Do Women Dye Their Hair Blonde To Become More Attractive?

Red, Yellow, Brown. Which Is Best?

The question was asked by Hubber shantyjoshan about whether blonde women are more sexy thanbBrunettes.

The question may go to individual preferences of people that might be attracted to either blondes or brunettes in all of their varying shades. Marilyn Monroe dyed her hair blonde and Elvis Presley dyed his blonde hair his black, and it worked for both.

A mystique has grown up around blondes, but even more so around redheads, who make up perhaps 2.0% of the world's population with a gene mutation (MC1R), but a much higher percentage in Scotland, followed by Ireland. In short, blondes and redheads both have a positive mystique, the blondes perhaps more from media coverage for over a hundred years and redheads for their rarity. They also have a negative mystique - the "dumb blonde" and the "angry red head."I dislike stereotypes.

I suppose Lucille Ball could have been classified as both, since she was a natural blonde and a henna-inspired redhead. Just before the years that henna was not allowed in the US, she purchased a large cache of it for stockpile. Was she "dumb"? No, she was a shrewd businesswoman that made a lot of money and became famous. Did she have a temper? I think she did. But was she sexy? I didn't pick that up from her, except as a blonde in older films, such as one she acted in with George Reeves. They were both sexy in that one.

Redhead Day

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The Sexiness Factor

The sexiness factor of hair color is probably one of individual perception and the Hub Question about blondes and brunettes will likely yield interesting answers.

Trying to determine which is sexier - blonde or brown hair - may dig out stereotypes about both, but these could be funny.

For example, one reader asked why women, who are all fake, fake it up more with fake blonde hair. Are blondes fake inside and out? I don't think so. Are they sexier? Maybe, but perhaps this is the result of the media coverage since the Silent Film Era.

I think the media produced an inordinate amount of hype for over a hundred years that uplifts blonde men and women, but when I think of Aryan Nation and Adolph Hitler's perfect people, all blonde, I am not attracted to blonde hair.

I never appreciated blonde over other hair colors and my order of favorites is Red, Auburn, Ice White, Black, and last, Blonde... I guess Brown is not on my list.

Famous Blonde Stars

What About Other Colors?

The tinted rainbow hues worn by Mrs. Betty Slocumb on British and PBS TV's Are You Being Served were delightful, but the traditional blue rinse on senior ladies' hair in the 20th-century US always made me shudder! Some Seniors where various bright colors today, and it looks like fun.

Betty Slocum had a turquoise and a mint green hair color that were very attractive. The actress picked her middle school kids up from school in full hair and makeup and the youngsters were embarrassed a bit by the colors.

The X-Men comic book character Storm has long, white hair; she is a favorite character of mine in comics and on film, as portrayed by Halle Barry. Platinum Blonde comes close to this color, but it's really very very white and very striking. Blonde may be falling out of preference in the 21st century.

Hair Coloring As Marketing Pressure

I think that media hype, first in silent films and later helped along very much by Playboy Magazine in the 1950s - has

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1. Convinced some women and girls to become blondes and
2. Convinced some men and boys that they should prefer blondes.

What color would everyone really like? Some will prefer blondes no matter what influence is applied to them.

Hair dying, once accomplished, is an annoyance to maintain, as are false fingernails and braided hair extensions. Hair and nails grow in the oriiginal colors and then the whole package must be adjusted to the tune of big bucks every 6 weeks. Let me say here that some Black men and women look very attractive with either blondes or red hair and some people in Northern Africa sport red hair naturally, although elsewhere it can be the product of malnutrition.

Why do people dye their hair, wear makeup, spend a lot of money they don't have on clothing, have multiple plastic surgeries, etc. It's part of the fashion industry, making money and helping people enjoy theirs and others' appearances.

Sometimes this fashionable life or hobby goes over the top.

We see elementary school girls wishing to dye their hair and the beginning of wishing to have plastic surgery. Wash-out hair tints on the weekends might be fun, but dyed hair on an 8-year-old is probably not appropriate, considering health and psychological impact.

These girls are increasingly talking about being sexy and I think it's too soon.

