1 00:00:04,200 --> 00:00:07,240 Speaker 1: Welcome to stuff Mom Never told you From how Stuff 2 00:00:07,240 --> 00:00:14,720 Speaker 1: Works dot com. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. I'm 3 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:18,239 Speaker 1: Kristen and I'm Caroline, and we're tackling the question do 4 00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:22,200 Speaker 1: blonds have more fun? And we're gonna talk about all 5 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:25,560 Speaker 1: hair colors, especially because well, we're not going to talk 6 00:00:25,560 --> 00:00:27,800 Speaker 1: about gray I take that back. Yeah, we did an 7 00:00:27,840 --> 00:00:31,800 Speaker 1: episode a while ago focusing on gray hair and Melano 8 00:00:31,880 --> 00:00:36,520 Speaker 1: site activity. Yes, and for this episode, we're really hunting 9 00:00:36,560 --> 00:00:42,239 Speaker 1: in on what's the deal with blonde hair, hair color stereotypes, 10 00:00:42,320 --> 00:00:47,000 Speaker 1: why we associate different characteristics with different hair colors, especially 11 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:53,560 Speaker 1: on women, and talking about brunettes and redheads as well. Yeah, 12 00:00:53,640 --> 00:00:55,240 Speaker 1: because because you and I are a bunch of dark 13 00:00:55,280 --> 00:00:58,960 Speaker 1: haired gals. We you were your hair is really dark, 14 00:00:59,000 --> 00:01:02,640 Speaker 1: and mine I've been it. I've been trying for years 15 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:05,080 Speaker 1: to join the ranks of the gingers that God read. 16 00:01:05,120 --> 00:01:08,520 Speaker 1: The hair dye fades fast, does it? Yeah? I did 17 00:01:08,560 --> 00:01:14,360 Speaker 1: a maroon hair dye in high school, early high school. Allah, 18 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:17,520 Speaker 1: angela chase for my so called life. But that's the 19 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:20,399 Speaker 1: most adventurous. Oh and I got highlights. I got blonde 20 00:01:20,440 --> 00:01:25,959 Speaker 1: highlights in tenth grade. Really, yes, I will never do 21 00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:29,840 Speaker 1: blonde highlights in my dark hair. I've I've been a blonde. Well, 22 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:32,319 Speaker 1: I was born with white blonde hair. Like I had 23 00:01:32,319 --> 00:01:34,880 Speaker 1: white blonde hair until I was about ten, and then 24 00:01:34,920 --> 00:01:37,840 Speaker 1: it started to fade to a brown. And so then 25 00:01:37,840 --> 00:01:40,840 Speaker 1: in high school I was blonde. I was my normal color, 26 00:01:40,920 --> 00:01:43,360 Speaker 1: and then I was a redhead. But I've never gone 27 00:01:43,360 --> 00:01:45,560 Speaker 1: black because my hair stylist told me it would wash 28 00:01:45,560 --> 00:01:47,640 Speaker 1: me out. Now, the fact, though, Caroline, that you were 29 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:50,560 Speaker 1: born with that really, really blonde hair and had it 30 00:01:50,560 --> 00:01:53,280 Speaker 1: when you were a kid is one of the reasons 31 00:01:53,400 --> 00:01:58,840 Speaker 1: why we might value blonde hair differently than we value 32 00:01:59,440 --> 00:02:03,520 Speaker 1: brunette hair. And just to kick things off, I've got 33 00:02:03,520 --> 00:02:07,440 Speaker 1: a quote from Victoria's Sharrow, who wrote the Encyclopedia of Hair, 34 00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:11,320 Speaker 1: a Cultural History, and she writes, throughout most of human history, 35 00:02:11,400 --> 00:02:16,160 Speaker 1: blonde hair has been considered attractive and alluring, possibly because 36 00:02:16,160 --> 00:02:19,640 Speaker 1: this color is associated with gold and light, two things 37 00:02:19,639 --> 00:02:25,800 Speaker 1: that people consider valuable and desirable. And blondes are statistically 38 00:02:25,960 --> 00:02:29,880 Speaker 1: a lot less common than brunettes, right, and so are redheads, 39 00:02:29,919 --> 00:02:32,840 Speaker 1: but people just don't seem to trust redheads for some reason. 40 00:02:33,320 --> 00:02:38,480 Speaker 1: But for millennia, people have been changing up their hair 41 00:02:38,520 --> 00:02:43,160 Speaker 1: colors because clearly, we put so much value in this 42 00:02:43,440 --> 00:02:47,640 Speaker 1: color of our hair. Yeah, this goes back, as it 43 00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:50,520 Speaker 1: typically does, all the way to the ancient Egyptians and 44 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:54,200 Speaker 1: Middle Eastern folks. So those women color their hair with hannah, 45 00:02:54,280 --> 00:02:58,440 Speaker 1: a practice that is still pursued now. And hannah is 46 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:02,000 Speaker 1: derived from the dried leaves and stems of the hinnu shrub. 47 00:03:02,639 --> 00:03:05,280 Speaker 1: That sounds so fancy covering your hair with a shrub 48 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:09,280 Speaker 1: and to cover gray hair, hold on for it. Egyptians 49 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:13,200 Speaker 1: mixed oil with the blood of a black cat. Oh dear, 50 00:03:13,440 --> 00:03:17,200 Speaker 1: oh dear, I glad that technology has improved for hair 51 00:03:17,320 --> 00:03:21,680 Speaker 1: dying um. In ancient Rome, hair dyes were also very popular, 52 00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:24,880 Speaker 1: and historians have found more than one different recipes for 53 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:28,640 Speaker 1: dying and bleaching hair. For instance, there was a Slate 54 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:32,400 Speaker 1: article from two thousand and ten that offered this Roman 55 00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:37,120 Speaker 1: concoction of goat's fat mixed with beech wood, ashes and 56 00:03:37,320 --> 00:03:42,360 Speaker 1: vinegar and a little bit of saffron to get their 57 00:03:42,360 --> 00:03:46,000 Speaker 1: hair all blonde. Well, men were doing this to the 58 00:03:46,080 --> 00:03:49,480 Speaker 1: Celts and the Vikings. Those dudes used bleach to create 59 00:03:49,560 --> 00:03:55,000 Speaker 1: pale blonde beards. In Babylonian, Abyssinian and Assyrian cultures, men 60 00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:58,800 Speaker 1: dyed their facial hair black I guess to look more youthful, 61 00:03:58,960 --> 00:04:02,520 Speaker 1: strong strong men black beard, uh, and men in ancient 62 00:04:02,520 --> 00:04:06,040 Speaker 1: Persia used Hanna as well. And since we're really focusing 63 00:04:06,040 --> 00:04:09,400 Speaker 1: a lot on the blonde hair thing in this episode, 64 00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:12,120 Speaker 1: the Greeks were the first to praise bleaching techniques and 65 00:04:12,120 --> 00:04:16,000 Speaker 1: to record their strong beliefs that lighter hair color signified 66 00:04:16,080 --> 00:04:20,200 Speaker 1: here we go in a sense superior social standing and 67 00:04:20,320 --> 00:04:25,560 Speaker 1: sexual desirability. And that sexual desirability thing is takes on 68 00:04:25,600 --> 00:04:29,240 Speaker 1: a couple of different