I first came across the term ‘dumb blonde’ in the movie Legally Blonde(2001), where Reese Witherspoon plays ‘Elle’, the typical rich girl who has it all- blonde hair, blue eyes, looks that kill and the most hottest guy in high school. All she knows is how to have fun, fun and more fun. She is not bothered about her grades or future and nobody expects her to stop being her dumb, fun-loving self. Her whole world falls apart when her boyfriend dumps her and goes to Harvard Law School saying that he needs to be with someone more ‘serious’. The plot goes onto how Elle joins Harvard and breaks all the norms of a ‘dumb blonde’ and becomes a distinguished lawyer. This movie tells the world how absurd the ‘dumb blonde’ prejudice is.
Even after centuries of education, man is still ignorant and narrow minded deep down. Though he/she is knowledgeable enough to distinguish between facts and stereotypes and knows that scientifically it is impossible to determine the IQ level of a person through hair colour, they tend to follow stereotypes (voluntarily/ involuntarily). This scenario is applicable to not just the ‘dumb blonde’ stereotype, but every other prejudice in the world.
Another fact that is extremely interesting is how the term ‘dumb blonde’ brings to our mind the image of a female and never a male. Though the term ‘dumb’ was initially used for men, it is mostly used as a female adjective today. So, in a sense the blonde women are doubly marginalised- as blondes and women. It is extremely unfair when people judge someone by the way they look. A person’s hair colour or complexion or accent does not determine their mettle. This is a fact that every human being with sanity is aware of. But still, when you see a blonde woman you naturally and involuntarily think of the word ‘dumb’. That is the depth of every prejudice in this world. No amount of education can fully eradicate stereotypes from human minds. And Hollywood is not exactly helping when it comes to the dumb...