Media and Hair Color

African Americans began a natural hair movement in the 1970s and whites followed, except that a few of the whites didn't seem to comb their hair at all (that's not sexy). An older Black friend of mine tells the story about traveling to Africa in the 1970s with an Afro do and being asked by the gentle African ladies what had happened to her hair? Natural in that country did not mean picked out, but braided.

Styles change through the decades, but the blonde preference seems embedded in American culture. More so with the popularity of natural and dyed blondes Madonna, Mary J. Blige, Jeri Ryan, Christina Aguilera, Shakira, Dolly Parton, Lady Gaga, Goldie Hawn, Britney Spears, and a drove of others. Brunettes are popular too, though - Olivia Wilde in Tron Legacy, Katy Perry, Nicky Minaj (who also wears a white wig), for example.

The blonde hype follows a trend in the early 1900s among silent film stars through the 1930s - Alice Terry, Anita Page, Mae Murray, Greta Garbo, Marion Davies, Jean Harlow ("The Blonde Bombshell"), and others. Lucille Ball was originally a blonde. Jayne Mansfield, Marilyn Monroe. I think the image of the blonde being the sexiest of women is media-induced. Take film titles: Platinum Blonde, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, My Favorite Blonde, Legally Blonde, Blonde, Private Valentine: Blonde and Dangerous, The Last of the Blonde Bombshells...

A Bob Hope film exists called My Favorite Brunette, but there are very few others hyping brunettes. There are a few about redheads. I think Americans may be trained by the media to focus on blondes because they exist in fewer numbers than brunettes and because of stereotypes and perpetuated mystique.

Some women, and men, likely dye their hair blonde to join this favored group and to attract other people to them.

How To Dye Hair Blonde

Some women, and men, likely dye their hair blonde to join a favored group and to attract other people to them.

— P. Inglish

Comments

Patty Inglish MS (author) from USA and Asgardia, the First Space Nation on August 24, 2012:

One day I plan to dye my hair platinum blonde or completely bright white. Every day right now, I just want to shave it all off.

I think I've seen that blonde commercial somewhere. Hollywood sure made people change - Marilyn Monroe from brown to blonde, Lucille ball from blonde to red...and I don't know what color Nicole Kidman's hair really is!

Kelly Umphenour from St. Louis, MO on August 24, 2012:

Funny that people still are NOT voting blond!

I think you are exactly right - I think that the perfect royal family with nordic blond hair was a push on our perception of "the american dream family." I keep thinking about that commercial for hair color back in like the late 60's or 70's - and the blond lady would seductively say "do blonds really have more fun? Be a blond and find out!".... I always thought that was like a subliminal message kind of "blonds have more fun"........

Great hub - fun way to make a hub out of such an interesting topic. I want to have more fun so I think I will go color my hair blond now:)

Patty Inglish MS (author) from USA and Asgardia, the First Space Nation on April 16, 2012:

Yeah, we do!

Ruth McCollum from Lake Oswego, Oregon on April 15, 2012:

I'm a redhead. I don't have a temper but can be stubborn. I know what I want and nothing gets in my way of getting it. great hub i enjoyed reading and learning from it.GO ALLL LADIES BURNETTES BLONDES AND REDHEADS! Girl power! We all rock it!:)

mikeydcarroll67 on April 14, 2012:

I prefer black hair as found with Asian girls. No amount of money will ever make me date a blonde ever again.

Patty Inglish MS (author) from USA and Asgardia, the First Space Nation on April 13, 2012:

Hair colors of all types can certainly be fun and I love the silver color of senior citizens. I always thought hat when mine goes gray, silver or platinum would be the best colors to try.

Thank for the new comments!

Sandra Mireles from Texas on April 13, 2012:

Just wanted to speak up for the radical religionists (laugh). You might think me very radical if you were merely acquainted with me but I do not feel that coloring your hair is dishonest. I really do not see how honesty enters into the discussion. As an older woman I have no intention of having gray hair. I made that decision when I was a young teenager after reading Ann Landers' newspaper column. In reply to a question about whether or not to color the hair, Ann replied "You can grow old gracefully or remain 35 forever. I chose to remain 35." I agree with her although some people's hair turns a beautiful color with age. My husband's hair has been graying since his twenties and is a lovely silver naturally. Great hub. Voted up.

