I wrote a post putting forward a theory about blond heroes in romance over at Heroes and Heartbreakers. The theory is that blond is the only hero hair color that needs a reason. I’m sure it can easily be debunked, but it was fun to invent. Have a look.
ps. Fixed the spelling of blonde. Er blond. Yes, I had to learn French to get a PhD in philosophy, but to prove it, I was put in a stuffy room and made to translate large chunks of Descartes’ Passions of the Soul. Despite the title, Descartes never waxed eloquent about blond men, believe it or not.
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As an Australian to me he is ‘blonde’
@Merrian: Oh frag! I will NEVER get this right!
It’s blonde in Canada too. Great article.
@Lynnd: Interesting! And thanks.
Well as a lifelong, fair-headed female I have always spelled it blonde – however, it seems the correct usage when referring to hair color is blond. Who knew?
From Dictionary.com –
The spelling blonde is still widely used for the noun that specifies a woman or girl with fair hair: The blonde with the baby in her arms is my anthropology professor. Some people object to this as an unnecessary distinction, preferring blond for all persons: My sister is thinking of becoming a blond for a while. As an adjective, the word is more usually spelled blond in reference to either sex ( an energetic blond girl; two blond sons ), although the form blonde is occasionally still used of a female: the blonde model and her escort. The spelling blond is almost always used for the adjective describing hair, complexion, etc.: His daughter has blond hair and hazel eyes.
Great article btw! =)
I was wondering if the dearth of blond heroes is to do with aryanism and the fair-haired, blue-eyed Teutonic knights in swastikas?
Or does it have to do with Ken?
Thanks for the info, Daisy. As to whether to blame Ken or something else, no idea! I do think it’s something to do with the notion that blonds are pretty boys, and this less masculine.
Longtime lurker, first time commenter. That whole postscript was hilarious.
Very interesting article, for trivia’s sake I recently read 2 books with a blond hero and a corresponding dark haired cover boy so maybe publishers don’t even want to risk blonds on books where they should be. As to the lack of blonds in romance could it be that most writers subconsciously avoid them becos in the 80′s almost all romance covers had a big, bad, blond Fabio on the cover?
Ah – but Fabio wasn’t always blond. He was often brunette and even a time or two shown as a red head.
I personally think it has to do with the dearth of actual blonds in real life – meaning adult males with real rather than dyed blond hair. Of the men in my immediate circle there is not a single blond, including all three of my sons, both brothers and a father all of whom were tow heads as children; men’s hair just seems to darken as they age. So perhaps there is a perception that blond men are not as mature as darker haired men.
@Merrian: Maybe. My possibly-dodgy theory:
Blond heroes were extremely popular during 1970s and early 1980s. Examples*:
Six Million Dollars Man – Lee Majors (blond)
Flash Gordon – Sam J. Jones (blond)
Star Wars - Mark Hamill (blond)
Captain America – Matt Salinger (blond)
MacGyver - Richard Dean Anderson (blond)
And a huge number of romance novels.
I think the 1980s pretty much spelt the end of a love affair with blond heroes because of martial arts / action movie actors. Such Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dolph Lunden, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Chuck Norris, Michael Midkiff, etc. Then came a trend of blond villains (usually German or British).
Love finally died, due to Guns & Roses, Skid Row, Whitesnake, Bon Jovi, etc. And, um, Bryan Adams. It’s my guess that this is probably when people finally sensed that cheesiness somehow got itself a crown of blonde hair.
Some say it was French actor Christopher Lambert, in spite of his weird laugh, wowed many with his role in Highlander, especially when he screamed “There can only be one!” Just enough to give birth to the revival of the Tall, Dark & Handsome type (e.g. Clark Gable, Rudolph Valentino, etc.).
I don’t agree. I think it is Adrian Paul in the TV series of Highlander that set authors and readers’ imagination on fire. My guess is based on three things: his name and its variations (Aiden is not a Scottish name, damn it!) and quite a few cover models of Scottish historical romance novels look like him (which I always find funny, considering the actor is an Italian Englishman
).
*cough* Like I say, my theory is
possiblydefinitely dodgy, but there you go.(*I’m a huge believer that films and TV heavily influence the popularity of character types and trends in the Romance genre.)
P.S. Brad Pitt is an anomaly.
Interesting theory, FiaQ.
I’d add Dukes of Hazzard – Bo Duke – John Schneider to that list. He’s the first blond that pops into my head in the 80s era.
To add to your dodginess, I’ll posit that Burt Reynolds, David Hasselhoff, and Tom Selleck kept tall, dark, and handsome alive (if in critical condition), but at the same time totally killed “hairy is hot” and ushered in the beginnings of manscaping.
@ FiaQ I Like your theory!
@ Moriah I like your dark hair theory too. I wonder if blondeness = boyishness and darker hair = man-ness? And if this is encouraged because most male blondes are dyed that way and so blondeness has an automatic association with fake?
Daisy, you are on to something as far as blond = youth —> immaturity. I think Fia makes great points. The one about the influence of TV/film I always forget, but of course, romance would be influenced by those. and Merrian, the “artificiality” thing is there so strongly in women, it must be an issue for adult blond men too.
I don’t think we have to pick one reason there are fewer blond heros (today than 20 years ago/than blond men in the population/or however you measure “fewer”). They can all coexist and overdetermine the prevalence of brunettes.
@Elisabeth Rodrigues:
I think you are right about this. It’s too bad. Many of us love the blond hero, or, if we don’t have a preference going in, at least trust the author to give us a hero we can root for, regardless of hair color.
Thanks for commenting.
Moriah: Bo Duke! Of course. I was mezmerized by his tight jeans as a tween.
But my favorite blond screen hero of the 80s has not yet been mentioned: William Katt, aka The Greatest American Hero.
“Believe it or not, I’m walkin’ on air. I never thought I could feel so frrr-ee-ee…!”