positive and more negative connotations for 69 00:04:29,640 --> 00:04:32,200 Speaker 1: the Romans. Yeah, because you mean the Romans thought blondes 70 00:04:32,279 --> 00:04:36,720 Speaker 1: or prostitutes. Yeah, well they actually were, because prostitutes in 71 00:04:36,800 --> 00:04:40,880 Speaker 1: the Roman Empire either dyed their hair or wore wigs, 72 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:44,680 Speaker 1: although blonde hair later became a respectable marker of upper 73 00:04:44,720 --> 00:04:47,280 Speaker 1: class women. So it's interesting to me how blonde hair 74 00:04:47,360 --> 00:04:50,680 Speaker 1: has been cy cyclical since the very beginning. You're either 75 00:04:50,760 --> 00:04:53,080 Speaker 1: upper class and rich, or you're a prostitute, or maybe 76 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:54,960 Speaker 1: you're out of fashion, but then you're in fashion again, 77 00:04:54,960 --> 00:04:57,400 Speaker 1: and then you're a prostitute. Yeah. Some people actually think 78 00:04:57,440 --> 00:05:01,400 Speaker 1: that there was a Roman in law at one point 79 00:05:02,080 --> 00:05:06,000 Speaker 1: that decreed that prostitutes had to wear blonde wigs, and 80 00:05:06,080 --> 00:05:08,840 Speaker 1: so some wonder whether or not that's where the whole 81 00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:12,919 Speaker 1: idea of blonde's quote unquote having more fun came from. 82 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:15,360 Speaker 1: Although I think that's taking a little bit of creative 83 00:05:15,400 --> 00:05:18,320 Speaker 1: license with history well, because it also had something to 84 00:05:18,320 --> 00:05:22,080 Speaker 1: do with slavery. Light hair became fashionable after Greek culture 85 00:05:22,120 --> 00:05:25,040 Speaker 1: reached Italy and the Roman legionnaires began bringing back fair 86 00:05:25,080 --> 00:05:29,719 Speaker 1: haired slaves from gaul with you know, those those frenchy people. 87 00:05:30,360 --> 00:05:34,279 Speaker 1: Um wealthier people sprinkled gold dust on their hair, as 88 00:05:34,279 --> 00:05:38,520 Speaker 1: did the ancient Phoenicians, and to color gray hair, Romans 89 00:05:38,560 --> 00:05:42,560 Speaker 1: used a mixture of ashes, boiled walnut shells, and earth worms. 90 00:05:43,040 --> 00:05:46,640 Speaker 1: I wonder what would happen. You know how YouTube has 91 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:49,520 Speaker 1: all of those those bloggers that will do the you know, 92 00:05:49,560 --> 00:05:52,320 Speaker 1: like this is how you do your hair. I think 93 00:05:52,360 --> 00:05:55,720 Speaker 1: that we should do a show taking finding those one 94 00:05:55,800 --> 00:05:58,919 Speaker 1: hundred plus different recipes for dyeing bleaching hair from ancient 95 00:05:59,080 --> 00:06:03,200 Speaker 1: Rome and make them and put them, maybe not on 96 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:06,800 Speaker 1: our hair, maybe on the mannequin hair, yeah, mannequin hair barbies, 97 00:06:06,839 --> 00:06:09,280 Speaker 1: and see if it works. Because I think that ash 98 00:06:09,360 --> 00:06:11,760 Speaker 1: has boiled walnut shells and earthworms would be pretty easy 99 00:06:11,800 --> 00:06:14,240 Speaker 1: to come by, Caroline, I'll let you crush the earthworms. 100 00:06:14,320 --> 00:06:18,600 Speaker 1: We could call it ancient Roman salon hair. I'll think 101 00:06:18,640 --> 00:06:22,839 Speaker 1: of a better name, okay. Um, blonde and medieval Europe 102 00:06:23,160 --> 00:06:26,360 Speaker 1: couldn't get a break. Really. The Roman Catholic Church condemned 103 00:06:26,360 --> 00:06:29,640 Speaker 1: women in this time period who bleached their hair, and 104 00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:32,799 Speaker 1: up until the late fourteenth century, many Europeans regarded blonde 105 00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:36,480 Speaker 1: hair as provocative and a symbol of female seductive mom 106 00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:40,320 Speaker 1: See here where you go back again from the oh 107 00:06:40,360 --> 00:06:42,719 Speaker 1: your prostitute, if you have blonde hair, No, you're a 108 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:46,480 Speaker 1: fashionable upper class woman. No you are a witch. No 109 00:06:47,000 --> 00:06:52,280 Speaker 1: you are too seductive. Meanwhile, though in China and Japan, 110 00:06:52,760 --> 00:06:58,039 Speaker 1: dark hair was highly exalted. Um in seventeenth century England, 111 00:06:58,560 --> 00:07:03,080 Speaker 1: dark hair became more desirable than blonde hair for women, 112 00:07:03,240 --> 00:07:05,880 Speaker 1: and this trend start in the early seventeenth century when 113 00:07:05,960 --> 00:07:09,160 Speaker 1: French artists were painting in classical styles, and if you 114 00:07:09,200 --> 00:07:12,160 Speaker 1: look at a lot of those paintings, they depict darker 115 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:15,120 Speaker 1: haired women rather than blondes, and women who bleached your 116 00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:17,920 Speaker 1: hair or use blonde wigs were Here we go again 117 00:07:18,000 --> 00:07:22,080 Speaker 1: for the flip, now seen as low class or unfashionable. 118 00:07:22,240 --> 00:07:24,600 Speaker 1: Can you win as a blonde You can win for 119 00:07:24,600 --> 00:07:27,520 Speaker 1: about a hundred years sounds one hundred years at a time. 120 00:07:28,200 --> 00:07:30,080 Speaker 1: I think, I think we're in a pretty neutral blonde 121 00:07:30,080 --> 00:07:33,440 Speaker 1: hair period. It's pretty acceptable to have blonde hair, as 122 00:07:33,520 --> 00:07:37,640 Speaker 1: we will discuss indeed um But as far as coloring 123 00:07:37,680 --> 00:07:39,920 Speaker 1: your hair and the way that women did it, we 124 00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:43,000 Speaker 1: move forward to the early twentieth century when we start 125 00:07:43,040 --> 00:07:46,120 Speaker 1: getting a lot more technology, and granted it it tended 126 00:07:46,160 --> 00:07:48,240 Speaker 1: to be a little painful at times the way that 127 00:07:48,280 --> 00:07:51,120 Speaker 1: they used chemicals and heating and all that stuff. But 128 00:07:51,160 --> 00:07:54,760 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventeen, the double process technique to create blonde 129 00:07:54,840 --> 00:07:58,360 Speaker 1: hair hair was developed, and this is where people who 130 00:07:58,400 --> 00:08:00,760 Speaker 1: color their hair will be familiar with it. Natural color 131 00:08:00,920 --> 00:08:04,840 Speaker 1: is stripped and then the new color is applied. And 132 00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:08,000 Speaker 1: then in the nineteen twenties, a small French company, Murray, 133 00:08:08,120 --> 00:08:10,840 Speaker 1: created a formula that enabled color it to penetrate the 134 00:08:10,880 --> 00:08:13,760 Speaker 1: hair shaft rather than just coding the outside. So we're 135 00:08:13,760 --> 00:08:16,720 Speaker 1: getting more of these technological hair developments, and in the 136 00:08:16,840 --> 00:08:20,680 Speaker 1: nineteen fifties, women are really able to take hair coloring, 137 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:23,880 Speaker 1: for better or for worse, into their own hands with 138 00:08:24,040 --> 00:08:27,440 Speaker 1: home hair color kits to become more popular. Claire Al, 139 00:08:27,560 --> 00:08:31,600 Speaker 1: for instance, develop new products that helped change these attitudes. 