Extinction : Blondes may have more fun, but this might not be the case for much longer..............

As previously mentioned in my blog in an earlier post, blondes are predicted to become extinct in the coming century. According to the WHO( the world health organisation), the last blonde is said to be born in Finland in 2022.
Blonde hair is a recessive gene , and in order for it to be passed onto the next generation or offspring, both parents need to carry the blonde gene. if both parents carry this gene from their family history, it is most likely that the child will have blonde hair.
the last person with blonde hair is predicted to be born in Finland, as this is the place where blonde hair is the most prevalent and where the most people have blonde hair. But many experts condemn the statement about blonde hair becoming extinct , saying that the blonde gene may be recessive , but it certainly wont die out. There are contradicting views over this topic.In some cases scientists believe this is very accurate, but others think that this is just a statement without any proof behind it.  Some say that magazines and newspapers reported this astonishing statement about blondes, stating that the WHO ( the world health organisation) had done scientific research on it. But the WHO deny having done this study. so who is to believe in this scenario ? The theorists or the factualists? Will our grandchildren grow up not seeing a blonde human being? And if natural blondes do eventually become extinct , will women still continue to dye their hair blonde? I personally think that there will be a slight decrease in the number of natural blondes, but i don't think that natural blondes will become extinct, and i certainly dont believe that blonde hairdye will be considered a thing of the past either!

this is a video i found on youtube about the theory of the extinction of blondes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=ab1EixVFKZE

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.

The different variations of Blonde

As you may have noticed, their are many variations of blonde. There is no set one blonde colour. Blonde as we know is measured on the fischer saller scale, but blonde hair colour is generalised into a few different catagories. The main catagories are :

• Platinum Blonde is almost white in color with a tint of silver or white ,  it is the lightest of the blonde shades.It is normally found among young children. To get this colour in women's hair,they use peroxide to bleach their hair.

• 
•  Golden blonde, is also called honey blonde. Like its name, golden blonde hair looks golden in colour.

• A strawberry blonde has a tint of slight reddish colour in the blonde hair. And is sort of like a mix between blonde and ginger hair.

 

• Light blonde , is a pale yellow colour that does not have gold, red or brown tints.

• Dirty blonde,  is a darker shade of blonde. It could be defined as a mixture of brown and blonde hair.

•  Sandy blonde is the darkest of all the blonde shades. And could be classed as more brown than blonde.

 

As you can see, each of these shades of blonde are very different. there is a huge spectrum of blonde hair colours. |For example,  l'oreal has a huge variety of blonde hair dye which contains around 55 shades of blonde! this should be more han enough for a person to choose from.

OMG She's such a dumb blonde!

The Famous Author George Elliot once said "Dont Judge a book by it's cover".But this is easier said than done. In today's society we are quick to prejudge someone. we are convinced that a person is fixed to a certain stereotype.Blondes have been stereotyped against for generations. When we think of the term"Blonde", many of us think of celebrities and the phrase "blondes have more fun!", but the term blonde also comes with negative connotations such as "Dumb Blonde".

• "The waitress asked the blonde if she would like her pizza cut into six pieces or twelve."

• "Six please" she said, "I could never eat twelve!"

Blonde jokes exploit the term Dumb Blonde. But why are blondes considered the dumb ones? not brunettes or red heads? is there reason behind this stereotype ? What did this stereotype originate from?
One place this stereotype is said to have started is in the Medieval times. The rich and wealthy were said to have darker hair and the peasant servant were said to have lighter hair from working outside in the sun. Peasant servants were said to be less intelligent than the upper class , so here an association between fair haired people being less intelligent than those with darker hair began.
Although this stereotype may have began centuries ago, the dumb blonde stereotype is very prevalent still in our lives today. you would think that with all our advances with anti apartheid and equality that surely a thing such as stereotyping someone simply because of their hair colour would be abolished from our society, but unfortunately this is not the case.
In modern pop culture the dumb blonde image is still portrayed today.Probably one of the most famous blonde haired icons, Marilyn Monroe, portrayed a dumb blonde character in most of her films. This reinforced the stereotype int our society. Also films like legally blonde play on the stereotype.

• What can strike a blonde without her even knowing it?
•  A thought. 

Why are blondes considered dumb, when in fact they have an average IQ of 100, which is the same for people of any colour hair. Roughly 10% of the worlds population is blonde, 8% of this is unnatural. so why would these people dye their hair to be prejudged as being dumb? clearly it's because blondes have more fun! Again, this is another stereotype.But why is a dumb blonde joke only funny when its about a blonde? why cant it be:

• "How do you keep a brunette busy?"
• "Write "please turn over "on both sides of the paper "

As you can see , the media has altered our perception of blondes. they almost brainwash society to perceive blondes in a certain way. But there are no facts to back up the stereotypes. So, i encourage you to not judge a book by its cover and abolish the blonde stereotype.
 

This is a documentary i found on youtube about blonde sterotypes:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=L0GqDe5NViM

Blonde: dyed or natural?

Blonde is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as simply having hair of a fair or pale yellow colour. Blonde hair is determined by the levels of the pigment eumelanin. But many women dye their hair with the aid of peroxide and dyes. Very Blonde hair is most common in infants and children. Around the age of adolescents, blonde hair begins to get progressively darker and most of the time turns brunette. Its is in very few situations that blonde hair stays its original colour from childhood.

In recent years scientists have been lead to believe that the blonde gene is in decline and is thought to be extinct by the year 2202.  Due to recent studies in Germany , scientists believe that there is not enough of the blonde gene left in the world to last the next two centuries.

The theory behind this astonishing statement is thought to be because of bleached, dyed and bottle blonde hair. so, even though it seems that there are an abundance of blonde haired people around us, infact most of these people arent nautural blondes. statistrics show that on average 1 in 3 american women dye their hair blonde. But why do women feel the need to dye their hair blonde ? what is the attraction? is it that blondes have more fun ? or are men infact more attracted to blonde hair.

The Geography of the Dispersal of Blondes around the World.

This map shows the most common hair colour in each region shown. As you can see, blonde hair is most common in Sweden and the surrounding areas, getting progessively darker in colour .Blonde hair is most common in scandinavian countries and around the Baltic sea. Blonde hair is often associated with lighter eye colours such as blue or light green.

Blonde hair has been said to have developed in scandanavia around the last iceage either due to a genetic mutation or selective breeding. it is thought that the blonde gene spread around Europe due to vikings on their travels and raids. 

The Fischer–Saller scale is a chart used to grade hair colour. This scale catagorises hair colour as either black, brown, blond, or red, with variations of each colour in each section. On the Fischer Saller scale, blonde hair ranges from the letters A-J.

Blonde is defined in the Oxford English Dictionary as simply having hair of a fair or pale yellow colour.

Blonde hair is determined by the levels of the pigment eumelanin. Natural blonde hair is very rare, and is thought to make up just 2% of the population.

My Introduction

Hi, my name is Sarah and I am a Transition Year student in Wesley College. I will be blogging about all aspects of blonde hair including its history, what causes it , and blonde stereotypes. I aim to present the facts and abolish the perception of dumb blondes and show what is the truth about golden locks. The reason i chose this topic is because i am a natural blonde and have an interest in learning more about this subject.
In my blog i will be using sources such as wikepidia/ blondes, wikepedia/blondestererotypes and bbc health/the extinction of the blonde gene and bella sugar/ history of blondes.  Any pictures i use will also be from google images. I hope you enjoy my posts and maybe learn something new about blondes.