131-473: Blond ( MASC ) or blonde ( FEM ), also referred to as fair hair , is a human hair color characterized by low levels of eumelanin , the dark pigment . The resultant visible hue depends on various factors, but always has some yellowish color. The color can be from the very pale blond (caused by a patchy, scarce distribution of pigment) to reddish "strawberry" blond or golden-brownish ("sandy") blond colors (the latter with more eumelanin). Occasionally,
262-549: A feminist movement developed. Parental authority was seen as important, but children were given legal protections against abuse and neglect for the first time towards the end of the period. Access to education increased rapidly during the 19th century. State-funded schools were established in England and Wales for the first time. Education became compulsory for pre-teenaged children in England, Scotland and Wales. Literacy rates increased rapidly, and had become nearly universal by
393-768: A "flawed, pseudo-scientific relic of the past". In contemporary Western popular culture, blonde women are sometimes stereotyped as being attractive. For example, Anita Loos popularized this idea in her 1925 novel Gentlemen Prefer Blondes . However, studies which sought to verify this found no evidence for a general preference of blonde women among Western men. A 2008 study found that men in Greater London , England preferred dark haired women rather than women with blond hair. A 2018 study based on University of Florida students found that men prefer brunette women over blonde women. Swami, et al. (2008) suggested that men may prefer women with dark hair because they are predominant in
524-411: A Mongolic-speaking ethnic group who were blond-haired and blue eyed. Blond hair can still be seen among people from the region they inhabited, even today. Some Xianbei were described with blond hair and blue eyes according to Chinese historical chronicles. The Uriankhai tribe of Mongols, to which the military generals Subotai and Jelme belonged, were described by Mongol chronicles as blond haired in
655-413: A breed of ray , lager beer , and pale wood. Various subcategories of blond hair have been defined to describe the different shades and sources of the hair color more accurately. Common examples include the following: Artificially blond hair may be called bleached blond , bottle blond , or peroxide blond . A typical explanation found in the scientific literature for the adaptation of light hair
786-483: A broad diversity of shades of blond, red and brown. The minority of statues with blond hair range from strawberry blond up to platinum blond. Sappho of Lesbos ( c. 630–570 BC) wrote that purple-colored wraps as headdress were good enough, except if the hair was blond: "...for the girl who has hair that is yellower than a torch [it is better to decorate it] with wreaths of flowers in bloom." Sappho also praises Aphrodite for her golden hair, stating that since gold metal
917-604: A democracy. The political legacy of the reform movement was to link the nonconformists (part of the evangelical movement) in England and Wales with the Liberal Party . This continued until the First World War . The Presbyterians played a similar role as a religious voice for reform in Scotland. Religion was politically controversial during this era, with Nonconformists pushing for the disestablishment of
1048-455: A fashion among employers for providing welfare services to their workers, led to relative social stability. The Chartist movement for working-class men to be given the right to vote, which had been prominent in the early Victorian period, dissipated. Government involvement in the economy was limited. Only in the post-World War II period , around a century later, did the country experience substantial economic growth again. But whilst industry
1179-464: A higher proportion of red-causing pheomelanin than is found in average brown hair. It is most commonly found in individuals of Northern and Western European descent, but is extant in West and Central Asia and North Africa also. It can also be the result of a mutation in the melanocortin 1 receptor gene. Red hair ranges from light strawberry blond shades to titian , copper, and completely red. Red hair has
1310-549: A lighter tone of blond. In Portugal , the national average of the population shows 11% of varying traces of blondism, peaking at 15% blond people in Póvoa de Varzim in northern Portugal. In Italy , a study of Italian men conducted by Ridolfo Livi between 1859 and 1863 on the records of the National Conscription Service showed that 8.2% of Italian men exhibited blond hair; blondism frequency displayed
1441-547: A ludicrous extreme in Nazi society, where "men were virile blond warriors, women were breeders, and gay men were killed in the death camps". The fact that many Nazi leaders, including Adolf Hitler , did not possess these traits was noted with irony by the Allies of World War II . The most famous joke on the subject asked: What is the ideal German? Blond like Hitler, slim like Göring, masculine like Goebbels. . . . Senior curator at
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#17327728294011572-445: A major employer and industry in their own right. Expected standards of personal conduct changed in around the first half of the 19th century, with good manners and self-restraint becoming much more common. Historians have suggested various contributing factors, such as Britain's major conflicts with France during the early 19th century, meaning that the distracting temptations of sinful behaviour had to be avoided in order to focus on
1703-464: A mixed-gender populace. The OED quotes Grant Allen , "The nation which resulted... being sometimes blonde, sometimes brunette." Blond and blonde are also occasionally used to refer to objects that have a color reminiscent of fair hair. For example, the OED records its use in 19th-century poetic diction to describe flowers, "a variety of clay ironstone of the coal measures", "the colour of raw silk",
1834-650: A mixture of blond and red hair, is a much rarer type containing the most pheomelanin . Blond hair can have almost any proportion of pheomelanin and eumelanin , but has only small amounts of both. More pheomelanin creates a more golden or strawberry blond color, and more eumelanin creates an ash or sandy blond color. Blond hair is most commonly found in Northern and Northeastern Europeans and their descendants but can be found spread around most of Europe and also among West Asians and North Africans at lower frequencies. Studies in 2012 showed that naturally blond hair of Melanesians
1965-413: A period of time—typically four to six weeks, so root regrowth is less noticeable. The final color of each strand is affected by its original color and porosity, so there will be subtle variations in color across the head—more natural and less harsh than a permanent dye. However, this means that gray and white hair will not dye to the same color as the rest of the head (in fact, some white hair will not absorb
2096-512: A person, esp. a woman... being foolish or scatter-brained." Another hair color word of French origin, brunette (from the same Germanic root that gave brown ), functions in the same way in orthodox English. The OED gives brunet as meaning 'dark-complexioned' or a 'dark-complexioned person', citing a comparative usage of brunet and blond to Thomas Henry Huxley in saying, "The present contrast of blonds and brunets existed among them." Brunette can be used, however, like blonde , to describe
