How did blondes get the reputation of being stupid historically?

Answer 1

Origins
Like many popular-culture stereotypes, the origins of this concept are murky. The 1925 Anita Loos novel Gentlemen Prefer Blondes: The Illuminating Diary of a Professional Lady (later used as source for a film by the same name made by Howard Hawks and starring Marilyn Monroe) featured the character Lorelei Lee, a beautiful but empty-headed singer. While some look to this as the source for the concept, in fact, it might be far older.

Some have suggested that, because Caucasian babies are often born with at least a touch of blonde hair, an association has arisen tying those having fair hair with childhood and youth (and the accompanying proclivities toward naïvité and/or innocence). Also, as blonde hair is often associated with physical attractiveness and youth, some argue that those around blondes may have a tendency to admire or fawn over them, encouraging some to behave in a child-like manner (consciously or not) in order to gain attention and affection. On the other hand, some have postulated that the association is far older, having its roots in ancient times. The ancient Greeks and Romans were fascinated by the fair hair of the Celts and the Nordic peoples and wished to emulate their red and flaxen tresses. People in the Mediterranean area often bleached their hair or bought wigs made from the hair of enslaved Germanic and Celtic peoples, and most notably the highest-ranking courtesans. Due to this association of red and fair hair with harlots, light hair earned a degree of contempt from the high-ranking ladies of society. In Medieval Europe, the upper classes tended to be darker haired than the peasantry, likely due to the period tendency to marry within one's own class and the fact that lower class people were far more exposed to sunlight. Blonde hair was, at this time, often associated with commoners, who were ostensibly deemed less intelligent. Puritans, associating makeup and dyeing of hair with prostitution, forbade the dyeing or bleaching of hair, creating an imprint on dyeing hair that lasted until the 1920s. The "dumb" side could have been a way for wives of adulterous men to reassure themselves about the infidelity of their husbands; to think that their husband's blonde mistress was sleazy, worthless, ditzy, and not very intelligent[1]. Or, the idea might stem from the idea amongst Romans and Greeks that Northern Europeans were barbarians and thus less advanced than Southern Europeans." -Wikipedia

Answer 2

It all started with old movies. Many years ago, some actresses who happened to be blond, did the type of comedy that labeled them "dumb blonde's." As we know, the color of the hair, the skin, or any other feature has anything to do with a persons intelligence. But it is ironic how color has been the determining factor of some peoples opinions around the world. When I was a small child, my hair was blond. When I grew up, my hair was dark. Now that I am older, my hair is white. Guess what, I am the same person and the hair never made me more, or less, intelligent.

Answer 3

Historically, blondes have — and haven't — had fun
By Fran Smith, special for USA TODAY
A half-dozen books on the market explore the history and status of the breast, so why not a treatise on blond hair? From the erotic golden curls of Aphrodite to the bleached power 'do of Hillary Rodham Clinton, blond hair is not simply a color, any more than breasts are mere mounds of flesh.
In On Blondes, Joanna Pitman offers a lively yet serious examination of the sexual, religious and psychological meanings of fair hair, and the arduous, often disgusting techniques women have endured to achieve that perfect shade. (Related item: Read an excerpt from On Blondes.)

Aristocrats and courtesans in ancient Rome rubbed on pigeon dung. Renaissance Venetians favored horse urine. Princess Diana spent nearly 4,000 British pounds a year on dye jobs. Today, smart, confident, busy men and women routinely sit for hours in stylists' chairs, heads slathered in chemicals and wrapped in foil. Have we been nuts all these millennia? Well, probably. But such vanities seem logical, even shrewd, when viewed in their cultural context.

According to Pitman, blond hair has embodied potent and contradictory messages throughout Western civilization. It has meant sexpot, from Aphrodite to Marilyn Monroe to Madonna. It has signified godliness since the early paintings of Jesus and the angels. Blond has been code for dumb — Roman poetry recorded the first bimbos, platinum-haired women without "serious intentions." And blond conveys power and intelligence — witness what Pitman calls Margaret Thatcher's "lacquered helmet."

The Nazis twisted blond symbolism into a genocidal drive for racial purity. But Pitman argues that in the USA, too, reverence for blondes was tinged with bigotry and gender stereotypes, especially after World War II. Clairol — "If I've only one life, let me live it as a blonde" — made hair color not just a look but a lifestyle. It was an aspiration for dark-haired ethnics and a trap for women who were yearning to break free of their homemaker destiny.

Pitman, a British journalist and natural dark blonde, researched literature, art, movies and music extensively.

Happily, the book never bogs down, though it oversimplifies. Yes, Monroe was an icon, but so was the regally brunette Jackie Kennedy. Pitman occasionally goes overboard: Can the Bill Clinton sex scandal really be seen as a clash between Hillary's highlights and Monica's dark mane?

Quibbles aside, Pitman has written an enlightening, engaging cultural history. It's a good read — and a great way to pass the hours at the salon, waiting for those chemicals to do their magic.

Answer 4

Stupid no, but untrustworthy yes. Years ago someone did some psychological testing on people. The results indicated that both men and women found dark haired dark eyed women to be smarter and more trustworthy than blondes or redheads. Thank God I am brown haired and brown eyed.

Answer 5

In the olden days in the place of what is now Europe, people who worked in the fields were always exposed to the sun. They were the lower class, the working class-the uneducated where the men were tanned and the women grew their hairs more fair and blondy. They did not posses the best knowledge in anything and thus were frowned upon as dumb and less intelligent.

Answer 6

In Roman times, prostitutes died their hair blonde, so that they would be identified as prostitutes. That is where they originally get their reputation from.

Answer 7

I think the idea is that being blonde is "ideal" and beautiful. And no one has it all, so if you're pretty, you can't be smart too. I mean, no one is lucky enough to be pretty AND smart, right?! Geez, that's just sad. It's so not true.

Answer 8

Jean Harlow
Jayne Mansfield
Marilyn Monroe
Judy Holiday

Blondes were thought to be prettier.

And if a girl was "pretty," then she couldn't be smart, because "boys don't like smart girls."

Sooo - to be really pretty, you needed to be a) blonde and b) dumb