140 00:08:32,040 --> 00:08:36,040 Speaker 1: And it's interesting that in the earliest ad campaigns for 141 00:08:36,200 --> 00:08:39,480 Speaker 1: Claire Al, they really emphasize the value of blonde hair 142 00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:44,439 Speaker 1: for women. For instance, in some of their nineteen fifties campaigns, uh, 143 00:08:44,480 --> 00:08:48,240 Speaker 1: they had taglines such as, is it true blonds have 144 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:51,000 Speaker 1: more fun? If I only have one life to live, 145 00:08:51,200 --> 00:08:53,960 Speaker 1: let me live it as a blonde. And as you know, 146 00:08:54,040 --> 00:08:56,640 Speaker 1: the new blonde woman is probably pushing a vacuum cleaner 147 00:08:56,720 --> 00:09:00,240 Speaker 1: finding lots of fulfillment and our new hair coulor uh 148 00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:03,600 Speaker 1: well yeah, I mean, all these ads served to try 149 00:09:03,640 --> 00:09:07,439 Speaker 1: to make coloring your hair a more acceptable, socially acceptable practice, 150 00:09:07,480 --> 00:09:10,640 Speaker 1: because how are companies like claire All going to make 151 00:09:10,679 --> 00:09:14,839 Speaker 1: any money if women and men still perceive coloring your 152 00:09:14,840 --> 00:09:18,360 Speaker 1: hair to be sort of a taboo topic. And it's interesting, 153 00:09:18,480 --> 00:09:23,200 Speaker 1: considering that dicey history of blonde hair, that they really 154 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:28,439 Speaker 1: did use the value in attractiveness of being a blonde 155 00:09:28,760 --> 00:09:31,079 Speaker 1: to sell that. But this also is coinciding in the 156 00:09:31,160 --> 00:09:35,400 Speaker 1: nineteen fifties with the popularity, for instance, of Marilyn Monroe 157 00:09:35,480 --> 00:09:41,760 Speaker 1: and Jane Mansfield. These blonde bombshells who are setting screens 158 00:09:41,800 --> 00:09:45,360 Speaker 1: on fire all around the country and the world. Really 159 00:09:45,800 --> 00:09:50,200 Speaker 1: um and moving on in the nineteen seventies, more women 160 00:09:50,280 --> 00:09:53,400 Speaker 1: are becoming more open about using hair color. They start 161 00:09:53,440 --> 00:09:57,319 Speaker 1: getting highlights like I did when I was in tenth grade, 162 00:09:57,840 --> 00:10:01,080 Speaker 1: and an increasing number of men start doinging it as well. 163 00:10:01,440 --> 00:10:05,080 Speaker 1: So might remember the old school Grecian formula. And now 164 00:10:05,160 --> 00:10:08,920 Speaker 1: there's just for men. Yeah, got, yeah, it's just for men, 165 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:14,160 Speaker 1: although still more taboo for men to admit to coloring 166 00:10:14,200 --> 00:10:18,560 Speaker 1: their hair. Yeah, because guys can become silver foxes stately, 167 00:10:18,679 --> 00:10:24,200 Speaker 1: you know, whereas women just become old old gray heads. Well, 168 00:10:24,320 --> 00:10:28,440 Speaker 1: speaking of old gray heads, about of the people who 169 00:10:28,559 --> 00:10:32,400 Speaker 1: use hair colorants today do so to conceal gray hairs 170 00:10:32,480 --> 00:10:36,000 Speaker 1: associated with aging. I'm not there yet. My melana site 171 00:10:36,040 --> 00:10:40,200 Speaker 1: activity is still strong, all right. Yeah, and so I 172 00:10:40,320 --> 00:10:43,960 Speaker 1: color my hair just because of vanity. Turns out also 173 00:10:44,000 --> 00:10:46,199 Speaker 1: that baby boomers are more likely to dye their hair 174 00:10:46,240 --> 00:10:49,400 Speaker 1: than any previous generation. So clearly those advertisements in the 175 00:10:49,480 --> 00:10:53,160 Speaker 1: nineteen fifties from Claral and Loreal did wonders for making 176 00:10:53,160 --> 00:10:57,400 Speaker 1: it socially acceptable. And speaking of the nineteen fifties, we 177 00:10:57,480 --> 00:11:01,559 Speaker 1: have had hair color habits rise each decade. So in 178 00:11:01,640 --> 00:11:04,559 Speaker 1: the nineteen fifties, about four to six percent of American 179 00:11:04,559 --> 00:11:07,239 Speaker 1: women admitted to doing it. I guess that's just admitted 180 00:11:07,320 --> 00:11:09,959 Speaker 1: to doing it. We don't know, it's self reporting, he knows. Okay. 181 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:13,680 Speaker 1: In the nineteen seventies that number jumped to more than 182 00:11:13,800 --> 00:11:17,440 Speaker 1: forty percent, and moving up to two thousand four, fifty 183 00:11:17,440 --> 00:11:20,360 Speaker 1: one to seventy percent of American women had colored their 184 00:11:20,400 --> 00:11:24,320 Speaker 1: hair at least once, and as of two thousand, hair 185 00:11:24,360 --> 00:11:29,160 Speaker 1: coloring products have become a one billion dollar per year industry, 186 00:11:29,280 --> 00:11:31,640 Speaker 1: and uh, you know, men contribute a lot to this 187 00:11:31,720 --> 00:11:34,880 Speaker 1: as well. In two thousand two, for instance, sales of 188 00:11:34,960 --> 00:11:40,600 Speaker 1: men home hair coloring products reached almost one fourteen million dollars, 189 00:11:40,600 --> 00:11:44,520 Speaker 1: and about one in every twelve American men was coloring 190 00:11:44,800 --> 00:11:47,680 Speaker 1: his hair, most of them thirty to fifty years old, 191 00:11:47,920 --> 00:11:52,440 Speaker 1: either single or divorced. And of course we have the 192 00:11:52,559 --> 00:11:57,120 Speaker 1: rise of teens like myself coloring their hair. About thirty 193 00:11:57,160 --> 00:12:00,920 Speaker 1: percent of us teams started using hair color by the 194 00:12:01,240 --> 00:12:06,720 Speaker 1: twenty one century. But getting back to the whole blonde thing, 195 00:12:06,800 --> 00:12:11,000 Speaker 1: because now we have with this hair color technology, it's 196 00:12:11,040 --> 00:12:15,040 Speaker 1: so easy for us to choose whatever hair color we 197 00:12:15,080 --> 00:12:18,640 Speaker 1: want and just go with it. And when it comes 198 00:12:18,640 --> 00:12:22,520 Speaker 1: so to um the popularity of blonde hair in the 199 00:12:22,640 --> 00:12:25,200 Speaker 1: US in particular, we got to talk for just a 200 00:12:25,240 --> 00:12:30,319 Speaker 1: second about Ms Norma Jean All. Marilyn Monroe was, as 201 00:12:30,400 --> 00:12:35,280 Speaker 1: many people probably know, not a natural born blonde. Yeah. 202 00:12:35,280 --> 00:12:39,080 Speaker 1: In as the story goes, she went into the Salonda 203 00:12:39,160 --> 00:12:41,160 Speaker 1: have her hair done for a modeling shoot, and the 204 00:12:41,200 --> 00:12:46,080 Speaker 1: tent technician straightened what she called Maryland's brown and kinky hair, 205 00:12:46,640 --> 00:12:49,280 Speaker 1: and the strong solution lightened her hair, making it a 206 00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:50,960 Speaker 1: reddish blond. And so you'll see in some of those 207 00:12:50,960 --> 00:12:53,960 Speaker 1: early Maryland modeling shots that her hair actually has a 208 00:12:54,080 --> 00:12:56,400 Speaker 1: nice reddish tint to it. And there's a lot of 209 00:12:56,440 --> 00:12:58,320 Speaker 1: people who say a lot of lore that says, you know, 210 00:12:58,559 --> 00:13:00,320 Speaker 1: she didn't want to do it, They made her do it, 211 00:13:00,760 --> 00:13:02,840 Speaker 1: but she came back and wanted to become a blonde, 212 00:13:02,880 --> 00:13:04,840 Speaker 1: and over the next four to five months, that same 213 00:13:04,880 --> 00:13:08,840 Speaker 1: technician lightened her hair to her trademark golden Honey blonde. 