2227-492: A result of this and the natural rarity of blond hair in the Mediterranean region, by the fourth century BC, blond hair was inextricably associated with prostitutes. The comic playwright Menander ( c. 342/41– c. 290 BC) protests that "no chaste woman ought to make her hair yellow". At another point, he deplores blond hair dye as dangerous: "What can we women do wise or brilliant, who sit with hair dyed yellow, outraging
2358-430: A rise in prosecutions for illegal sodomy in the middle of the 19th century. Male sexuality became a favourite subject of medical researchers' study. For the first time, all male homosexual acts were outlawed. Concern about sexual exploitation of adolescent girls increased during the period, especially following the white slavery scandal , which contributed to the increasing of the age of consent from 13 to 16 . At
2489-546: A role in economic life but exploitation of their labour became especially intense during the Victorian era. Children were put to work in a wide range of occupations, but particularly associated with this period are factories. Employing children had advantages, as they were cheap, had limited ability to resist harsh working conditions, and could enter spaces too small for adults. Some accounts exist of happy upbringings involving child labour, but conditions were generally poor. Pay
2620-797: A study found that blond-haired Swedish women were ranked below Chinese women in the female beauty hierarchy. According to the author, the blonde hair of Swedish women reduced their femininity, because it was seen as a Western trait. These women's Swedish husbands were highly attracted to local East Asian women, which further reduced the self-esteem of the blonde Swedish women. Similarly in many eastern cultures ( Asia , The Middle East ) blond men are often seen as symbolizing western masculinity: excessively manly, flirtatious, and sexually attractive. Depictions of relations between blond European men and dark-haired Arab women have even been used as an allegory for European colonialism , specifically in regards to French Algeria . Human hair color Human hair color
2751-573: A substantial part of the metropolis... In big, once handsome houses, thirty or more people of all ages may inhabit a single room Hunger and poor diet was a common aspect of life across the UK in the Victorian period, especially in the 1840s, but the mass starvation seen in the Great Famine in Ireland was unique. Levels of poverty fell significantly during the 19th century from as much as two thirds of
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#17327728294012882-475: A symbol of the British Empire. Queen Victoria died on 22 January 1901. The Victorian era saw a rapidly growing middle class who became an important cultural influence, to a significant extent replacing the aristocracy as British society's dominant class. A distinctive middle-class lifestyle developed that influenced what society valued as a whole. Increased importance was placed on the value of
3013-687: A time when job options for women were limited and generally low-paying, some women, particularly those without familial support, took to prostitution to support themselves. Attitudes in public life and among the general population to prostitution varied. Evidence about prostitutes' situation also varies. One contemporary study argues that the trade was a short-term stepping stone to a different lifestyle for many women, while another, more recent study argues they were subject to physical abuse, financial exploitation, state persecution, and difficult working conditions. Due to worries about venereal disease , especially among soldiers, women suspected of prostitution were for
3144-583: A wide degree of regional variation, ranging from around 12.6% in Veneto to 1.7% among the Sardinians . In a more detailed study from the 20th-century geneticist Renato Biasutti , the regional contrasts of blondism frequency are better shown, with a greater occurrence in the northern regions , where the figure may be over 20%, and a lesser occurrence in Sardinia , where the frequency in many of its districts
3275-461: A wide range of new inventions. This led Great Britain to become the foremost industrial and trading nation of the time. Historians have characterised the mid-Victorian era (1850–1870) as Britain's 'Golden Years', with national income per person increasing by half. This prosperity was driven by increased industrialisation, especially in textiles and machinery, along with exports to the empire and elsewhere. The positive economic conditions, as well as
3406-505: A wide variety of published sources. The authors affirm the previous statements, noting that Ancient North Eurasian -derived populations carried the derived blond hair allele to Europe, and that the "massive spread" of Yamnaya steppe pastoralists likely caused the "rapid selective sweep in European populations toward light skin and hair." In contrast, geneticist Iosif Lazaridis questioned whether or not blond hair could have originated from
3537-569: A wide-ranging change to the electoral system of England and Wales . Definitions that purport a distinct sensibility or politics to the era have also created scepticism about the worth of the label 'Victorian', though there have also been defences of it. Michael Sadleir was insistent that "in truth, the Victorian period is three periods, and not one". He distinguished early Victorianism—the socially and politically unsettled period from 1837 to 1850 —and late Victorianism (from 1880 onwards), with its new waves of aestheticism and imperialism , from
3668-716: A woman of Latium yet her blond-haired, blue-eyed appearance ultimately signified her true origins from the Rhine . Further south, the Iberian Peninsula was originally inhabited by Celtiberians outside of Roman control. The gradual Roman conquest of Iberia was completed by the early 1st century AD. The Romans established provinces such as Hispania Terraconensis that were inhabited largely by Gallaeci , whose red- and blond-haired descendants (which also include those of Visigothic origins) have continued to inhabit northern areas of Spain such as Galicia and Portugal into
3799-503: A woman, but less often "a blond" used to describe a man, the term is an example of a " sexist stereotype [whereby] women are primarily defined by their physical characteristics." The Oxford English Dictionary ( OED ) records that the phrase "big blond beast" was used in the 20th-century to refer specifically to men "of the Nordic type" (that is to say, blond-haired). The OED also records that that this term for fair hair as an adjective
3930-513: Is a hair color which is a reddish shade of brown hair. In contrast to auburn hair, the reddish shade of chestnut is darker. Chestnut hair is common among the native peoples of Northern, Central, Western, and Eastern Europe and is also found in Asia Minor , West Asia and North Africa . Auburn hair ranges along a spectrum of light to dark red-brown shades. The chemicals which cause auburn hair are eumelanin (brown) and pheomelanin (red), with
4061-474: Is a proposed phenomenon in which sudden whitening is caused by stress. It has been found that some hairs can become colored again when stress is reduced. Children born with some hair colors may find it gradually darkens as they grow. Many blond, light brown, or red haired infants experience this. This is caused by genes being turned on and off during early childhood and puberty. Changes in hair color typically occur naturally as people age, eventually turning
Blond - Misplaced Pages Continue