GDiBiase from Portland, ME on April 13, 2012:

Hi Patty,

Through the course of my life I have had my hair many different colors and don't really see a difference as far as having more fun from one color to another, not sure the blondes have more fun is correct. If you are a fun girl you will still be fun no matter your hair color.Blonde is my natural hair color. Now-a-days I color to cover my gray!!

Steph on April 11, 2012:

I'm a natural blonde. As a child I was a towhead, and as I got older it turned into more of a dirty blonde shade. I didn't like that because I felt like I couldn't describe it as blonde, it was too dark for that, but I couldn't describe it as brown either, it was too pale for that. So I have dyed it both blonde and brown before, trying to decide which I like best.

I do wish I was redhead though. My late grandmother was redhead, two of my uncles are redhead, and five of my cousins are redhead. Everyone else in my family (with the exception of one aunt and one cousin, who are also blonde) has very dark brown hair. My parents and siblings all have very dark brown hair as well. It makes me feel a little left out in my own family to be blonde when blonde is not one of my family's colors. I could have looked so much like my grandma, if only I was redhead!

Patty Inglish MS (author) from USA and Asgardia, the First Space Nation on April 09, 2012:

Hi lynn - Platinum is an attractive color, imo. and highlights can be fun.

When I was in junior high school, my mother used a red hair rinse on my hair, thinking it would add highlights, and the result was totally ORANGE. I was glad to wash it out.

lynn on April 09, 2012:

i have always loved red hair, i think it is so unique and fun. my mother has red hair. but sadly i am a dishwater blond which i got from my dads side of the family, with it being a platinum when i was a kid intell around the age of 14 when it started to change to the dishwater color. i have been highlighting my hair for years because i think it looks better nearer the platinum color scale i have very fair skin tone.

Patty Inglish MS (author) from USA and Asgardia, the First Space Nation on April 09, 2012:

Lots of people do, really. I wonder how many p0eople dye their hair?

Patty Inglish MS (author) from USA and Asgardia, the First Space Nation on March 14, 2012:

Yes, orange tans are pretty hideous.

Michelle on March 14, 2012:

Fake blonde hair usually looks pretty awful imo. Also it is so overdone. I have never had MORE male attention than when I am my natural brunette, maybe with a few natural looking highlights. Fake blonde looks bad on like 90% of women who try it, and the fake orange tans are worse!

Curiad on February 29, 2012:

I had red hair as a child and have always favored red or auburn haired women, but as has been said this is simply a personal preference. Thank you for the interesting Hub Patty!

Voted Up.

Patty Inglish MS (author) from USA and Asgardia, the First Space Nation on January 31, 2012:

Depends on how good her colorist at the salon is. One woman I know wears either blonde or brunette for months together and the color is so good for each, I still don't know which is natural.

It's better not to date a woman with dyed hair if you recognize it and don't like it, rather than to have a miserable relationship later.

SanXuary on January 31, 2012:

I have no problem with a girl dying her hair if it is close to her natural colour. I have no problem with high lights either. A complete change in colour has always looked fake to me and I have always saw it as a bad sign. She is to fake, does not like herself or has other issues. I have met many of these women and I have never dated any of them. Even if they do not tell me its incredibly easy to notice that its not their real hair colour.

brielise on January 31, 2012:

When I was young I got my hair highlighted to the point where it was almost blonde. Now my natural color is reddish-brown but I feel it almost starts to look brassy in the summer, so I often dye over the red with a chestnut color. I knew I hadn't dyed my hair in a while when my 5-year-old niece actually pointed out that I had red hair. As a woman, when I point out actresses or models that I think are pretty, they usually are brunettes. My boyfriend recently found a picture from when my hair was blonde and I'm pretty sure he didn't even know it was me!

Patty Inglish MS (author) from USA and Asgardia, the First Space Nation on January 10, 2012:

I bet people love that story - so cute!

DougBerry from Abilene, TX on January 10, 2012:

My wife dyed her hair red for years. When she finally let it start growing out, you could barely tell the difference between where the dyed part ended and the natural began.

She had forgotten what color her hair was because she'd been dying it dark before she decided on red, thanks to the X-Files, many, many years ago now.