214 00:13:09,160 --> 00:13:12,400 Speaker 1: Another random tidbit about a bottle blonde I was not 215 00:13:12,480 --> 00:13:15,400 Speaker 1: aware of, and this is coming from Joanna Pittman's book 216 00:13:15,520 --> 00:13:20,960 Speaker 1: on Blonde. Princess Diana reportedly spent thirty six hundred pounds 217 00:13:21,040 --> 00:13:26,439 Speaker 1: per year to stay blonde. Is she brunette? I think 218 00:13:26,440 --> 00:13:31,040 Speaker 1: she had had darker hair. But the woman that we 219 00:13:31,160 --> 00:13:36,520 Speaker 1: can probably thank for the popularity of redheads right now, 220 00:13:36,840 --> 00:13:39,160 Speaker 1: I don't know if she was your inspiration, Caroline, but 221 00:13:39,160 --> 00:13:43,440 Speaker 1: I know that Christina Hendrix, star of Mad Men, had 222 00:13:43,600 --> 00:13:49,280 Speaker 1: really ignited a red hair craze. But she was originally 223 00:13:49,280 --> 00:13:51,960 Speaker 1: a blonde. She was She started coloring her hair at 224 00:13:52,000 --> 00:13:55,120 Speaker 1: the age of ten. And you know why, listeners, because 225 00:13:55,120 --> 00:13:57,440 Speaker 1: she was a huge fan of Anne of green Gables. 226 00:13:57,559 --> 00:14:01,160 Speaker 1: As if we needed another reason she loved Stina Hendrix. 227 00:14:01,840 --> 00:14:04,280 Speaker 1: She dyed her hair because of Anna green Gables. Now 228 00:14:04,360 --> 00:14:07,600 Speaker 1: I'll take pictures of Christina Hendrix to my colorist and 229 00:14:07,640 --> 00:14:11,120 Speaker 1: she's like, you realize your hair is not that light. 230 00:14:11,280 --> 00:14:15,520 Speaker 1: If you want to become the carrot top Christina Hendrix color, 231 00:14:15,920 --> 00:14:18,480 Speaker 1: you've got to like completely strip. And I'm like, oh 232 00:14:18,520 --> 00:14:20,040 Speaker 1: my god, that's so much upkeep. And then I just 233 00:14:20,080 --> 00:14:21,760 Speaker 1: see dollar signs everywhere and I'm like, you know what, 234 00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:24,240 Speaker 1: let's just let's just color on top of my hair. 235 00:14:24,760 --> 00:14:27,560 Speaker 1: And this is why I argue that wigs should be 236 00:14:27,600 --> 00:14:30,640 Speaker 1: more socially acceptable. Sure, then you wouldn't even have to 237 00:14:30,720 --> 00:14:34,040 Speaker 1: worry about it. But now let's get into more of 238 00:14:34,080 --> 00:14:39,080 Speaker 1: the sociology of hair. Why hair color it makes such 239 00:14:39,120 --> 00:14:43,560 Speaker 1: a difference, and these stereotypes and perceptions that we have 240 00:14:44,120 --> 00:14:49,680 Speaker 1: about the color of people's hair, especially of women's hair. Yeah, 241 00:14:49,760 --> 00:14:54,120 Speaker 1: Jodie Manning of Western Connecticut State University in September put 242 00:14:54,200 --> 00:14:58,520 Speaker 1: forth the idea that our culture, American culture, puts focus 243 00:14:58,560 --> 00:15:01,760 Speaker 1: on the individual, emphas sizing that appearance is a public 244 00:15:01,800 --> 00:15:06,040 Speaker 1: display of one's values and beliefs, and that includes your hair. 245 00:15:06,160 --> 00:15:08,400 Speaker 1: So what women do to their hair, how they color 246 00:15:08,440 --> 00:15:12,000 Speaker 1: it sends a message out to the universe, and researchers 247 00:15:12,400 --> 00:15:16,920 Speaker 1: began studying what that message might be in the nineteen seventies, 248 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:19,960 Speaker 1: which coincidentally was when we really saw that big uptick 249 00:15:20,320 --> 00:15:23,840 Speaker 1: uh in women coloring their hair at home. But yeah, 250 00:15:23,880 --> 00:15:28,480 Speaker 1: researchers first began investigating our perceptions of hair color on women, 251 00:15:28,520 --> 00:15:32,400 Speaker 1: and the initial findings suggested that people found brown hair 252 00:15:32,800 --> 00:15:35,480 Speaker 1: the most appealing, and that's among men and women alike, 253 00:15:35,520 --> 00:15:40,520 Speaker 1: followed by blonde, then red, then artificial blonde. And in 254 00:15:40,960 --> 00:15:45,040 Speaker 1: the study that Jodie Manning did in two thousand eleven, 255 00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:49,640 Speaker 1: she showed students pictures to judge of women with different 256 00:15:49,640 --> 00:15:52,080 Speaker 1: colors of hair and also different links, like a brunette 257 00:15:52,120 --> 00:15:55,000 Speaker 1: with long hair versus brunette with short hair, et cetera, 258 00:15:55,400 --> 00:15:59,240 Speaker 1: and she found similarly that brunettes with long hair were 259 00:15:59,240 --> 00:16:02,760 Speaker 1: considered to be higher maintenance than brunette's with shorter hair, 260 00:16:03,080 --> 00:16:06,840 Speaker 1: who were perceived to be smarter. So short brunette hair 261 00:16:07,280 --> 00:16:11,040 Speaker 1: smarter than long brunette hair, okay, yeah, and then red 262 00:16:11,120 --> 00:16:14,080 Speaker 1: heads with short hair were judged to be hapvier than 263 00:16:14,120 --> 00:16:18,000 Speaker 1: redheads with long hair. So I guess after I come 264 00:16:18,040 --> 00:16:23,080 Speaker 1: home from the colorist, I am unhappy looking, but going on. 265 00:16:23,280 --> 00:16:26,880 Speaker 1: Blondes with long hair are perceived to be also higher maintenance, 266 00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:31,120 Speaker 1: but more attractive than blonds with short hair. And interestingly enough, 267 00:16:31,160 --> 00:16:34,120 Speaker 1: they also asked about femininity and the African American women 268 00:16:34,160 --> 00:16:37,440 Speaker 1: with black hair, both those with natural curly hair and 269 00:16:37,480 --> 00:16:40,480 Speaker 1: those with straightened hair were perceived as the most feminine, 270 00:16:40,520 --> 00:16:44,960 Speaker 1: followed by blondes who were perceived as less intelligent. Yeah, 271 00:16:44,960 --> 00:16:49,800 Speaker 1: the whole stereotyping of blondes as incompetent, the whole dumb 272 00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:54,400 Speaker 1: blonde meme um is something that's really persistent and a 273 00:16:54,520 --> 00:16:58,640 Speaker 1: lot of studies on hair color and perceptions um. For instance, 274 00:16:58,760 --> 00:17:01,720 Speaker 1: Jodie Manning in her study sites at two thousand six 275 00:17:01,760 --> 00:17:05,359 Speaker 1: study called hair color Stereotyping and CEO Selection in the 276 00:17:05,480 --> 00:17:09,840 Speaker 1: United Kingdom, and those researchers found that blondes were underrepresented 277 00:17:09,880 --> 00:17:15,160 Speaker 1: in corporate leadership, possibly due to stereotyping a blonde as incompetent, 278 00:17:15,240 --> 00:17:18,920 Speaker 1: and that is something that affects women not so surprisingly, 279 00:17:18,960 --> 00:17:21,679 Speaker 1: even more so than men in the workplace, of just 280 00:17:21,720 --> 00:17:24,879 Speaker 1: seeing a blonde woman in the workplace and assuming just 281 00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:26,800 Speaker 1: right off the bad she's not going to be great 282 00:17:26,840 --> 00:17:30,840 Speaker 1: at her job. Well, just as they're underrepresented in the boardroom, 283 00:17:30,880 --> 00:17:34,680 Speaker 1: they are overrepresented in magazines. And Manning also cited a 284 00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:39,680 Speaker 1: study that examined hair color of models in Ladies, Home Journal, Vogue, 285 00:17:39,680 --> 00:17:42,119 Speaker 1: and Playboy from the nineteen fifties all the way to 286 00:17:42,200 --> 00:17:45,960 Speaker 1: nine nine and came to the conclusion because blondes were 287 00:17:45,960 --> 00:17:50,840 Speaker 1: so overrepresented that society's beauty standards didn't actually represent the population. 