Blonde hair over time .....

Blonde hair has only really been around for around 1100 years, but throughout this time, blonde hair has made quite an impact on society during different time periods.  It  has been perceived in different ways, and some perceptions like the dumb blonde stereotype live on today, as we know. But how was blonde hair considered back in our ancestor's time?

In ancient Greece(7th Century BC), blondes were regarded very highly in society. Goddesses such as Aphrodite and heroes of the Iliad were said to have blonde hair. This shows how important blonde hair was considered in their society. they also thought that Venus, their god of love had blonde hair. this could partly have to do with why Greek men found blondes so attractive.
                     
In the next century, during Ancient Rome(8th Century BC), there were very different thoughts about blonde hair. At first, blonde hair was linked to prostitution and a sign of undesirability and poverty.Many women even dyed their hair from blonde to a darker colour to prevent being associated with these things. But over time, after learning about the Greek perception of blondes, roman society began to regard blonde hair as desirable and elegant. so many Roman woman resorted to dying their hair to a blonde colour.


Moving forward to the middle ages, women continued to dye their hair blonde. In this age, blonde hair was  associated with prostitutes and was considered provocative.
The renaissance period came next, italian artists depicted beautiful women with blonde hair in their paintings. this made people of this time associate blondes with beauty, grace and elegance. women also began to think of new ways of dying their hair, one of which involved putting lemon juice in ones hair and then going out in the sun in the hope that this would lighten your hair. this method is still used today and could be considered as an old wives tale.


In the 16th - 17th century, darker hair was considered more beautiful than fair hair, But this all changed in the 18th century when Marie Antoinette came into power.
from the 1900's onwards, blonde hair could have been described in some cases as the pinnacle of beauty, because of icons such as Marilyn Monroe.Here , the dumb blonde stereotype was enforced even more in movies and media at this time.
Today, blonde hair is still considered pretty, but not in the way that it may have been centuries ago. Mwany women dye their hair and there is probably more blondes around today than ever(most of them not natural of course), as blonde hair dye is now so easy to use and readily available.