Posted
on November 24, 2014
Someone
created a day to celebrate dark hair and brunettes, because
light-colored hair and blonds are so generally noticed and
celebrated. I guess the inspiration for the name of the day is that
there are stories about Goldilocks with her famous golden curls, but
no stories starring Brownielocks.
Why
do blonds get more attention? Why is there a saying “Blonds have
more fun”? Why are there stereotypical “dumb blond” jokes? What
does hair color have to do with anything?
Our
bodies produce a pigment called melanin. It is the thing that gives
our hair, our eyes, and our skin different colors. The more melanin
you have in your hair, the darker your hair.
Black is the most common
hair color in the world, and brown is the second most common. Blond hair –
which ranges from almost white to sort of yellow to a deep gold color
that is close to light brown – is much more rare; only about 2% of
the world's population is born blond, and most blonds have brown hair
when they are adults (unless of course they bleach or dye their
hair). Red hair is even more rare, and is often noticed and commented
on even more than is blond hair.
So blonds are more noticed because they
are more rare. Nowadays, however, soooooo many people frequently and
easily change their hair color, natural blonds and redheads will
probably get less attention because there are so many “bottle
blonds” and redheads about.
Of
course there is no connection between natural hair color and
intelligence. Probably the two main reasons for the unkind “dumb
blond” jokes are:
(1) A lot of blond teens and adults are
people who lighten and dye their hair, and some of them care a lot
about image, fashion, and / or seeming to be younger than they are;
some people interpret those values as shallow and frivolous.
(2)
Since blonds tend to get more attention, unkind jokes and stereotypes
could well be the product of jealousy.
To
celebrate brownielocks day, we are encouraged to heap attention on
the brunettes in our lives, to wear brown and eat brown foods (mmm,
brownies!), and to enjoy our teddy bears. (Goldilocks shouldn't get
all of the fun of hanging with bears, right?)
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on this date:
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