288 00:17:50,960 --> 00:17:54,320 Speaker 1: Are you surprised, christin Conga? Yeah, But at the same time, 289 00:17:54,320 --> 00:17:58,240 Speaker 1: though it puts it still puts blondes as this kind 290 00:17:58,240 --> 00:18:04,560 Speaker 1: of feminine ideal, and that heteronormative construct of blond's being 291 00:18:05,160 --> 00:18:09,479 Speaker 1: more sexually desirable is driven home again and again and again, 292 00:18:10,200 --> 00:18:14,760 Speaker 1: as demonstrated by this series of articles from the past 293 00:18:15,200 --> 00:18:20,400 Speaker 1: three years, starting with blonds out at clubs. So let's 294 00:18:20,400 --> 00:18:23,639 Speaker 1: say you're a guy who is into women and you 295 00:18:23,680 --> 00:18:27,280 Speaker 1: go out to the club and a woman approaches you. 296 00:18:27,840 --> 00:18:30,760 Speaker 1: If she's blonde, brunette or redhead. Does the hair color 297 00:18:30,800 --> 00:18:35,520 Speaker 1: make a difference. Well, according to Veran Swammy's study published 298 00:18:35,520 --> 00:18:39,800 Speaker 1: in December and the Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, oh yes 299 00:18:39,880 --> 00:18:43,480 Speaker 1: it does. Yeah. They looked at women who went to 300 00:18:43,520 --> 00:18:46,760 Speaker 1: clubs with their hair dye blonde, brown, or red, and 301 00:18:46,840 --> 00:18:49,800 Speaker 1: the blonde was approached the most often. The second part 302 00:18:49,800 --> 00:18:52,919 Speaker 1: of the study, though, had men looking at pictures of 303 00:18:52,920 --> 00:18:56,280 Speaker 1: the same woman with different hair colors, and in this 304 00:18:56,440 --> 00:18:59,000 Speaker 1: case they said that the brunette was rated as more 305 00:18:59,000 --> 00:19:04,359 Speaker 1: physically attractive, intelligent, approachable, competent, and arrogant, whereas the blonde 306 00:19:04,400 --> 00:19:08,000 Speaker 1: was rated as needier. And yet the blonde was the 307 00:19:08,080 --> 00:19:12,119 Speaker 1: most approached, which is kind of an interesting twist. Also, though, 308 00:19:12,920 --> 00:19:17,960 Speaker 1: men rated redheads as the most promiscuous. Oh dear. Now 309 00:19:18,160 --> 00:19:22,040 Speaker 1: moving on, though, blonde hair could literally pay off in 310 00:19:22,080 --> 00:19:25,760 Speaker 1: the service industry. This is coming from in August twelve 311 00:19:26,040 --> 00:19:29,479 Speaker 1: study published in the Journal of socio Economics looking at 312 00:19:29,520 --> 00:19:34,400 Speaker 1: how a woman's hair color might influence customers tipping behavior 313 00:19:34,800 --> 00:19:40,000 Speaker 1: in restaurants, and essentially they had a model weight on 314 00:19:40,080 --> 00:19:43,320 Speaker 1: tables and switch out her hair color via wigs, and 315 00:19:43,400 --> 00:19:48,879 Speaker 1: waitresses wearing blonde wigs received more tips, but only from 316 00:19:49,160 --> 00:19:53,920 Speaker 1: male and I'm assuming heterosexual patrons. Waitress's hair color had 317 00:19:54,200 --> 00:19:58,880 Speaker 1: no effect on women's tipping behavior. Yeah. Women also were 318 00:19:58,880 --> 00:20:02,200 Speaker 1: not influenced by blonde fundraisers the same way that men were, 319 00:20:02,320 --> 00:20:05,560 Speaker 1: or blonde hitchhikers. I just love how all these studies 320 00:20:05,600 --> 00:20:07,680 Speaker 1: say the exact same thing, but they're just putting blondes 321 00:20:07,760 --> 00:20:10,399 Speaker 1: in different scenarios all over the world. So, in a 322 00:20:10,480 --> 00:20:13,440 Speaker 1: December two thousand nine study and perceptual and motor skills 323 00:20:14,160 --> 00:20:17,359 Speaker 1: in France, women with blonde hair on the side of 324 00:20:17,359 --> 00:20:19,400 Speaker 1: the road sticking their thumb up were picked up way 325 00:20:19,440 --> 00:20:22,080 Speaker 1: more often than when women with black or brown hair. 326 00:20:22,840 --> 00:20:27,320 Speaker 1: When the drivers were men. Women wearing blonde wigs in 327 00:20:27,400 --> 00:20:30,600 Speaker 1: France managed to raise more money for the French telethon 328 00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:34,639 Speaker 1: banded women in brown or dark colored wigs, but surprised 329 00:20:35,240 --> 00:20:38,679 Speaker 1: just from men, just just from the men. But you know, 330 00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:42,320 Speaker 1: hair color discrimination actually works both ways. We've talked about 331 00:20:42,320 --> 00:20:45,920 Speaker 1: what men prefer, but what about what women think? Uh? 332 00:20:45,960 --> 00:20:50,560 Speaker 1: In a study in December twelve, blonde women were more 333 00:20:50,640 --> 00:20:52,800 Speaker 1: frequently approached by men in a nightclub. So this is 334 00:20:52,840 --> 00:20:54,359 Speaker 1: some of the same people that were involved in the 335 00:20:54,440 --> 00:20:57,840 Speaker 1: other nightclub study. So blonde women were approached more followed 336 00:20:57,840 --> 00:21:02,280 Speaker 1: by brunette black than redheads when men with wigs approached 337 00:21:02,320 --> 00:21:06,119 Speaker 1: women asking for a dance, Though women said yes most 338 00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:09,720 Speaker 1: often to men with black hair, then brown, then blonde, 339 00:21:09,880 --> 00:21:13,040 Speaker 1: then redhead people looked wrong with you. Come on. Yeah, 340 00:21:13,040 --> 00:21:17,320 Speaker 1: there's a lot of redhead discrimination that we'll talk about 341 00:21:17,320 --> 00:21:20,879 Speaker 1: in a second, Gingers. But okay, So the theory because 342 00:21:20,880 --> 00:21:22,880 Speaker 1: this and this ties in with our previous nightclub study 343 00:21:22,920 --> 00:21:25,440 Speaker 1: that we mentioned. But the theory is that men said 344 00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:28,800 Speaker 1: that blonde hair looked the neediest, So perhaps they had 345 00:21:28,840 --> 00:21:32,840 Speaker 1: the greatest confidence approaching a blonde woman, and you know, 346 00:21:32,880 --> 00:21:35,280 Speaker 1: the red head being perceived as the leash shy and 347 00:21:35,320 --> 00:21:38,080 Speaker 1: most promiscuous. Maybe they think they thought that they didn't 348 00:21:38,080 --> 00:21:41,639 Speaker 1: have a chance and that more contemporary research also drives 349 00:21:41,680 --> 00:21:44,520 Speaker 1: with a nineteen seventy eight study which found that men 350 00:21:44,640 --> 00:21:49,520 Speaker 