4192-497: Is a topic of debate amongst population geneticists . Geneticist David Reich said that the hundreds of millions of copies of this SNP , the classic European blond hair mutation, entered continental Europe by way of a massive population migration from the Eurasian steppe, by a people who had substantial Ancient North Eurasian ancestry. Ancient North Eurasian admixture is present in mesolithic fossils from Northern Europe , and
4323-464: Is also a black-haired ideal of female beauty in northern Europe, as shown in plays like Snow White and other forms of entertainment portraying black-haired heroines . Similarly, Nordic Skalds often glorified dark-haired women. During the medieval period , Spanish ladies preferred to dye their hair black, yet by the time of the Renaissance in the 16th century the fashion (imported from Italy)
4454-652: Is always permanent because it removes the natural pigment. "Rinses" are a form of temporary hair color, usually applied to hair during a shampoo and washed out again the next time the hair is washed. Victorian era In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire , the Victorian era was the reign of Queen Victoria , from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. Slightly different definitions are sometimes used. The era followed
4585-586: Is caused by a recessive mutation in tyrosinase-related protein 1 (TYRP1). In the Solomon Islands, 26% of the population carry the gene; however, it is absent outside of Oceania. Gray or white hair is not caused by a true gray or white pigment, but is due to a lack of pigmentation and melanin. The clear hairs appear as gray or white because of the way light is reflected from the hairs. Gray hair color typically occurs naturally as people age (see aging or achromotrichia below). Marie Antoinette syndrome
4716-611: Is caused by an amino acid change in the gene TYRP1 . This mutation is at a frequency of 26% in the Solomon Islands and is absent outside of Oceania . The higher frequencies of light hair in Asia are prevalent among the Pamiris , Kalash , Nuristani and Uyghur ethnic groups. According to geneticist David Reich , blond hair has ancient roots in Asia. The derived allele responsible for blond hair in Europeans likely evolved first among
4847-724: Is consistent with a phenotype turnover occurring within the Steppe pastoralists, leading to a shift towards blond hair becoming a common hair color in the later Steppe-derived populations of Europe and Central Asia . Lazaridis further wrote that the frequencies of traits like blonde hair could have been shaped by mass migration or selection; but that it is more complex than "simple stories" of sexual selection, or of spreading by Steppe pastoralists. A 2024 study found that both Neolithic farmer and Steppe-associated ancestries were more significantly associated with blond hair, while European hunter gatherers tended to have dark or even black hair. There
4978-466: Is denser than other hair colors and is the commonly seen hair color in Asia and Africa due the fact that the people in these regions tend to have lower levels of tyrosinase in their bodies. Black eumelanin secretion causes the hair to turn black, which indicates that the MC1R is in the active state. Jet black hair, the darkest shade will not have a warm, neutral tone but a sheen which can seem almost blue, like
5109-466: Is especially used with reference to women, in which case it is likely to be spelt blonde , citing three Victorian usages of the term. The masculine version is used in the plural, in "blonds of the European race", in a citation from 1833 Penny cyclopedia , which distinguishes genuine blondness as a Caucasian feature distinct from albinism . By the early 1990s, blonde moment or being a dumb blonde had come into common parlance to mean "an instance of
5240-409: Is essential to match new hair growing in to the rest of the hair, and to remedy fading. A one-color permanent dye creates a flat, uniform color across the whole head, which can look unnatural and harsh, especially in a fair shade. To combat this, the modern trend is to use multiple colors—usually one color as a base with added highlights or lowlights in other shades. Semi-permanent color washes out over
5371-433: Is eumelanin. Pheomelanin is generally found in elevated concentrations in blond and red hair, representing about one-third of total melanin content. If there is no black eumelanin, the result is strawberry blond. Blond hair results from small amounts of brown eumelanin with no black eumelanin. Natural hair color can be black, brown, blonde and red. The Fischer–Saller scale , named after Eugen Fischer and Karl Saller
Blond - Misplaced Pages Continue
5502-558: Is first documented in English in 1481 and derives from Old French blund , blont , meaning 'a colour midway between golden and light chestnut '. It gradually eclipsed the native term fair , of same meaning, from Old English fæġer , causing fair later to become a general term for 'light complexioned'. This earlier use of fair survives in the proper name Fairfax , from Old English fæġer-feahs meaning 'blond hair'. The word blond , taken from Old French, may derive from
5633-554: Is found in some European populations, and hair turns gray, white, or "silver" with age . The full genetic basis of hair color is complex and not fully understood. Regulatory DNA is believed to be closely involved in pigmentation in humans in general, and a 2011 study by Branicki et al. identified 13 DNA variations across 11 different genes that could be used to predict hair color. Two types of pigment give hair its color, black-brown eumelanin and reddish-brown/reddish-yellow pheomelanin , synthesized by melanocytes . Inside
5764-548: Is free from rust, the goddess' golden hair represents her freedom from ritual pollution . Sappho's contemporary Alcman of Sparta praised golden hair as one of the most desirable qualities of a beautiful woman, describing in various poems "the girl with the yellow hair" and a girl "with the hair like purest gold". In the fifth century BC, the sculptor Pheidias may have depicted the Greek goddess of wisdom Athena 's hair using gold in his famous statue of Athena Parthenos , which
5895-772: Is lightest around the Baltic Sea , and darkness increases regularly and almost concentrically around this region. In France , according to a source published 1939, blondism is more common in Normandy , and less common in the Pyrenees and the Mediterranean seacoast; 26% of the French population have blond or light brown hair. A 2007 study of French females showed that by then roughly 20% were blonde, although half of these blondes were fully fake. Roughly ten percent of French females are natural blondes, of which 60% bleach their hair to
6026-548: Is linked to the prediction of blond hair in stone-age Scandinavians by ancient DNA analysis . Gavin Evans analyzed several years of research on the origin of European blond hair, and concluded that the widespread presence of blond hair in Europe is largely due to the territorial expansions of the "all-conquering" Western Steppe Herders ; who carried the genes for blond hair. A review article published in 2020 analyzes fossil data from
6157-456: Is now called classical music was somewhat undeveloped compared to parts of Europe but did have significant support. Photography became an increasingly accessible and popular part of everyday life. Many sports were introduced or popularised during the Victorian era. They became important to male identity. Examples included cricket , football , rugby , tennis and cycling . The idea of women participating in sport did not fit well with
