Blonde on blondes

By Kylie Jane Wakefield
Collegian Editor
April 4, 2007

I’m blonde. And you know what? I’m gosh darn proud of it.

All of my life, people have made blonde jokes to my face, expecting some sort of salute to their stolen comedy routine. I am expected to laugh and only do so when I know I have to be polite. Blonde jokes are not funny to me anymore. After hearing a mole number of these pathetic attempts at humor, I’ve had enough.

Get it, mole? As in science and stuff? We’re not so dumb after all, eh?

I used to laugh at such jokes, but now they just disgust me. Sure, they were funny when I was 11, but really, they’re just insulting. Not only are they offensive to us blonde-haired beauties, but to women in general. When someone tells one of these jokes, it usually also involves some sort of feminine quality to it. All of these jokes bashing blondes and women have turned me into one fierce feminist, I swear. I never really cared before, but thanks to such blatant ignorance, I can now safely say I’ll stand up for my gender until the end.

Since when has intelligence been measured in hair color? Now, I understand why the stereotype is perpetuated. There are a few obvious reasons: Paris Hilton, and just about everyone else who dyes their hair blonde and acts like a moron. Hair color also has nothing to do with attractiveness, so I don’t see why women rush out to bleach (and damage) their hair. I’ve witnessed perfectly normal women dye their hair blonde and then begin to act ditzy to gain the attention of some guy. To these women I say, if you want to act like you have an IQ of 95, you don’t have to dye your hair to do so. Anyway, if you have to do something so extreme for attention, is it really worth all the trouble? You’re just giving us natural blondes a worse reputation.

Last year, I learned that blonde-haired, blue-eyed people were being born less and less, and that decline would continue. While there are still real blondes left in the world, we must preserve our reputation and prove that we will not stand for any more numskull jokes. I’m proud of my fellow blonde-haired women who have accomplished great things. Hillary Clinton? A shining star, that blondie. Reese Witherspoon? A legally blonde talented actress. Amy Sedaris? More like Amy Hilarious! Katie Couric? Yeah, she’s OK, too, I suppose. Blonde women are just as ambitious and respectable as the next person, and just because a few celebrities abuse their power as blondes, we shouldn’t all be scrutinized or judged because of their actions.

When I’m older, I want to make a name for myself as another well-known and talented blonde woman who isn’t afraid to bash the stereotypes. Maybe once enough of us succeed, we will no longer be joked about just because of our hair color. But for now, all we can do is continue to not laugh at these jokes that are unintelligent failures at comedy. It doesn’t seem like much, but if everybody stops laughing, it’ll come to an end.

wakefieldk1@lasalle.edu