1: prefer blonde women, whereas women prefer dark haired men. But 351 00:21:49,880 --> 00:21:52,479 Speaker 1: the thing about a lot of this research too, is 352 00:21:52,560 --> 00:21:57,000 Speaker 1: that it focuses so much on you know, essentially ask 353 00:21:57,040 --> 00:22:00,040 Speaker 1: you the question, do gentlemen prefer blondes? Over and we 354 00:22:00,160 --> 00:22:04,040 Speaker 1: and over again and tip to hitchhikers out there and 355 00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:09,040 Speaker 1: buy a blonde wig? Um, but also maybe don't hitchhike right, 356 00:22:09,200 --> 00:22:14,119 Speaker 1: dangerous p s A over. But I could not find 357 00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:20,000 Speaker 1: very much at all focusing on women's preferences to men. 358 00:22:20,040 --> 00:22:22,000 Speaker 1: I mean, there's kind of a general assumption that we 359 00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:26,960 Speaker 1: just want darker hair. And also, of course no research 360 00:22:27,080 --> 00:22:31,960 Speaker 1: whatsoever testing these same kinds of things among gay populations. 361 00:22:32,080 --> 00:22:34,399 Speaker 1: So because I was curious to see whether or not 362 00:22:34,560 --> 00:22:39,000 Speaker 1: different colors of hair or valued like based on sexual orientation, 363 00:22:39,240 --> 00:22:42,399 Speaker 1: maybe that could be a variable, who knows. But this 364 00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:47,320 Speaker 1: kind of hard hitting research of interchanging wigs and such 365 00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:53,600 Speaker 1: at the diner has not caught up to the LGBT population. Um. 366 00:22:53,680 --> 00:22:57,560 Speaker 1: But digging even more into the blonde thing, especially this 367 00:22:57,960 --> 00:23:02,400 Speaker 1: idea that blonde women were approached more often because they 368 00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:09,040 Speaker 1: appeared needier, I feel ties directly into the whole blondes 369 00:23:09,240 --> 00:23:13,159 Speaker 1: are less intelligent than brunette women. The whole dumb blonde 370 00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:19,560 Speaker 1: meme and Caroline, I was astounded to find that this 371 00:23:19,680 --> 00:23:26,320 Speaker 1: goes back, way, way way beyond Marilyn Monroe to Paris 372 00:23:27,200 --> 00:23:34,479 Speaker 1: sent there's this famous French courtesan, Rosalie Duth, who is 373 00:23:34,560 --> 00:23:38,840 Speaker 1: so popular in her day that she essentially spawns the 374 00:23:39,080 --> 00:23:41,800 Speaker 1: dumb blonde meme when a playwright takes a shine to 375 00:23:41,880 --> 00:23:45,920 Speaker 1: her and features her character and a one act play 376 00:23:46,040 --> 00:23:50,399 Speaker 1: and sort of satirizes this habit that Rosalie had of 377 00:23:50,520 --> 00:23:56,720 Speaker 1: taking very long pauses in conversation. And I kind of 378 00:23:56,760 --> 00:23:59,600 Speaker 1: think of her as like the blonde Kim Kardashian of 379 00:23:59,640 --> 00:24:03,080 Speaker 1: her day, because she was super famous in Paris at 380 00:24:03,080 --> 00:24:06,439 Speaker 1: the time for rubbing elbows with the royals. Obviously she 381 00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:09,560 Speaker 1: was a courtisan, and uh, I was just kind of 382 00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:14,000 Speaker 1: famous for being famous and for being dumb. Because the 383 00:24:14,119 --> 00:24:18,520 Speaker 1: play took off and now she's referred to as history's 384 00:24:18,520 --> 00:24:22,679 Speaker 1: original dumb blonde. Wow, what a legacy, I know. And 385 00:24:22,720 --> 00:24:24,640 Speaker 1: I guess you could say, though, in the same way 386 00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:30,560 Speaker 1: that Marilyn Monrose character and gentlemen prefer blondes, is intentional 387 00:24:31,119 --> 00:24:37,120 Speaker 1: with her, uh, let's say, lack of intelligence because she 388 00:24:37,400 --> 00:24:42,160 Speaker 1: rides her beauty to the arms of wealthy men, which 389 00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:45,200 Speaker 1: I'm not going to advocate for. But you could say, 390 00:24:45,280 --> 00:24:48,640 Speaker 1: you know, maybe she's I don't know, playing to her 391 00:24:48,720 --> 00:24:52,159 Speaker 1: strengths or something in a in a why am I 392 00:24:52,280 --> 00:24:54,679 Speaker 1: arguing for this? I don't know. Well, she has included 393 00:24:54,760 --> 00:24:58,120 Speaker 1: on Grant McCracken's breakdown of the six categories of blonds. 394 00:24:58,240 --> 00:25:01,480 Speaker 1: This is from Big Hair, A Journey into the Transformation 395 00:25:01,520 --> 00:25:03,800 Speaker 1: of Self. He says, We've got a couple of different 396 00:25:03,800 --> 00:25:06,160 Speaker 1: types of blondes. Marilyn Monroe is up first a lot 397 00:25:06,200 --> 00:25:09,040 Speaker 1: with May West as a bombshell blonde. We've got the 398 00:25:09,080 --> 00:25:12,640 Speaker 1: sunny blonde whose Doris Day and Goldie Hawn, Candice Bergen's 399 00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:18,719 Speaker 1: brassy blonde, Sharon Stone's dangerous blonde, CZ guest society blond, 400 00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:23,600 Speaker 1: and Marlene Dietrich and Grace Kelly's cool blonde. So what 401 00:25:23,760 --> 00:25:26,080 Speaker 1: kind of blonde do you want to be? Just just 402 00:25:26,200 --> 00:25:28,480 Speaker 1: choose your choice. Um, I did want to make. The 403 00:25:28,600 --> 00:25:32,080 Speaker 1: one note about Gentleman Prefer Blonde is that before it 404 00:25:32,280 --> 00:25:35,480 Speaker 1: was a film, Starry Marilyn Monroe, it started out as 405 00:25:35,520 --> 00:25:38,960 Speaker 1: a novel that was published in by Harper's writer and 406 00:25:39,080 --> 00:25:43,360 Speaker 1: screenwriter Anita Loose, and it was this huge best seller, 407 00:25:43,880 --> 00:25:48,440 Speaker 1: and it was all about this blonde obviously protagonists whom 408 00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:54,160 Speaker 1: Louse wanted to represent the nation's lowest possible mentality. So yeah, 409 00:25:54,200 --> 00:26:00,000 Speaker 1: that that horrible, dumb blonde name just running through through history. 