6288-654: Is related to the adaptation of light skin , and in turn the requirement for vitamin D synthesis and northern Europe's seasonally reduced solar radiation. Ancient DNA analysis (ADNA) has revealed that the oldest fossil known to carry the mutated allele rs12821256 of the KITLG gene, which is responsible for blond hair in modern Europeans, is a 17,000 year old Ancient North Eurasian specimen from Afontova Gora in Southern Siberia . The precise genetic origin and spread of blond hair into its present-day distribution
6419-456: Is removed, one or more shades, and synthetic color has been put in its place. All pigments wash out of the cuticle. Natural color stays in much longer and artificial will fade the fastest (depending on the color molecules and the form of the dye pigments). Permanent hair color gives the most flexibility because it can make hair lighter or darker as well as changing tone and color, but there are negatives. Constant (monthly or six-weekly) maintenance
6550-459: Is some evidence that natural blond hair is associated with high levels of prenatal testosterone . According to the sociologist Christie Davies , only around five percent of adults in Europe and North America are naturally blond. A study conducted in 2003 concluded that only four percent of American adults are naturally blond. A significant number of Caucasian women who have blonde hair have dyed it that way. The pigmentation of both hair and eyes
6681-476: Is the pigmentation of human hair follicles and shafts due to two types of melanin : eumelanin and pheomelanin . Generally, the more melanin present, the darker the hair. Its tone depends on the ratio of black or brown eumelanin to yellow or red pheomelanin. Melanin levels can vary over time, causing a person's hair color to change, and one person can have hair follicles of more than one color. Some hair colors are associated with some ethnic groups because of
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#17327728294016812-435: Is used in physical anthropology and medicine to determine the shades of hair color. The scale uses the following designations: A (very light blond), B to E (light blond), F to L ( blond ), M to O (dark blond), P to T ( light brown to brown ), U to Y (dark brown to black ) and Roman numerals I to IV ( red ) and V to VI (red-blond). Black hair or jet black hair is the darkest hair color. It has large amounts of eumelanin and
6943-404: Is usually: nose hair, hair on the head, beard, body hair, eyebrows. Hair color can be changed by a chemical process. Hair coloring is classed as "permanent" or "semi-permanent". Permanent hair color means that the hair's structure has been chemically altered until it is eventually cut away. This does not mean that the synthetic color will remain permanently. During the process, the natural color
7074-601: The Aeneid of Virgil , Maurus Servius Honoratus noted that the respectable matron was only black haired, never blonde. In the same passage, he mentioned that Cato the Elder wrote that some matrons would sprinkle golden dust on their hair to make it reddish-color. Emperor Lucius Verus (r. 161–169 AD) was said to sprinkle gold-dust on his already "golden" blond hair to make it even blonder and brighter. From an ethnic point of view, Roman authors associated blond and red hair with
7205-516: The Aphrodite of Knidos , sculpted in the fourth century BC by Praxiteles , represented the goddess' hair using gold leaf and contributed to the popularity of the image of Aphrodite as a blonde goddess. Greek prostitutes frequently dyed their hair blond using saffron dyes or colored powders. Blond dye was highly expensive, took great effort to apply, and smelled repugnant, but none of these factors inhibited Greek prostitutes from dying their hair. As
7336-535: The Ancient North Eurasians . The earliest known individual with this allele is a Siberian fossil from Afontova Gora, in south-central Siberia. Reich has written that the derived SNP for blond hair entered continental Europe by way of a massive population migration from the Eurasian steppe, by a people who had substantial Ancient North Eurasian ancestry. Blond hair has been discovered in human burial sites in north-western China and Mongolia dating to
7467-530: The Church of England . Nonconformists comprised about half of church attendees in England in 1851, and gradually the legal discrimination that had been established against them outside of Scotland was removed. Legal restrictions on Roman Catholics were also largely removed . The number of Catholics grew in Great Britain due to conversions and immigration from Ireland . Secularism and doubts about
7598-726: The Gauls and the Germans : e.g., Virgil describes the hair of the Gauls as "golden" ( aurea caesaries ), Tacitus wrote that "the Germans have fierce blue eyes, red-blond hair ( rutilae comae ), huge (tall) frames"; in accordance with Ammianus , almost all the Gauls were "of tall stature, fair and ruddy". Celtic and Germanic peoples of the provinces , among the free subjects called peregrini , served in Rome's armies as auxilia , such as
7729-755: The Georgian era and preceded the Edwardian era , and its later half overlaps with the first part of the Belle Époque era of continental Europe. Various liberalising political reforms took place in the UK, including expanding the electoral franchise. The Great Famine caused mass death in Ireland early in the period. The British Empire had relatively peaceful relations with the other great powers . It participated in various military conflicts mainly against minor powers. The British Empire expanded during this period and
7860-728: The Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great and members of the Macedonian Greek Ptolemaic dynasty of Hellenistic Egypt had blond hair, such as Arsinoe II and Berenice II . Additionally, the ancient Greek lyric poet Bacchylides wrote of "the blonde daughters of the Lacedaemonians " ( Spartans ), while also noting the golden hair of athletes at the Nemean Games . The most famous statue of Aphrodite,
7991-523: The Medieval Latin blundus , meaning 'yellow'. The feminine form blonde was introduced in the 17th century. Blond/blonde , with its continued gender–varied usage, is one of the few adjectives in written English to retain separate lexical genders. The two forms, however, are pronounced identically. American Heritage 's Book of English Usage propounds that, as "a blonde" (just so, with "blonde" as noun) might not uncommonly be used to describe
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#17327728294018122-684: The Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology Jon Røyne Kyllingstad has written that in the early twentieth-century racialist and supremacist thinkers promulgated the theory that human features such as blond hair and blue eyes were hallmarks of a " master race ". In the 1920s, the eugenicist Eugen Fischer invented a hair palette called the Fischer scale that he said could categorize racial typology—these typologies were abandoned after World War II . Kyllingstad sees classification of race based on physical characteristics such as hair color as
8253-570: The Pax Britannica , was a time of relatively peaceful relations between the world's great powers . This is particularly true of Britain's interactions with the others. The only war in which the British Empire fought against another major power was the Crimean War , from 1853 to 1856. There were various revolts and violent conflicts within the British Empire, and Britain participated in wars against minor powers. It also took part in
