I couldn’t wait to get older. I just knew that when I turned 30 that the general population would automatically begin to take me more seriously. I assumed the dumb blonde jokes would naturally cease and people would see the intelligence that brimmed from my brain. Not so.
How is it that if you’re a natural blonde everything you do is because you’re blonde? If you’re friendly and bubbly it’s because you’re blonde. I could act the same way as a brunette but her friendly, bubbly outlook would be considered good natured and wise but my disposition would be chalked up as a ditzy blonde without a brain in between my ears.
I believe this to be prejudice. It is an automatic assumption and an unwanted judgement.
Now that I am 40, the blonde jokes and the instant judgments that everything I do is because I am blonde have not ceased. It is assumed I can’t think. It is a given that I am fun to be with and bubbly, which, by the way, I am. I have tried to wear smart looking glasses and dress like a wise and sharp person but my natural inclination is to be silly and a bit clumsy and act like I know nothing with a tendency to pretend to be naive but it’s not because I am blonde. It’s the way I, as an individual, have learned to get by in this world. It’s worked. Perhaps being blonde helps me pass it off but it’s not because of it. I don’t have blonde DNA that bottles me up and says my hair color will make me who I am. Puhleeeeze.
My daughter is also blonde and experiences the same thing I do. She is an honor student and sharper than a tack and yet she suffers through the same things and the cycle is endlessly and shamelessly repeated over and over through our family generation. My mom has 2 degrees, a Masters and her PhD and she is over 60 and still gets the blonde whippings. I assume my daughter’s daughter will get the same thing. My son has never experienced it even though he is blonde. It seems to only strike females.
Don’t get me wrong. I have used my hair color to my advantage over the years. Being intelligent, discerning and mischievous has worked well for me as I hide behind a bubbly, blonde disposition. It’s carried me through. It’s been a great tool. I have been able to get by with a lot of stuff with this color. The disadvantage is probably greater but since I have lived this way all my life, it’s all I know. Perhaps as I age my hair will turn white and I will be seen in a brand new light. Maybe one day people will stand in awe at my brilliance…*giggle, snort, giggle* … you get the point.
