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TwilightPrincess
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13 Jul 2024, 9:48 am

For those of you who are/were blonde, did you grow up hearing dumb blonde jokes? I remember hearing them from certain family members from the time that I was very young. As a young child, my hair was long and light blonde. It’s more of a dark blonde or light brown now. When I was little, I used to stim by twirling it around my finger which probably led to some of the remarks although if I said something nonsensical, as children are apt to, I’d hear it too.

Apart from being sexist and in poor taste, the jokes weren’t even remotely funny.



Lost_dragon
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13 Jul 2024, 2:26 pm

Yeah. Not from family members though but from classmates.

My hair is now a dark strawberry blonde / almost brunette / golden brown type colour. I still occasionally get jokes directed at me. Such as recently when I attempted to open a door that had a special lock and I messed up the pattern.

A woman made a joke about how as a natural blonde I have an excuse for such moments, but that she doesn't have that to fall back on when she makes mistakes. I didn't acknowledge her remark and just carried on the conversation.

How blonde, ginger or brunette I look really depends on the lighting. Sometimes people ask because they're not sure what to consider me.


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babybird
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23 Jul 2024, 11:34 am

I hate the term dum blonde me

The only person who I've ever heard use it was actually a female woman who just happened to herself be stupid and unfortunately blonde. She used to say it in a really derogatory way

The term itself makes me absolutely cringe and I'm not even blonde


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IsabellaLinton
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23 Jul 2024, 1:38 pm

Does it apply to blonde men too?
I've only heard it in the context of insulting women.
Ironically, lots of men were also attracted to blondes.
I guess they couldn't make up their minds.
Maybe they thought stupid people were sexy?

I don't get it.


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Sweetleaf
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23 Jul 2024, 1:39 pm

I am not blonde but my sister is, so I've heard people make those jokes at her sometimes and didn't think it was funny. She often responded with a bit of sarcasm, so I don't think she thought it was funny either.

Mostly immature kids in school, not sure if she's dealt with it as an adult.


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Lost_dragon
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23 Jul 2024, 4:28 pm

IsabellaLinton wrote:
Does it apply to blonde men too?
I've only heard it in the context of insulting women.
Ironically, lots of men were also attracted to blondes.
I guess they couldn't make up their minds.
Maybe they thought stupid people were sexy?

I don't get it.


It's less common, however, I have seen the dumb blond stereotype applied to male characters. That's actually why I gave up on the 'Artemis Fowl' series. Slight spoilers but the main character has two younger brothers (whom are twins). There's a spin off series about the twins and one is described as analytical and focused whereas the other is described as blond. He's implied to be more emotionally intelligent but lacking in book-smarts and laidback. Which is fine but using blond to describe that as a shorthand just irked me. I didn't read the spinoff because if the synopsis is anything to go by I bet the blond character is the butt of the joke and that would get tiring.

Chat Noir is another blond male character who often gets referred to as a dumb blond by the 'Miraculous Ladybug' fandom.

I've seen it be used to describe Percy Jackson. His character has dark hair in the books, however the actor who plays him in the TV show has blond hair. I don't think this makes much of a difference. However, this change has led to people in the fandom referring to him as a dumb blond. Mainly because he has a tendency to be oblivious to when others are crushing on him.

---

That's exactly it - 'the sexy people are stupid' part. The trope first originated under the notion that blonde women were more attractive and therefore didn't need to put in any effort to be successful. That they could rely on their looks and men would give them all they needed. As the trope evolved, it is now being applied to men. However, I think the stereotype is starting to fall out of fashion.

I saw a lot of media growing up that suggested you could either be pretty or intelligent but never both. I very much had to unlearn that nonsense.

There was a German song by Tic Tac Toe called 'I'd like to be as dumb as you!' The music video has puppets and the women sing about a blonde woman who is a bit of a ditz but all the men fall over her. I could try to find it but it is a cringeworthy watch.

Quote:
I'd like to be as dumb as you
A really dumb stupid cow
Then I wouldn't have to think so much anymore
And would let other people take the lead for me

You're the sexy hexy who makes the men happy
You're so dumb you don't realize they only stay for one night.

You're the coolest chick, got a kiss for everyone
But behind your back they call you stupid bimbo


Vile song.


