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On Blondes
In art and literature, in history and popular culture, blonde has never been a mere color. For two and a half thousand years, it has been a blazing signal in code, conferring beauty, power, and status. Weaving a story rich in drama, mystery, triumph, deception, disaster, and curiosity, Joanna Pitman effortlessly combines the wealth of her knowledge with a clear-sighted view of the power of the blonde through the ages.
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 17 reviews
July 22, 2009
I’ve been off work all week with the flu and started reading this because it looked light and about the only thing my stuffed up head would be able to cope with – but actually, this has been a real delight and infinitely better than I expected.
I have to admit that I was a bit worried about reading this at the start when the woman who wrote it started talking about how she had dyed her hair blonde (Oh dear, one of ‘those’ books – I thought) but it didn't end up being like that at all. Joanna is clever and with a good eye for a story. That’s pretty much what this book is, in a way, a series of stories, most of them incredibly interesting and amusing. The story of Phryne, an Ancient Greek blonde sex symbol who was brought to trial for profaning religious festivals and who was defended by one of her lovers was close to the first of these. The defence wasn’t going well until her defence lawyer / lover pulled away her clothes and basically said, “How could you find anyone guilty with a nice pair of breasts like these little lovelies” – which the all-male judges agreed, well, after careful consideration of the facts obviously. I knew from that moment (19 pages in) that I was going to enjoy this book. There is even a plate of the 1861 painting of the scene (Phryne Before the Tribunal) as imagined by Gerome included for no extra price.
The book takes us on a tour of the ancient world of hair dyeing so as to make it golden blonde – using saffron or horse piss or bird droppings. It takes us through the Middle Ages where Eve, Mary Magdalene and the Virgin Mary all end up having blonde hair, if all for different reasons. It takes us via Lucrezia Borgia to the painters of the Renaissance and then onto the Virgin Queen of England and her multiple wigs (all blonde). It takes us under the powered wigs to witness the scurry of insects that would infest them and discusses how the tax on flour helped to end the fashion.
There is a creepy bit on the Romantic poets and their addiction for blonde hair – Browning begging Elizabeth for a lock of her hair and Rossetti burying the first drafts of his poems wrapped in his wife’s hair in her coffin (only to retrieve them years later and having to tear the poems out of her hair that had continued to grow around the poems).
But this book becomes totally compelling when she starts to talk about Eugenics and the growth of Nazism and the twentieth century’s obsession with Nordic looks as being symbolic of the peak of human evolution. What is most disturbing is not just her discussion of the German obsession with this, but the parallel obsessions she tracks in both the US at the time and also in the USSR (the new man and new woman seem to have been nearly invariably blonde). This book is overall a book about race and the cultural significance of blonde hair, but when it gets to the twentieth century blonde hair develops many frightening aspects.
This is also a fascinating look at what blonde hair means to women – in the 1950s blonde hair was used as a weapon against women, basically to get them to go back to being housewives now their husbands had returned home from beating that bad Mr Hitler. But in a quick tour of everything from L’Oreal ads (‘because you’re worth it’) to the Punk scene in Britain in the 1970s she makes an interesting case for how dyeing your hair blonde achieved a different meaning towards the end of last century. I particularly loved the quote, ‘While a huge 96 per cent of housewives polled in 1962 described themselves as extremely or very happy, 90 per cent of the same sample hoped that their daughters would not lead the same life they did.’ You know, I couldn’t be happier, but wouldn’t wish it on someone I loved…
The stuff in this book about fairytales (mostly populated by blonde haired women – all except Snow White, ironically) and about Rita Hayworth (I’d no idea she was Spanish and was re-modelled into the ideal Nordic American beauty – including not only dying her hair (blonde, of course) and changing her accent, but also changing her hairline using electrolysis – is worth the price of the book alone.
I really enjoyed this one, in fact, I could hardly put it down.