8384-448: The equator tend to have darker hair, because eumelanin is generally more photoprotective than pheomelanin. Pheomelanin colors hair orange and red . Eumelanin, which has two subtypes of black or brown , determines the darkness of the hair color; more black eumelanin leads to blacker hair and more brown eumelanin to browner hair. All human hair has some amount of both pigments. Over 95% of melanin content in black and brown hair
8515-449: The melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R) gene can lead to red or auburn hair, and exposure to ultraviolet radiation can damage hair and alter its pigmentation. Ultraviolet radiation (UV radiation) triggers greater synthesis of several compounds, including pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC), α-MSH , and ACTH , the result being increased eumelanin production. UV radiation most commonly comes from the sun, and thus populations from places closer to
8646-587: The 'workshop of the world', Britain was uniquely advanced in technology in the mid-19th century. Engineering, having developed into a profession in the 18th century, gained new profile and prestige in this period. The Victorian era saw methods of communication and transportation develop significantly. In 1837, William Fothergill Cooke and Charles Wheatstone invented the first telegraph system . This system, which used electrical currents to transmit coded messages, quickly spread across Britain, appearing in every town and post office. A worldwide network developed towards
8777-587: The 1880s, sanitation was inadequate in areas such as water supply and disposal of sewage. This all had a negative effect on health, especially that of the impoverished young. For instance, of the babies born in Liverpool in 1851, only 45 per cent survived to age 20. It had been hoped that there would be a rapid improvement following the Public Baths and Wash-houses Act 1846. This was the first legislation to empower local authorities in England and Wales to fund
8908-413: The 19th century and germ theory was developed for the first time. Doctors became more specialised and the number of hospitals grew. The overall number of deaths fell by about 20%. The life expectancy of women increased from around 42 to 55 and 40 to 56 for men. In spite of this, the mortality rate fell only marginally, from 20.8 per thousand in 1850 to 18.2 by the end of the century. Urbanisation aided
9039-550: The 19th century for the first time in history, improved nutrition, and a lower overall mortality rate. Ireland's population shrank significantly, mostly due to emigration and the Great Famine. The professionalisation of scientific study began in parts of Europe following the French Revolution but was slow to reach Britain. William Whewell coined the term 'scientist' in 1833 to refer to those who studied what
9170-575: The 2nd millennium CE. The Tuvans are a Turkic ethnic group with an occasional occurrence of blond hair with freckles, blue-green eyes. Most people in ancient Greece had dark hair and, as a result of this, the Greeks found blond hair immensely fascinating. In the Homeric epics, Menelaus the king of the Spartans is, together with some other Achaean leaders, portrayed as blond. Other blond characters in
9301-454: The Bible. A variety of reading materials grew in popularity during the period, including novels, women's magazines, children's literature, and newspapers. Much literature, including chapbooks , was distributed on the street. Music was also very popular, with genres such as folk music , broadsides , music halls , brass bands , theater music and choral music having mass appeal. What
9432-490: The British Empire, reform included rapid expansion, the complete abolition of slavery in the African possessions and the end of transportation of convicts to Australia . Restrictions on colonial trade were loosened and responsible (i.e. semi-autonomous) government was introduced in some territories. Throughout most of the 19th century Britain was the most powerful country in the world. The period from 1815 to 1914 , known as
9563-497: The Homeric poems are Peleus , Achilles , Meleager , Agamede , and Rhadamanthys . Aphrodite , the Greek goddess of love and beauty, was often described as golden-haired and portrayed with this color hair in art. Aphrodite's master epithet in the Homeric epics is χρυσέη ( khruséē ), which means "golden". The traces of hair color on Greek korai probably reflect the colors the artists saw in natural hair; these colors include
9694-521: The Iron Age. The Hmong people , originally from northern China, were historically recorded as having blonde hair and blue eyes by the Chinese in ancient times, but their features became darker as they migrated out of China and in to Southeast Asia. The ethnic Miao people of Guizhou province from China, a subgroup of Hmong people, have been described as having blue eyes and blonde hair. F.M Savina of
9825-553: The Origin of Species (1859), which sought to explain biological evolution by natural selection, gained a high profile in the public consciousness. Simplified (and at times inaccurate) popular science was increasingly distributed through a variety of publications which caused tension with the professionals. There were significant advances in various fields of research, including statistics , elasticity , refrigeration , natural history , electromagnetism , and logic . Known as
9956-579: The Paris Foreign missionary society wrote that the Miao are "pale yellow in complexion, almost white, their hair is often light or dark brown, sometimes even red or corn-silk blond, and a few even have pale blue eyes." Chinese historical documents describe blond haired, blue-eyed warriors among the Xiongnu , a nomadic equestrian culture from Mongolia, who practiced Tengriism . The Shiwei people were
10087-408: The Victorian era covers the duration of Victoria's reign as Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland , from her accession on 20 June 1837—after the death of her uncle, William IV —until her death on 22 January 1901, after which she was succeeded by her eldest son, Edward VII . Her reign lasted 63 years and seven months, a longer period than any of her predecessors. The term 'Victorian'
10218-420: The Victorian heyday: mid-Victorianism, 1851 to 1879. He saw the latter period as characterised by a distinctive mixture of prosperity, domestic prudery , and complacency —what G. M. Trevelyan called the 'mid-Victorian decades of quiet politics and roaring prosperity'. The Reform Act , which made various changes to the electoral system including expanding the franchise, had been passed in 1832. The franchise
10349-638: The Victorian view of femininity, but their involvement did increase as the period progressed. For the middle classes, many leisure activities such as table games could be done in the home while domestic holidays to rural locations such as the Lake District and Scottish Highlands were increasingly practical. The working classes had their own culture separate from that of their richer counterparts, various cheaper forms of entertainment and recreational activities provided by philanthropy . Trips to resorts such as Blackpool were increasingly popular towards
10480-400: The West." The rapid growth in the urban population included the new industrial and manufacturing cities, as well as service centres such as Edinburgh and London. Private renting from housing landlords was the dominant tenure. P. Kemp says this was usually of advantage to tenants. Overcrowding was a major problem with seven or eight people frequently sleeping in a single room. Until at least
