Extra Credit Response

Critique an example of a specific stereotype you’ve seen portrayed in pop culture

One of the most popular stereotypes is the one that is associated with blonde hair. Ladies with blonde hair especially, are used in movies to act as dumb and stupid. It is from this that many people refer to the trait of being dumb as being blonde. The blonde hair however is also used to portray women who are more attractive, fun loving and risk takers. This is unlike their brunette counter parts who considering the fact that they are more intelligent, most of them act as nerds. It is said that people of the male gender expect women to become more fun if they dye their hair blonde. This is highly unlikely because changing hair colour is like changing clothes. A woman’s character will remain the same after dying their hair. The blonde hair colour in women’s hair has also been used to make sexist jokes, which is very unethical.

As much as blonde women have been depicted to rely more on their looks than their brains, studies have shown that natural blondes have a higher IQ than the brunettes and the red heads. No woman should be judged on the basis of her hair colour. Women should be given equal opportunities to portray themselves with regard to their abilities. For example in the movie Legally Blonde, Reese Witherspoon acts as a blonde girl who was dumped by her boyfriend because he thought that she will never be the serious, intelligent woman he needed to achieve his goals. To everyone’s surprise, she graduated top of her class in Harvard Law School.