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IsabellaLinton
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23 Jul 2024, 4:33 pm

What bothers me is that light blonde hair is associated with young children. Most children grow out of the blondeness and go darker as they age. It seemed like the jokes about "dumb blondes" who just happened to be very sexy were actually saying that the blondes acted like children or were as silly and frivolous or naive as children. The comedy associated with blondes was always something to do with them being wide-eyed and innocent about everyday adult things.

It seemed to me that the media was sexualizing female characters who acted like kids.

If you get my drift.


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Fnord
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23 Jul 2024, 7:55 pm

TwilightPrincess wrote:
For those of you who are/were blonde, did you grow up hearing dumb blonde jokes?
I have collected many.
TwilightPrincess wrote:
Apart from being sexist and in poor taste, the jokes weren’t even remotely funny.
For a teen-aged boy who can't get a girlfriend, they're hilarious.  For me at my age, not so much, but they are adaptable . . .

Two MAGA-hat people were shopping at the gun store.  When they were done, they went out to their car, which happened to be an awesome leather-interior convertible, but they realized they had locked the keys in the car.  So they both kind of stood there and thought for a while.

Then one of them had the bright idea to try to open the car with a coat hanger, so one started fiddling with the lock.  The other MAGA-hat person looked up at the sky, became very worried, and pleaded . . .

“HURRY, HURRY, IT’S GOING TO RAIN AND WE LEFT THE TOP DOWN!”


Again, not very funny, but somehow appropriate.


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IsabellaLinton
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23 Jul 2024, 7:59 pm

Don’t laugh but I once locked the keys in my car on purpose, so I wouldn’t drive home without them when I left the place.

Think about that.

It was a split second ADHD decision when I was a new driver.

I tried to stop before the door shut but I was too late. :lol:

#notblonde


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30 Jul 2024, 2:55 pm

I was born a redhead, but for the entirety of my life that I can actually remember I've been blonde. I had bright ice-white towhead hair until I was in my late 20s when it started to darken to a more normal blonde. People have always thought it was hilarious to tell me dumb blonde jokes: classmates, coworkers, family, friends, strangers, etc. my entire life. I always hated it. I honestly don't understand why they do it. Especially when people would tell me "you're the smartest blonde I've ever met." Like everyone expected me to be stupid? And were shocked when I wasn't? I dunno. I absolutely used to take advantage of the stereotype, though. Whenever I got in trouble with adults I'd act super confused and innocent and they'd always let me off with barely even a warning. It was great. And, as an adult, there are still plenty of instances where I can take advantage of people automatically assuming I'm stupid. Even if it's a little insulting.

I was also frequently called pet names like Goldilocks, or Snow White (which never made sense to me, her hair is black, not white like mine was as a child), or Barbie. I hated that too. Especially Snow White - because it was wrong. And the Goldilocks comparison I hated because I thought she was a criminal. :skull: If I had been a kid during the Frozen era I'm very sure that I would have been called Elsa my entire childhood instead.



Lost_dragon
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30 Jul 2024, 7:39 pm

I was born a brunette but my hair went lighter. It was a warm bright blonde, not the towhead white kind. Then I started having ginger strands and it became a strawberry blonde. Once more it decided to get darker. It became a dark honey.

Now I have situation where my roots are starting to grow in a bit darker than the rest of my hair. It's still the faded dark honey blonde but based on my roots I think it's starting to gradually become brunette again. Or I might just stay this ambiguous colour for a while. Only time will tell.

I've been compared to Merida. My hair is quite thick, fluffy and curly. I made the mistake of attempting to have a fringe once and it curled upwards in all sorts of directions. Nor did it want to stay straight for very long, despite my best efforts. :lol:


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TwilightPrincess
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31 Jul 2024, 5:05 pm

When I was 15, I had really long, blonde hair. Once, a man working at a carnival called out to me as I was walking by: "Rapunzel, Rapunzel let down your golden hair..." I was extremely embarrassed. At that age, I found everything embarrassing, but still.



IsabellaLinton
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31 Jul 2024, 5:07 pm

The one and only time I attempted to audition for a high school play, I was told by a teacher not to do the audition because they needed "a really pretty blonde ..." so they could sell tickets.

:roll:


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SharonB
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31 Jul 2024, 10:06 pm

I was strawberry blonde and now dark blonde - no blonde jokes for me. That said, a good friend of mine is bleach blonde and I printed off the only blonde joke I found funny and she put it up in her office. I wish I remembered what it was. It was a blonde joke making fun of blonde jokes. :D