10611-504: The accuracy of the Old Testament grew among people with higher levels of education. Northern English and Scottish academics tended to be more religiously conservative, whilst agnosticism and even atheism (though its promotion was illegal) gained appeal among academics in the south. Historians refer to a 'Victorian Crisis of Faith', a period when religious views had to readjust to accommodate new scientific knowledge and criticism of
10742-660: The ancient Greek goddess of love and beauty, was described as having blonde hair. In the Greco-Roman world , blonde hair was frequently associated with prostitutes, who dyed their hair using saffron dyes in order to attract more customers. The Greeks stereotyped Thracians and slaves as blond and the Romans associated blondness with the Celts and the Germanic peoples to the north. In the ancient Greek world, Iliad presented
10873-411: The basis for welfare provision into the 20th century. While many people were prone to vices, not least alcoholism, historian Bernard A. Cook argues that the main reason for 19th century poverty was that typical wages for much of the population were simply too low. Barely enough to provide a subsistence living in good times, let alone save up for bad. Improvements were made over time to housing along with
11004-562: The blond man Jarl is considered to be the ancestor of the dominant warrior class. The Scandinavians were not the only ones to place strong emphasis on the beauty of blond hair; the French writer Christine de Pisan writes in her book The Treasure of the City of Ladies (1404) that "there is nothing in the world lovelier on a woman's head than beautiful blond hair". In medieval artwork, female saints are often shown with long, shimmering blond hair, which emphasizes their holiness and virginity. At
11135-466: The building of public baths and wash houses but, since the act was only permissive rather than mandatory, improvement was slow. Conditions were particularly bad in London, where the population rose sharply and poorly maintained, overcrowded dwellings became slum housing. Kellow Chesney wrote of the situation: Hideous slums, some of them acres wide, some no more than crannies of obscure misery, make up
11266-575: The cavalry contingents in the army of Julius Caesar . Some became Roman citizens as far back as the 1st century BC, following a policy of Romanization of Gaul and Lesser Germania . Sometimes entire Celtic and Germanic tribes were granted citizenship, such as when emperor Otho granted citizenship to all of the Lingones in 69 AD. By the 1st century BC, the Roman Republic had expanded its control into parts of western Germany , and by 85 AD
11397-548: The character of gentlewomen, causing the overthrow of houses, the ruin of nuptials, and accusations on the part of children?" During the early years of the Roman Empire , blond hair was associated with prostitutes . The preference changed to bleaching the hair blond when Greek culture, which practiced bleaching, reached Rome, and was reinforced when the legions that conquered Gaul returned with blond slaves. Sherrow also states that Roman women tried to lighten their hair, but
11528-489: The children in school; in 1840 only about 20 per cent of the children in London had any schooling. By the 1850s, around half of the children in England and Wales were in school (not including Sunday school ). From the 1833 Factory Act onwards, attempts were made to get child labourers into part time education, though this was often difficult to achieve. Only in the 1870s and 1880s did children begin to be compelled into school. Work continued to inhibit children's schooling into
11659-439: The color at all). A few gray and white hairs will blend in visually, but semi-permanent dye alone will not usually give the desired result where there is a lot of gray or white hair present. Sometimes a mixture of dyes is used while hair is greying: semi-permanent as a base color, with permanent highlights. Semi-permanent hair color cannot lighten hair. Hair can only be lightened using chemical lighteners, such as bleach. Bleaching
11790-605: The development of light skin that enables more efficient synthesis of vitamin D , due to northern Europe's lower levels of sunlight. Blond hair has also developed in other populations, although it is usually not as common, and can be found among the native populations of the Solomon Islands , Vanuatu , and Fiji ; among the Berbers of North Africa ; and among some Asian people. In Western culture , blonde hair has long been associated with beauty and vitality. Aphrodite ,
11921-797: The diplomatic struggles of the Great Game and the Scramble for Africa . In 1840, Queen Victoria married her German cousin Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha . The couple had nine children, who themselves married into various royal families, and the queen thus became known as the 'grandmother of Europe'. In 1861, Albert died. Victoria went into mourning and withdrew from public life for ten years. In 1871, with republican sentiments growing in Britain, she began to return to public life. In her later years, her popularity soared as she became
12052-474: The early 20th century. 19th-century Britain saw a huge population increase accompanied by rapid urbanisation stimulated by the Industrial Revolution. In the 1901 census , more than three out of every four people were classified as living in an urban area, compared to one in five a century earlier. Historian Richard A. Soloway wrote that "Great Britain had become the most urbanized country in
12183-424: The end of period. Initially the industrial revolution increased working hours, but over the course of the 19th century a variety of political and economic changes caused them to fall back down to and in some cases below pre-industrial levels, creating more time for leisure. Before the Industrial Revolution, daily life had changed little for hundreds of years. The 19th century saw rapid technological development with
12314-453: The end of the century. Private education for wealthier children, boys and more gradually girls, became more formalised over the course of the century. The growing middle class and strong evangelical movement placed great emphasis on a respectable and moral code of behaviour. This included features such as charity, personal responsibility, controlled habits, child discipline and self-criticism. As well as personal improvement, importance
12445-470: The end of the century. In 1876, an American patented the telephone . A little over a decade later, 26,000 telephones were in service in Britain. Multiple switchboards were installed in every major town and city. Guglielmo Marconi developed early radio broadcasting at the end of the period. The railways were important economically in the Victorian era, allowing goods, raw materials, and people to be moved around, stimulating trade and industry. They were also
12576-516: The family, and the idea that marriage should be based on romantic love gained popularity. A clear separation was established between the home and the workplace, which had often not been the case before. The home was seen as a private environment, where housewives provided their husbands with a respite from the troubles of the outside world. Within this ideal, women were expected to focus on domestic matters and to rely on men as breadwinners. Women had limited legal rights in most areas of life, and
12707-837: The fashion and modelling industries, or because they may be perceived as healthier or more fertile than blonde women. In Central Asia and East Asia , blonde women are ranked below black-haired women in the hierarchy of female attractiveness. In the Soviet Union , Russian schoolteachers struggled to convince Central Asian students that blue-eyed, blonde heroines in Russian poetry were attractive. The ethnic Kyrgyz students, in particular, regarded blonde women as "hideous", and insisted that their hair be changed to black. Popular television commercials in Japan have portrayed blonde women as highly jealous of black-haired Japanese women. In 2014,