I had to laugh at her. I'd never seen her in the 11+ years we've been together without her dyed hair. Her light skin and freckles should have been a clue.

chelseacharleston on January 09, 2012:

It's all about a guys preference. Some guys are really picky about their favorite female tresses, others not so much. I was blonde all my life and got bored with it, but I'll probably go back to it eventually. I think it just feel funner and def helps you feel more attractive in the summer. Great hub topic!

Patty Inglish MS (author) from USA and Asgardia, the First Space Nation on January 03, 2012:

Thanks for that view. Looking different is understandable; some become bored with the same color.

Ravi Singh from India on January 03, 2012:

I also seen women dye their hairs from back to brown to look different and attractive.They do it mainly to attract men.thanks for your hub!

prettylittlewhims on December 19, 2011:

Are there still true redheads in the world? I mean truly red, not auburn or reddish brown? When I search the internet, they all look bottle red...

Patty Inglish MS (author) from USA and Asgardia, the First Space Nation on December 17, 2011:

Hmmmm, no one is voting red yet!

Dedmoroz on December 09, 2011:

Horray! I voted for the browns ;)

Patty Inglish MS (author) from USA and Asgardia, the First Space Nation on December 09, 2011:

Wow, the "browns" are winning the poll right now!

Patty Inglish MS (author) from USA and Asgardia, the First Space Nation on December 07, 2011:

Thanks for taking the poll and commenting, Dedmoroz. It IS funny that no one chose Blonde yet. LOL

Dedmoroz on December 07, 2011:

Hi Patty,

I met J.S.Matthew just today and we had a good chat, commented on each other's hubs, and then he recommended you.

One look on your page and I must say a BIG CONGRATULATIONS on all your achievements!

Your hub about blondes caught my attention and I really enjoyed reading it. Your writing style is easy to follow and interesting to read.

I took the poll at the end and cracked up laughing when 0% chose blonde ;)

I'm really glad Matthew recommended I read about you and your work - you're an inspiration.

Looking forward to reading more of your work.

Max

Patty Inglish MS (author) from USA and Asgardia, the First Space Nation on December 03, 2011:

How wonderful! They must be very attractive.

Earth Angel on December 03, 2011:

Yes, all three canines are gorgeous red-heads! Or in their case, red-bodies! All males!! ;-) Blessings, Earth Angel!

Patty Inglish MS (author) from USA and Asgardia, the First Space Nation on December 03, 2011:

I also think bottle dye is difficult to get right.

Stephanie Das from Miami, US on December 02, 2011:

When I was in high school, I loved to dye my hair, and went practically through the entire spectrum, from pitch black to as blonde as I could get (which was more of a reddish-fake look, but that's just what bleach does to dark hair!)

Now, I'm all about my natural color. It is a very dark reddish-brown, and I think it is beautiful. I have blonde friends who spent years dying their hair dark colors and it never compared to their natural color. You just can't get the natural beauty of hair color from a bottle, in my opinion.

Patty Inglish MS (author) from USA and Asgardia, the First Space Nation on December 01, 2011:

OOOOhhh - Do any of them have red fur?

Earth Angel on December 01, 2011:

I'd look good only to my beloved four-legged's! Blessings gentle sister in spirit! Earth Angel!

Patty Inglish MS (author) from USA and Asgardia, the First Space Nation on December 01, 2011:

What a LOT of useful and good comments!

As for "honesty", this is not what I myself hear women saying they want, not Number One anyway - more often loyalty, willingness to work, accepting responsibility as a partner. Honesty underlies it all I guess. Now, who besides far far far radical religionists feel that hair dye is evil and dishonest? - just my opinion.

***

A local new anchorwoman here started with dark hair, but in the last couple years with aging, she lightened just a little. It looked great! Last night, it was a medium blonde with a very few very dark low-lights. It looked strange to me!