410 00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:02,800 Speaker 1: It's really unfortunate, though, I don't know. I feel like 411 00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:06,280 Speaker 1: it's because it's obviously like sometimes it's directed at men, 412 00:26:06,320 --> 00:26:09,280 Speaker 1: but overwhelmingly it's directed at women, and it usually is 413 00:26:09,520 --> 00:26:15,520 Speaker 1: horribly sexist. And I'm friends with plenty of smart blonde people. Yes, 414 00:26:15,600 --> 00:26:18,359 Speaker 1: I'm aware of some as well. Yes, But on a 415 00:26:18,440 --> 00:26:21,560 Speaker 1: more serious note though, to kind of close things off 416 00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:25,160 Speaker 1: on this Hair Color Perceptions podcast, we want to talk 417 00:26:25,200 --> 00:26:30,679 Speaker 1: about redhead discrimination because while blondes are perceived a lot 418 00:26:30,720 --> 00:26:34,000 Speaker 1: of times unfortunately as more incompetent, and brunettes were just 419 00:26:34,080 --> 00:26:36,520 Speaker 1: kind of like, well whatever, and maybe too smart for 420 00:26:36,560 --> 00:26:41,320 Speaker 1: their own good. Uh that's speaking in stereotype, not saying 421 00:26:41,320 --> 00:26:44,879 Speaker 1: that's actually possible. Um, redheads get the shortest end of 422 00:26:44,920 --> 00:26:47,639 Speaker 1: the stick. Yeah, I had no idea before reading stuff 423 00:26:47,640 --> 00:26:51,480 Speaker 1: for this episode that there were actual physical, violent attacks 424 00:26:51,560 --> 00:26:53,879 Speaker 1: against redheads. I seriously thought it was just like a 425 00:26:53,960 --> 00:26:59,199 Speaker 1: joke coming from a South Park episode. No idea that 426 00:26:59,240 --> 00:27:01,399 Speaker 1: there was actual violence and a lot of it is 427 00:27:01,480 --> 00:27:03,640 Speaker 1: in the u K. It seems to be a very 428 00:27:03,680 --> 00:27:07,639 Speaker 1: British phenomenon and the head of Kids Escape, which is 429 00:27:07,680 --> 00:27:10,639 Speaker 1: the UK bullying prevention initiatives, so that there's no logic 430 00:27:10,720 --> 00:27:14,320 Speaker 1: to it. It's ingrained in some part of our folklore, 431 00:27:14,440 --> 00:27:17,160 Speaker 1: she says, Yeah, And that was coming from a Telegraph 432 00:27:17,280 --> 00:27:20,800 Speaker 1: article from the past year or two reporting on an 433 00:27:20,840 --> 00:27:25,800 Speaker 1: incident when a couple of redheads were beaten up, apparently 434 00:27:26,400 --> 00:27:31,000 Speaker 1: just because they're redheads. Yeah. Dr Lisa Wade said that 435 00:27:31,040 --> 00:27:34,240 Speaker 1: this could be related to the longstanding antagonism between Britain 436 00:27:34,280 --> 00:27:37,720 Speaker 1: and Ireland, that the discrimination against Irish people, who are 437 00:27:37,760 --> 00:27:42,119 Speaker 1: typically the percentage of redheads is higher. That this discrimination 438 00:27:42,200 --> 00:27:44,720 Speaker 1: then crossed the Atlantic with early Americans, so that it's 439 00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:49,000 Speaker 1: just like you know, ingrained in everything. Yeah. And Robert Bartlett, 440 00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:51,919 Speaker 1: who's a medieval history expert who was interviewed for that 441 00:27:52,040 --> 00:27:56,680 Speaker 1: Telegraph article UM says that the discrimination against redhead actually 442 00:27:56,840 --> 00:28:01,360 Speaker 1: dates back to ancient Egypt, where the odds set, who 443 00:28:01,440 --> 00:28:05,720 Speaker 1: was associated with earthquakes, thunderstorms and eclipses, was depicted with 444 00:28:05,840 --> 00:28:10,600 Speaker 1: pale skin and reddish hair. And um, there's also some 445 00:28:11,119 --> 00:28:14,760 Speaker 1: redhead discrimination in ancient Rome, when the gals who were 446 00:28:14,800 --> 00:28:17,359 Speaker 1: captured by Caesar were forced to dye their hair red 447 00:28:17,560 --> 00:28:22,119 Speaker 1: and learned German in order to signify class rank. And 448 00:28:22,119 --> 00:28:25,720 Speaker 1: in the fifteenth century, we can't leave out which witchcraft 449 00:28:26,080 --> 00:28:28,520 Speaker 1: redheads were accused of being. Which isn't burned at the steak? 450 00:28:28,960 --> 00:28:32,040 Speaker 1: Oh no, so we're obviously evil, I say, weak? Is 451 00:28:32,160 --> 00:28:34,560 Speaker 1: I really want to be one of you? And let's 452 00:28:34,560 --> 00:28:39,280 Speaker 1: not forget the something that could be perceived as a benefit, Kristen. 453 00:28:39,920 --> 00:28:42,600 Speaker 1: A University at Hamburg study found the redheads have more 454 00:28:42,640 --> 00:28:46,240 Speaker 1: active sex lives than brunettes and blonds. So redheads get 455 00:28:46,280 --> 00:28:50,600 Speaker 1: the last laugh or the last orgasm. There you go. 456 00:28:50,800 --> 00:28:56,480 Speaker 1: Perhaps perhaps now the redhead discrimination, though, does break my heart. 457 00:28:56,520 --> 00:28:59,760 Speaker 1: I was telling Caroline before we started recording his podcast 458 00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:04,280 Speaker 1: that I have a couple of young redhead nephews, and 459 00:29:04,520 --> 00:29:07,840 Speaker 1: even at ten years old, they're aware that being a 460 00:29:07,920 --> 00:29:11,480 Speaker 1: redhead is not cool. I think it is cool. And 461 00:29:11,520 --> 00:29:13,480 Speaker 1: then I responded to Kristen by saying, one of my 462 00:29:13,560 --> 00:29:15,360 Speaker 1: first loves was a ginger, So I have a very 463 00:29:15,400 --> 00:29:19,200 Speaker 1: soft spot for redheaded boys. Yeah, so I mean maybe 464 00:29:19,760 --> 00:29:23,160 Speaker 1: you should advocate for isn't there a hugged ginger day? 465 00:29:23,200 --> 00:29:25,000 Speaker 1: Although you know what, I bet. I bet gingers don't 466 00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:28,480 Speaker 1: want to be pandered too, because they don't want your pity. Kristen. Yeah, 467 00:29:28,560 --> 00:29:32,040 Speaker 1: they get called out for their their hair colors so often. Um. 468 00:29:32,120 --> 00:29:35,440 Speaker 1: But let's go though, to wrap things up to our 469 00:29:35,720 --> 00:29:39,320 Speaker 1: question that we posed in the podcast title, do blonds 470 00:29:39,360 --> 00:29:43,240 Speaker 1: have more fun? Caroline certainly get more stereotypes, it certainly 471 00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:48,160 Speaker 1: have better luck hitch shiking. Yeah, I would say that. No, 472 00:29:48,480 --> 00:29:51,120 Speaker 1: I don't think blonds do have more fun because they're 473 00:29:51,120 --> 00:30:00,400 Speaker 1: having to battle usually negative stereotypes about their intelligence. So no, no, 474 00:30:01,680 --> 00:30:04,800 Speaker 1: I'm gonna say the answer is no. Well, I mean, 475 00:30:04,840 --> 00:30:07,040 Speaker 1: I guess it depends on your definition, like if if 476 00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:09,840 Speaker 1: you want, I mean, look at all these studies and 477 00:30:09,920 --> 00:30:13,280 Speaker 1: my papers that I'm jostling about men paying more attention 478 00:30:13,280 --> 00:30:15,720 Speaker 1: to blonds. So if that's your definition of more fun, 479 00:30:16,720 --> 00:30:19,400 Speaker 1: maybe you should bleach your hair. But is it problematic 480 00:30:19,400 --> 00:30:22,280 Speaker 1: though that the reason why, at least according to those studies, 481 00:30:22,280 --> 00:30:24,560 Speaker 1: that they're being approached more often is because they're perceived 482 00:30:24,560 --> 00:30:30,960 Speaker 1: as needier. Yes, but right, you know, to each his own. Yeah, 483 00:30:31,040 --> 00:30:34,840 Speaker 1: And also where are the studies on on burnette perceptions? 484 00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:37,600 Speaker 1: I guess it's just like you're everybody. You're all over 485 00:30:37,640 --> 00:30:40,920 Speaker 1: the world, everybody's got your hair. You're just You're just 486 00:30:40,960 --> 00:30:45,360 Speaker 1: another person. They're not just another person to me. Thank you, 487 00:30:45,520 --> 00:30:49,160 Speaker 1: Thank you. Well. Blondes out there, we especially want to 488 00:30:49,200 --> 00:30:53,760 Speaker 1: hear from you or people who are perhaps bottle blondes. 