12838-414: The first time. Whilst some attempts were made to improve living conditions, slum housing and disease remained a severe problem. The period saw significant scientific and technological development. Britain was advanced in industry and engineering in particular, but somewhat undeveloped in art and education. Great Britain's population increased rapidly, while Ireland's fell sharply. In the strictest sense,
12969-404: The hair gray and then white. This is called achromotrichia. Achromotrichia normally begins in the early to mid-twenties in men and late twenties in women. More than 60 percent of Americans have some gray hair by age 40. The age at which graying begins seems almost entirely due to genetics . Sometimes people are born with gray hair because they inherit the trait. The order in which graying happens
13100-796: The highest amounts of pheomelanin , around 67%, and usually low levels of eumelanin . At 1–2% of the west Eurasian population, it is the least common hair color in the world. It is most prominently found in the British Isles and in Udmurtia . Scotland has the highest proportion of redheads; 13 percent of the population has red hair and approximately 40 percent carry the recessive redhead gene. Red hair can also occur in Southern Europe, West Asia, North Africa and Central Asia. Blond (sometimes blonde for women) hair ranges from pale white (platinum blond) to dark gold blond. Strawberry blond,
13231-582: The iridescence of a raven's wing; hence, sometimes referred to as raven-black. Jet black hair appears to have reflective silver color in bright sunlight. Brown hair is the second most common human hair color, after black. Brown hair is characterized by higher levels of eumelanin and lower levels of pheomelanin. Of the two types of eumelanin (black and brown), brown-haired people have brown eumelanin; they also usually have medium-thick strands of hair. Brown-haired girls or women of European, West Asian or North African descent are often known as brunettes. Chestnut hair
13362-607: The length and color of a woman's hair, considering long, blond hair to be the ideal, as it was associated with gold . In Norse mythology , the goddess Sif has famously blond hair. In the Old Norse Gunnlaug Saga , Helga the Beautiful , described as "the most beautiful woman in the world", is said to have had blond hair so long that it can "envelope her entirely". In the Poetic Edda poem Rígsþula ,
13493-420: The management of sewage and water eventually giving the UK the most advanced system of public health protection anywhere in the world. The quality and safety of household lighting improved over the period with oil lamps becoming the norm in the early 1860s, gas lighting in the 1890s and electric lights beginning to appear in the homes of the richest by the end of the period. Medicine advanced rapidly during
13624-448: The melanocytes, tyrosine is converted into L-DOPA and then L-dopaquinone , which in turn is formed into pheomelanin or eumelanin. Different hair color phenotypes arise primarily as a result of varying ratios of these two pigments in the human population, although Europeans show the greatest range in pigmentation overall. In addition, other genetic and environmental factors can affect hair color in humans; for instance, mutations in
13755-444: The middle of the 19th century to 'diminished cruelty to animals, criminals, lunatics, and children (in that order)'. Legal restrictions were placed on cruelty to animals. Restrictions were placed on the working hours of child labourers in the 1830s and 1840s. Further interventions took place throughout the century to increase the level of child protection. Use of the death penalty also decreased. Crime rates fell significantly in
13886-494: The middle- and working-classes a role in politics. However, all women and a large minority of men remained outside the system into the early 20th century. Cities were given greater political autonomy and the labour movement was legalised. From 1845 to 1852, the Potato Famine caused mass starvation, disease and death in Ireland, sparking large-scale emigration. The Corn Laws were repealed in response to this. Across
14017-455: The migration of Steppe peoples. He found evidence for blond individuals in ancient Southern Europe and the Levant , with no Steppe ancestry. He also observed that blond hair was rare in the available samples for early Bronze Age Steppe groups, yet common in the later Bronze Age groups, which is inconsistent with the theory that Steppe populations spread the phenotype for blond hair. However, this
14148-657: The modern era. The Goths , a Germanic tribe who played a central role in the Fall of the Western Roman Empire through their conquest, were always described in ancient sources as tall and athletic, with light skin, yellow (blond) hair and blue eyes, The contemporary Greek scholar and historian Procopius noted of the Goths: "they all have white bodies and fair hair, and are tall and handsome to look upon." Medieval Scandinavian art and literature often places emphasis on
14279-660: The mythological hero Achilles as what was then the ideal male warrior: handsome, tall, strong, and blond. In Western Europe during the Middle Ages , long and blonde hair was idealized as the paragon of female beauty. Sif , the wife of Thor in Norse mythology , and Iseult , the Celtic-origin legendary heroine, were both significantly portrayed as blonde. In contemporary Western culture, blonde women are often stereotyped as beautiful, but unintelligent. The word blond
14410-451: The observed higher frequency of particular hair colors within their geographical region, e.g. straight, dark hair amongst East Asians , Southeast Asians , Polynesians , some Central Asians , and Native Americans ; a large variety of dark, fair, curly, straight, wavy or bushy amongst Europeans , West Asians , some Central Asians, and North Africans ; and curly, dark, and uniquely helical hair amongst Sub Saharan Africans . Bright red hair
14541-514: The population in 1800 to less than a third by 1901. However, 1890s studies suggested that almost 10% of the urban population lived in a state of desperation lacking the food necessary to maintain basic physical functions. Attitudes towards the poor were often unsympathetic and they were frequently blamed for their situation. In that spirit, the Poor Law Amendment Act 1834 had been deliberately designed to punish them and would remain
14672-399: The provinces of Germania Inferior and Germania Superior were formally established there. Yet as late as the 4th century AD, Ausonius , a poet and tutor from Burdigala , wrote a poem about an Alemanni slave girl named Bissula , whom he had recently freed after she'd been taken as a prisoner of war in the campaigns of Valentinian I , noting that her adopted Latin language marked her as
14803-478: The same time, however, Eve is sometimes shown with long, blond hair, which frames her nude body and draws attention to her sexual attractiveness. Iseult was so closely associated with blondness that, in the poems of Chrétien de Troyes , she is called "Iseult le Blonde". In Geoffrey Chaucer 's Canterbury Tales , the knight describes the Princess Emily as blond in his tale . In the older versions of