***

Earth Angel - You'd be beautiful even bald, I;'m sure! :)

Stephanie Marshall from Bend, Oregon on November 30, 2011:

Natural is the best color for me. I dyed it darker brown and it was all wrong for my skin color. I've had blonde highlights, which are nice, but if I was to go 100% blonde, I don't think it would look good on me! :)

Phoebe Pike on November 30, 2011:

I personally do not have a favorite hair color. I think that it depends on the individual and their personality for the whole "sexy" factor. I know one girl with hot pink hair and in school she was considered one of the prettiest girls. I think it's how people hold themselves because confidence is attractive to the majority of people.

drbj and sherry from south Florida on November 30, 2011:

Women may dye their hair blonde for a number of reasons, Patty, but I suspect that high on the list would be the desire to look more attractive and to color the gray in order to look younger.

As a child until I was six, my hair was platinum blonde. Since then it has all been downhill. :)

Lady_E on November 30, 2011:

Very interesting read. In UK we call them "Bottle Blonde". I have to admit that blonde does suit women more - it's quite flattering and also most men like women with blonde hair.

Kylie Minogue, Madonna really suit blonde. When they wear it a darker colour, they don't look as attractive.

Marilyn Monroe and Anna Nicole Smith had blonde hair as their trademark - I'm sure they wouldn't have looked that attractive in another colour. (both lovely ladies)

You got me going on this Hub.... Cheers.

breakfastpop on November 30, 2011:

If it makes you feel good, do it!

Maren Elizabeth Morgan from Pennsylvania on November 30, 2011:

Hi Patty - I think the hype about blonde as the sexiest, most fun, etc. came from a capitalist marketing effort. Same old, same old in the USA. I did a hub on it - about Clairol Company developing the 1st "at home" hair dye product and the rest is history. LOL. Along the same lines, I have read a theory that railroad mass transportation was seriously hurt when Ford Auto and Firestone Tires decided to sell, sell, sell and they were not making products used by the rail industry. Interesting.

Barry Rutherford from Queensland Australia on November 30, 2011:

Women may dye there hair blonde to look more sexy but the outcome is not necessarily guaranteed

Earth Angel on November 30, 2011:

Dearest Patty, Another homerun of a Hub from one blonde to one reddish-brunette!

I'm like mulberry1; having been really blonde from birth I continued to identify with being blonde! I think my natural hair color is dark dirty blonde but my hairdresser laughs and says I am still very light naturally! Still, I have highlights added!

It's different color wigs that first made me aware of how completely differently women are treated depending upon hair color! There is an embedded cultural stereotype based on haircolor that borders on absurd!

In a brown or nearly black wig, same exact bold style as my blonde ones, I am automatically treated as more intelligent! Conversations have more depth and friends who have known me for years will unconsciously expand their vocabularies!

In a long reddish auburn wig I am treated like a party girl!

Hair color, much to my amazement, has a more profound affect than glasses or clothing!

Great Hub Patty dear!

Happy Season of Thanks~Living to you and yours!

Earth Angel!!

Marian L from UK on November 30, 2011:

I have to admit to having dyed my hair blonde in the years when I was living overseas in a sunny climate - somehow it just seemed right. Now that I am back in the cold of the UK I am gradually going back to some kind of almost natural brown colour so maybe it is about how I feel about my environment as much as anything else!

Joey McClurg from Illinois on November 30, 2011:

very well written hub!

Dave Mathews from NORTH YORK,ONTARIO,CANADA on November 30, 2011:

Women claim that the one quality they look for in a man when seeking a mate, is "HONESTY". How can any woman expect this quality in a man, if they are not even willing to be honest about themselves by colouring their hair. What goes around comes around. If you start off with deceit that's what you deserve to receive. First learn to be honest about yourself, before expecting it in others.

jenubouka on November 29, 2011:

As I a child I was what they called a toe head, and my hair will practically bleach out in tropical weather, so I keep it blonde in the hopes I will indefinitely return.

Patty Inglish MS (author) from USA and Asgardia, the First Space Nation on November 29, 2011:

That all makes sense. My hair started very light and then turned reddish-brown. I was reading about hair color genes turning off and on in childhood; I think we can pick what we think looks best.

Christine Mulberry on November 29, 2011:

I think beauty is in the eye of the beholder. However, I can say I was born a blonde, but like many people, my hair darkened over the years. In my 20's I started coloring my hair blonde because it looked better with my skin tone. In addition, I think it is a self-image thing. My hair had always been blonde, and I saw myself as one even though it started going dark. Some people look best blonde, others look best brunette or red or whatever.