489 00:30:54,320 --> 00:30:57,400 Speaker 1: Did going blonde change your life in any way? I 490 00:30:57,400 --> 00:30:59,000 Speaker 1: don't know? What do you? What do you think are 491 00:30:59,160 --> 00:31:02,440 Speaker 1: the hair their stereotypes? Real redheads out there? Have you 492 00:31:02,760 --> 00:31:06,200 Speaker 1: been unfairly discriminated against? Let us know all of your 493 00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:09,040 Speaker 1: hair color related thoughts. Mom Stuff at Discovery dot com 494 00:31:09,160 --> 00:31:11,040 Speaker 1: is where you can send your letters, and you can 495 00:31:11,080 --> 00:31:15,440 Speaker 1: also messages on Facebook and tweet us at mom Stuff podcast. 496 00:31:15,800 --> 00:31:20,920 Speaker 1: And now back to our letters. Well, Kristen, I have 497 00:31:20,960 --> 00:31:23,320 Speaker 1: a letter here from MICHAELA about our kids at the 498 00:31:23,360 --> 00:31:27,240 Speaker 1: Workplace episode. She says, I found it rather ironic to 499 00:31:27,280 --> 00:31:29,680 Speaker 1: see your most recent podcast title because my husband just 500 00:31:29,760 --> 00:31:32,080 Speaker 1: dropped my five year old off in my office for 501 00:31:32,080 --> 00:31:35,280 Speaker 1: the afternoon while I work. I am fortunate enough to 502 00:31:35,400 --> 00:31:38,160 Speaker 1: work for a flexible company that allows pretty much whatever 503 00:31:38,240 --> 00:31:42,040 Speaker 1: reasonable concession necessary when dealing with parenting. Today, my son 504 00:31:42,160 --> 00:31:45,000 Speaker 1: is here just to enjoy stamping envelopes and playing with 505 00:31:45,040 --> 00:31:49,120 Speaker 1: my Stapler. You watch out, Michaela. I I remember in 506 00:31:49,200 --> 00:31:52,840 Speaker 1: third grade my my classmates stapling her finger and she 507 00:31:53,000 --> 00:31:55,280 Speaker 1: was not five, she was However, you old you are 508 00:31:55,280 --> 00:31:58,160 Speaker 1: in third grade anyway, Michaela says. My husband and I 509 00:31:58,200 --> 00:32:00,800 Speaker 1: are so looking forward to this fall when our daycare 510 00:32:00,840 --> 00:32:03,520 Speaker 1: bill will be cut in half thanks to that five 511 00:32:03,600 --> 00:32:06,560 Speaker 1: year old of mine entering the school force. We've been 512 00:32:06,560 --> 00:32:09,840 Speaker 1: through four or five different daycares of various quality before 513 00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:12,440 Speaker 1: finding our current which is the most expensive but definitely 514 00:32:12,480 --> 00:32:15,080 Speaker 1: the best option we've found for our five year old 515 00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:17,280 Speaker 1: and two year old. Our daycare bill is higher than 516 00:32:17,320 --> 00:32:20,920 Speaker 1: our monthly mortgage payment. I would definitely pay the equivalent 517 00:32:20,920 --> 00:32:24,000 Speaker 1: of this for the convenience of on site childcare. It 518 00:32:24,040 --> 00:32:27,200 Speaker 1: would have been amazing after having my kids and spending 519 00:32:27,240 --> 00:32:30,200 Speaker 1: countless hours pumping bottles for the baby's I was missing. 520 00:32:30,880 --> 00:32:35,200 Speaker 1: So thanks, Michaela, and watch out for the Stapler. Well. 521 00:32:35,240 --> 00:32:39,320 Speaker 1: I've got an email here from Zara and she wanted 522 00:32:39,480 --> 00:32:44,640 Speaker 1: to another perspective on that podcast on childcare at work 523 00:32:44,760 --> 00:32:50,880 Speaker 1: and about how Quebec handles things. She writes, since seven 524 00:32:50,960 --> 00:32:54,120 Speaker 1: Quebec has had a subsidized daycare system that is seven 525 00:32:54,160 --> 00:32:56,920 Speaker 1: dollars per day per child. Not everyone can get a 526 00:32:56,920 --> 00:32:59,880 Speaker 1: spot in subsidized daycare, which has led to some employers 527 00:33:00,160 --> 00:33:03,360 Speaker 1: building a daycare on the premises or taking an arrangement 528 00:33:03,360 --> 00:33:06,520 Speaker 1: with existing daycares to give priorities to their employers over 529 00:33:06,520 --> 00:33:10,400 Speaker 1: the general population. People on social Security also get priority 530 00:33:10,440 --> 00:33:12,560 Speaker 1: if I recall correctly, so they can go back to 531 00:33:12,560 --> 00:33:15,800 Speaker 1: the workforce. If you don't get a place in subsidized daycare, 532 00:33:15,880 --> 00:33:18,680 Speaker 1: you can get a refund at tax time if you 533 00:33:18,760 --> 00:33:22,160 Speaker 1: go to a non subsidized daycare. Non subsidized daycare is 534 00:33:22,200 --> 00:33:24,520 Speaker 1: usually charge about twenty to thirty dollars per day, though 535 00:33:24,560 --> 00:33:27,400 Speaker 1: some are more expensive. There's no sliding scale depending on 536 00:33:27,400 --> 00:33:30,280 Speaker 1: your child's age. It's the same fee for everybody. A 537 00:33:30,320 --> 00:33:33,520 Speaker 1: study published in two thousand twelve showed that subsidized daycare 538 00:33:33,560 --> 00:33:37,160 Speaker 1: is actually profitable for the government. Around seventy thousand women 539 00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:40,400 Speaker 1: went back to the workforce since the subsidized daycare program started, 540 00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:44,520 Speaker 1: for a proportion of seventy of women aged fifteen to 541 00:33:44,600 --> 00:33:47,880 Speaker 1: sixty four now working, up from sixty three pc in nine. 542 00:33:49,000 --> 00:33:51,360 Speaker 1: As a result, for each one hundred dollars that the 543 00:33:51,400 --> 00:33:55,480 Speaker 1: provincial government invested in the program, they received one hundred 544 00:33:55,520 --> 00:33:59,959 Speaker 1: and four dollars and the government received forty three dollars. 545 00:34:00,360 --> 00:34:04,680 Speaker 1: So apparently subside daycare can be good not only for 546 00:34:04,800 --> 00:34:11,239 Speaker 1: businesses bottom lines, but also for Canadian provinces or Quebec specifically. 547 00:34:11,400 --> 00:34:13,319 Speaker 1: But yeah, I know that's a that's interesting to see 548 00:34:13,320 --> 00:34:16,480 Speaker 1: how it can profit the government as well. So thanks 549 00:34:16,480 --> 00:34:19,200 Speaker 1: for that insight to Zara and everyone else who has 550 00:34:19,200 --> 00:34:22,000 Speaker 1: written into mom stuff at Discovery dot com. You can 551 00:34:22,040 --> 00:34:24,480 Speaker 1: also find us on Facebook, of course, follow us on 552 00:34:24,520 --> 00:34:27,520 Speaker 1: Twitter at mom Stuff Podcast. We're on Tumbler as well 553 00:34:27,560 --> 00:34:30,520 Speaker 1: as stuff Mom Never Told You dot tumbler dot com, 554 00:34:30,560 --> 00:34:33,320 Speaker 1: and in case you haven't subscribed yet, you can watch 555 00:34:33,480 --> 00:34:37,920 Speaker 1: us on YouTube at YouTube dot com slash stuff Mom 556 00:34:38,160 --> 00:34:40,120 Speaker 1: Never Told You. We're coming at you three times a 557 00:34:40,160 --> 00:34:42,839 Speaker 1: week on YouTube, so check it out there, and if 558 00:34:42,840 --> 00:34:45,480 Speaker 1: you're not already busy enough, head over to our website, 559 00:34:45,719 --> 00:34:53,799 Speaker 1: it's how stuff Works dot com for more on this 560 00:34:53,960 --> 00:34:56,480 Speaker 1: and thousands of other topics. Does it how stuff Works 561 00:34:56,480 --> 00:35:03,280 Speaker 1: dot com. Twe