Do blondes have more fun? Here’s what science has to say.
In 1978, Rod Stewart told us Blondes Have More Fun. Was it just personal preference that sparked this tongue-in-cheek title, or was Mr. Stewart on to something?
I’ve been a dirty, light blonde for years.
It took me switching to my natural hair color (a much darker blonde), and growing that out to finally start wondering — why are women so obsessed with going blonde?
The short answer among many ladies seems to be, because it looks better. We tend to perceive blonde women as more fun, open, and more approachable, all of which are pleasant qualities most of us long to possess.
But how can a simple hair color decode an entire personality, and how likely is that to be accurate?
Gentlemen prefer blondes.
Apparently, they really weren’t lying when they made that. Multiple, separate studies put this theory to the test. Both studies each took the same woman, and had her sit at a bar, or in a club, a few nights a week for multiple weeks. She’d wear the same clothes, the same make-up, the same shoes — the only thing that was different? The hair color.
One study had the female participant dye her hair blonde, brunette, and red, to test out the theory, while the other study simply used different color wigs. Both reached the same conclusion — the blondes got approached far more than any other hair category.
Could that be a coincidence? Seems a little far-fetched. So we’ve already got one exemplary reason why so many women are desperate to get those natural-looking blonde tresses.
And surely, better chances at finding a mate may well be enough to get you to dye your hair. What’s interesting is that if you ask many women, they themselves argue that they’re more attractive, and seem nicer while blonde.
As a group, we tend to favor blondes.
And by group, I mean society. Obviously, everyone has their individual preferences when it comes to the people they date and surround themselves with. Yet large sample polls suggest that, as a group, we like blondes better, too.
A recent YouGov poll ranked users’ favorite character from the hit sitcom ‘Friends’, and surprisingly, the least liked character, scoring only 5% of the votes was Monica Geller. Now, maybe it’s her compulsive cleaning, or her competitiveness, but maybe, just maybe, her hair color also plays into it. After all, both Phoebe and Rachel have their many flaws, as well, but might they be more forgivable because we perceive the characters themselves as nicer?
Similarly, the Hollywood Reporter recently ranked the 50 best female characters on-screen, and if you take a look at the first 10, only three are dark-haired.Then again, a look at the entire poll comes out at a roughly even split between blondes and other hair colors (brunettes, black hair, and redheads).
Blondes seem dumber. And men like that.
According to Slate, at least. The study in question points to an interesting finding — that more men tend to associate a blonde woman with a lower IQ. Of course, separate studies have disproved that, but that doesn’t change the initial assumption. Sure, we may know theoretically that blonde women have no actual reason to be less intelligent than redheads, for example. But our impulse says otherwise.
The Slate study also offers an explanation as to why men prefer that. Apparently, men tend to associate blondes with lower IQ and higher sexual exploitability. Obviously, that leads into a whole other debate — do men prefer dumber partners? Some rather depressing studies say yes — apparently, high IQ women are also more “problematic”, have higher standards, more expectations, and pose more of a challenge. Not to mention women with a high IQ are also likely to hold better jobs which, for some men, can be intimidating.
A different Slate study does throw out some hope. Starting from the premise that blonde hair suggests that woman is more sexually exploitable, the study looks at the kinds of men most likely to pick up on that. The good news is, the more promiscuous men, those interested in hook-ups, and casual sex, and not looking for a monogamous relationship, were most likely to pick up on the “blonde hair cue”. More serious men, who’d be more at ease in a monogamous relationship, were slow to pick those up, if they even did, at all.
Blondes are rarer.
Okay, I fell down this rabbit hole thanks to House of the Dragon. The Targaryens are considered closer to gods than men, and one of their distinctive characteristics is their silver-blonde hair. As a writer and a fan, I needed to know why. Why not purple hair? That’s regal. But also kinda unusual. Even in the HOTD universe, “crazy” hair colors like blue or green are typically attributed to dyes, and thus not natural. So why were blondes so prized as to warrant dragons?
I’m not talking about dyed blonde, but real, natural blondies. Turns out, because it’s a rare, and thus precious hair color. Only 2% of ladies are natural blondes, which makes it extremely rare. And since we all want something that’s rare, because that’s just how our monkey-see brain works, it stands to reason we’d want to be (or be with) someone blonde.
So, coming back to our title question, it seems blondes have the lead when it comes to attractiveness. But does that mean they have more fun?
Arguable. Being considered attractive is going to be a mood-booster, and may make you happier and more confident. It may not be fair, but we all want to be considered attractive by our fellow human beings.
Personally, I tend to think the people who have the most fun are self-confident, and have a fuck-all attitude, regardless of hair, or lack thereof. But that’s just me.
How often do you think about your own preferences? And how much of that do you think is conscious and subconscious?
I find that fascinating. That’s why I write this kinda stuff. If this doesn’t sit well with you, feel free to move along.