14934-405: The second half of the 19th century. Sociologist Christie Davies linked this change to attempts to morally educate the population, especially at Sunday schools . Contrary to popular belief, Victorian society understood that both men and women enjoyed copulation . Chastity was expected of women, whilst attitudes to male sexual behaviour were more relaxed. The development of police forces led to
15065-402: The spread of diseases and squalid living conditions in many places exacerbated the problem. The population of England, Scotland and Wales grew rapidly during the 19th century. Various factors are considered contributary to this, including a rising fertility rate (though it was falling by the end of the period), the lack of a catastrophic pandemic or famine in the island of Great Britain during
15196-481: The state of being blond, and specifically the occurrence of blond traits in a predominantly dark or colored population are referred to as blondism . Because hair color tends to darken with age, natural blond hair is significantly less common in adulthood. Naturally-occurring blond hair is primarily found in people living in or descended from people who lived in Northern Europe , and may have evolved alongside
15327-427: The story of Tristan and Iseult , Tristan falls in love with Iseult after seeing only a single lock of her long, blond hair. In fact, Iseult was so closely associated with blondness that, in the poems of Chrétien de Troyes , she is called "Iseult le Blonde". In Geoffrey Chaucer 's Canterbury Tales (written from 1387 until 1400), the knight describes the beautiful Princess Emily in his tale , stating, "yclothed
15458-505: The substances often caused hair loss, so they resorted to wigs made from the captives' hair. According to Francis Owen , Roman literary records describe a large number of well-known Roman historical personalities as blond. Juvenal wrote in a satirical poem that Messalina , Roman empress of noble birth, would hide her black hair with a blond wig for her nightly visits to the brothel: sed nigrum flavo crinem abscondente galero intravit calidum veteri centone lupanar . In his Commentary on
15589-402: The war effort, and the evangelical movement's push for moral improvement. There is evidence that the expected standards of moral behaviour were reflected in action as well as rhetoric across all classes of society. For instance, an analysis suggested that less than 5% of working class couples cohabited before marriage. Historian Harold Perkin argued that the change in moral standards led by
15720-585: Was 0.5%. With the exception of Benevento and the surrounding area in Campania , where various shades of blond hair were present in 10–15% of the population, Southern Italy as a whole averaged between 2.5% and 7.4%. A number of blond naturally mummified bodies of common people (i.e. not proper mummies) dating to Roman times have been found in the Fagg El Gamous cemetery in Egypt . "Of those whose hair
15851-576: Was displayed inside the Parthenon . The Greeks thought of the Thracians who lived to the north as having reddish-blond hair. Because many Greek slaves were captured from Thrace , slaves were stereotyped as blond or red-headed. " Xanthias " (Ξανθίας), meaning "reddish blond", was a common name for slaves in ancient Greece and a slave by this name appears in many of the comedies of Aristophanes . Historian and Egyptologist Joann Fletcher asserts that
15982-534: Was expanded again by the Second Reform Act in 1867. The Third Reform Act in 1884 introduced a general principle of one vote per household. All these acts and others simplified the electoral system and reduced corruption. Historian Bruce L Kinzer describes these reforms as putting the United Kingdom on the path towards becoming a democracy. The traditional aristocratic ruling class attempted to maintain as much influence as possible while gradually allowing
16113-485: Was generally then known as natural philosophy, but it took a while to catch on. Having been previously dominated by amateurs with a separate income, the Royal Society admitted only professionals from 1847 onwards. The British biologist Thomas Henry Huxley indicated in 1852 that it remained difficult to earn a living as a scientist alone. Scientific knowledge and debates such as that about Charles Darwin 's On
16244-448: Was given to social reform. Utilitarianism was another philosophy that saw itself as based on science rather than on morality, but also emphasised social progress. An alliance formed between these two ideological strands. The reformers emphasised causes such as improving the conditions of women and children, giving police reform priority over harsh punishment to prevent crime, religious equality, and political reform in order to establish
16375-473: Was in contemporaneous usage to describe the era. The era can also be understood in a more extensive sense—the 'long Victorian era'—as a period that possessed sensibilities and characteristics distinct from the periods adjacent to it, in which case it is sometimes dated to begin before Victoria's accession—typically from the passage of or agitation for (during the 1830s) the Reform Act 1832 , which introduced
16506-401: Was low, punishments severe, work was dangerous and disrupted children's development (often leaving them too tired to play even in their free time). Early labour could do lifelong harm; even in the 1960s and '70s, the elderly people of industrial towns were noted for their often unusually short stature, deformed physiques, and diseases associated with unhealthy working conditions. Reformers wanted
16637-521: Was preserved 54% were blondes or redheads, and the percentage grows to 87% when light-brown hair color is added." Excavations have been ongoing since the 1980s. Burials seem to be clustered by hair-colour. Blonde hair is also found in some other parts of the South Pacific, such as the Solomon Islands , Vanuatu , and Fiji , again with higher incidences in children. Blond hair in Melanesians
16768-412: Was she fressh, for to devyse:/Hir yellow heer was broided in a tresse/Behinde hir bak, a yerde long, I gesse" (lines 1048–1050). Because of blond hair's relative commonness in northern Europe, folk tales from these regions tend to feature large numbers of blond protagonists, although these stories may not have been seen by their original tellers as idealizing blond hair. Furthermore, it is noted that there
16899-468: Was the predominant power in the world. Victorian society valued a high standard of personal conduct across all sections of society. The emphasis on morality gave impetus to social reform but also placed restrictions on certain groups' liberty. Prosperity rose during the period, but debilitating undernutrition persisted. Literacy and childhood education became near universal in Great Britain for
17030-550: Was to dye their hair blond or red. In 'Mark Twain and the American West', American novel writer Willa Cather 's depiction of Alexander the Great in ' Alexander's Bridge ' was described as "embodying the ideal", a "large, strong man with broad shoulders and rugged, blond good looks". In Nazi Germany , blond, stern-jawed men were seen as the masculine ideal as depicted in the films of Leni Riefenstahl and other propaganda. Writer R. Horrocks noted that totalitarianism reached
17161-432: Was well developed, education and the arts were mediocre. Wage rates continued to improve in the later 19th century: real wages (after taking inflation into account) were 65 per cent higher in 1901 compared to 1871. Much of the money was saved, as the number of depositors in savings banks rose from 430,000 in 1831 to 5.2 million in 1887, and their deposits from £14 million to over £90 million. Children had always played
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