Born a Blonde

For the most part, I still look remarkably like my childhood self. I have the same blue eyes, chubby cheeks, and wide ears. Obviously I’ve matured and grown, but most of my features have remained the same. The only glaringly obvious difference is my hair

            As you can see in this photo, I was born with light, fair, and incredibly blond hair. In case you weren't aware, that is no longer the case. Every year, my hair got increasingly darker, until eventually the blond disappeared and I was placed firmly into the category of brunette. When I was younger, I would say that I was losing the blond because I was getting smarter, which was rather clever for a 6 year old, but also stereotypical and just plain wrong. At such a young age I didn't truly understand the “dumb blond” stereotype or why it had been created, but because I had heard it in casual conversation and on TV I assumed that it was ok to joke about. Of course, I had blond friends and knew they were not less intelligent than myself, but what about people who didn’t have blond friends, or anyone else, to tell them that cliché wasn't true?

            This is the issue with stereotypes being used casually for comedic effect and it stretches into much larger issues than hair color. Children are incredibly impressionable, so when an adult tells them that all blonds are dumb, or all Asians are good at math, they are likely to believe them. It wasn't until many years later (while watching Legally Blond) that I realized the jokes I made as a kid were perpetuating false stereotypes that have a very real impact on the way people are treated because of their appearance. Many others, though, never have this realization and continue to fully believe the false perceptions taught to them as kids. I may no longer be a blond, but that doesn't mean I will stop sticking up for my younger self, and all other people like her, who were taught to believe untrue things about themselves and others by unthinking adults.