes: TV Shows with Betty and Veronica-Style Love Triangles ", media critic Tucker Cummings cited several TV shows that featured
1564-1033: The life of actress Diana Dors Blonde Bombshell (novel) , a 2010 novel by Tom Holt A beer from The Old Cannon Brewery "Bombshell Blonde", an iTunes special song from the 2012 album The Midsummer Station by Owl City The finishing move of professional wrestler Chris Candido, a superbomb People [ edit ] Jean Harlow (1911–1937), American film actress Charles Borck (1917–2008), Filipino basketball player Evelyn Dall (1918–2010), American singer and actress Shelley Winters (1920–2006), American actress Merle Keagle (1923–1960), American baseball player LaVerne Carter (1925–2012), American professional bowler Mamie Van Doren (born 1931) American actress Diana Dors (1931–1984), English actress Jayne Mansfield (1933–1967), American actress Carl Ditterich (born 1945), Australian footballer Ahmad Latiff Khamaruddin (born 1979), Singaporean footballer See also [ edit ] Bombshell (disambiguation) Topics referred to by
1610-688: The main character). Typically, she wrote, "... the blonde (is) stable, and typifies the 'girl next door,' while (the) ... brunette, is haughty, and a bit more exotic." In Archie comics , Betty Cooper and Veronica Lodge have been engaged in a mostly friendly competition for over 70 years. A number of studies have been conducted over the years to measure society's attitude toward blondes and brunettes. Wortham, et al. have shown that more men find brunettes more physically attractive. A Cornell University study showed that blonde waitresses receive larger tips than brunettes, even when controlling for other variables such as age, breast size, height and weight. In
1656-508: The most common eye color was brown-black: 71 to 89.4% and the most common hair color was brown from 65.8% to 66.8%. In Spain , 57% are brown (7% of Spaniards are naturally blonde, 26% brunette, 3% redhead and the remaining 10% dark and light brown). Dark brown hair also may occasionally be found among Indigenous Americans and Siberians; (formerly) especially for mostly populations in Southeast Asia due to pigment changes (such as
1702-399: The other hand, a blonde woman is often perceived as making little use of intelligence and as a "woman who relies on her looks rather than on intelligence." At the same time, people tend to presume that blondes are less serious-minded and less intelligent than brunettes , as reflected in "blonde jokes". The root of this notion may be traced to Europe, with the "dumb blonde" in question being
1748-502: The perception that light-haired women are less intelligent than women with dark hair. It is believed the first recorded "dumb blonde" was an 18th-century blonde French courtesan named Rosalie Duthé whose reputation of being beautiful and dumb, even in the literal sense of not talking much, inspired a play about her called Les Curiosités de la Foire (Paris 1775). While there is no evidence that suggests that blondes are less intelligent than other people, it has been suggested earlier that
1794-425: The place where the blonde grew up, which directly refutes the earlier suggestion that blondes have less intellectual incentives. The dumb blonde stereotype (and the associated cognitive bias ) may have some negative consequences and it can also damage a blonde person's career prospects. Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1925) by Anita Loos originated as a comic novel and explores the appeal of blonde women. It spawned
1840-428: The same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Blonde bombshell . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Blonde_bombshell&oldid=987915985 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description
1886-414: The same woman with "natural" (not dyed) looking brown, red, and blonde hair in the context of a job application for an accounting position. The researchers found that the blonde-haired applicant was rated as significantly less capable than her brunette counterpart. In addition, participants designated the female applicant's starting salary as significantly lower when she was depicted as a blonde than when she
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1932-713: The seventeenth century with only the wording and targeted groups changed. Blonde jokes have been criticized as sexist by several authors, as most blondes in these jokes are female, although male variations also exist. In fact, dumb blonde jokes are overwhelmingly female-specific: according to an extensive search in various publications and on the Internet, about 63% of dumb blonde jokes are directed exclusively at women (compared to less than 5% that directly referenced dumb blonde men). Research indicates that because of this, men report being amused by blonde jokes significantly more than women do. The fact that most of these jokes target
1978-478: The song " Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend ". Madonna emulated that screen-persona of Monroe in her music video Material Girl . Many blonde actresses have played stereotypical "dumb blondes", including Monroe (dyed blonde), Judy Holliday , Jayne Mansfield (dyed blonde), Carol Wayne and Goldie Hawn . Goldie Hawn is best known as the giggling "dumb blonde", stumbling over her lines, especially when she introduced Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In "News of
2024-428: The state of being blonde probably creates opportunities that do not require investing in education and training. A possible earlier hypothetical explanation is that physically attractive women have less pressing incentives to cultivate and demonstrate their intellect to ensure their future, since physically attractiveness is an asset, or correlatively that intelligent women have less pressing incentives to dye their hair to
2070-523: Was considered more for a managerial position and for a higher salary. A 2011 University of Westminster study evaluated how men perceived women who entered a London nightclub as a blonde or a brunette. The study, published in the Scandinavian Journal of Psychology , used the same woman and had her dye her hair a different color for each visit. The results showed that, as a blonde, she was more likely to be approached for conversation than as
2116-539: Was shown with brown hair. A study that looked at the CEOs of the Financial Times Stock Exchange's (FTSE) top 500 companies investigated how hair color could be a potential barrier to professional success. In another study by Brian Bates, two sets of MBA graduates were given the same Curriculum vitae of the same women split between two sets of attached photos - blonde and brunette. The brunette
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