I have to admit that I was a bit worried about reading this at the start when the woman who wrote it started talking about how she had dyed her hair blonde (Oh dear, one of ‘those’ books – I thought) but it didn't end up being like that at all. Joanna is clever and with a good eye for a story. That’s pretty much what this book is, in a way, a series of stories, most of them incredibly interesting and amusing. The story of Phryne, an Ancient Greek blonde sex symbol who was brought to trial for profaning religious festivals and who was defended by one of her lovers was close to the first of these. The defence wasn’t going well until her defence lawyer / lover pulled away her clothes and basically said, “How could you find anyone guilty with a nice pair of breasts like these little lovelies” – which the all-male judges agreed, well, after careful consideration of the facts obviously. I knew from that moment (19 pages in) that I was going to enjoy this book. There is even a plate of the 1861 painting of the scene (Phryne Before the Tribunal) as imagined by Gerome included for no extra price.
The book takes us on a tour of the ancient world of hair dyeing so as to make it golden blonde – using saffron or horse piss or bird droppings. It takes us through the Middle Ages where Eve, Mary Magdalene and the Virgin Mary all end up having blonde hair, if all for different reasons. It takes us via Lucrezia Borgia to the painters of the Renaissance and then onto the Virgin Queen of England and her multiple wigs (all blonde). It takes us under the powered wigs to witness the scurry of insects that would infest them and discusses how the tax on flour helped to end the fashion.
There is a creepy bit on the Romantic poets and their addiction for blonde hair – Browning begging Elizabeth for a lock of her hair and Rossetti burying the first drafts of his poems wrapped in his wife’s hair in her coffin (only to retrieve them years later and having to tear the poems out of her hair that had continued to grow around the poems).
But this book becomes totally compelling when she starts to talk about Eugenics and the growth of Nazism and the twentieth century’s obsession with Nordic looks as being symbolic of the peak of human evolution. What is most disturbing is not just her discussion of the German obsession with this, but the parallel obsessions she tracks in both the US at the time and also in the USSR (the new man and new woman seem to have been nearly invariably blonde). This book is overall a book about race and the cultural significance of blonde hair, but when it gets to the twentieth century blonde hair develops many frightening aspects.
This is also a fascinating look at what blonde hair means to women – in the 1950s blonde hair was used as a weapon against women, basically to get them to go back to being housewives now their husbands had returned home from beating that bad Mr Hitler. But in a quick tour of everything from L’Oreal ads (‘because you’re worth it’) to the Punk scene in Britain in the 1970s she makes an interesting case for how dyeing your hair blonde achieved a different meaning towards the end of last century. I particularly loved the quote, ‘While a huge 96 per cent of housewives polled in 1962 described themselves as extremely or very happy, 90 per cent of the same sample hoped that their daughters would not lead the same life they did.’ You know, I couldn’t be happier, but wouldn’t wish it on someone I loved…
The stuff in this book about fairytales (mostly populated by blonde haired women – all except Snow White, ironically) and about Rita Hayworth (I’d no idea she was Spanish and was re-modelled into the ideal Nordic American beauty – including not only dying her hair (blonde, of course) and changing her accent, but also changing her hairline using electrolysis – is worth the price of the book alone.
I really enjoyed this one, in fact, I could hardly put it down.
April 26, 2008
This book is basically a series of stories about famous blondes including Veronica Franco, Margaret Thatcher, and Madonna. *raises eyebrows* I am sometimes harsh on anecdotal nonfiction when I don't like the stories, so I will confess straight out that it is a key part of my disappointment with this book.
I was unimpressed by the research, the format, and the lack of any conclusion on the subject of the blonde fixation apart from "Aphrodite was blonde..." I guess I was looking for some sort of an answer, or at least an insight into stereotypes of blondes, from the question of intelligence to the issue of sexuality. My expectations of this fluff book are really to blame.
I was unimpressed by the research, the format, and the lack of any conclusion on the subject of the blonde fixation apart from "Aphrodite was blonde..." I guess I was looking for some sort of an answer, or at least an insight into stereotypes of blondes, from the question of intelligence to the issue of sexuality. My expectations of this fluff book are really to blame.
April 25, 2017
Despite being well researched this is a garbage book as the author doesn't understand any of the research or double check anything.
August 25, 2025
A neat little insight to how blondes were perceived throughout history. It's interesting to see how it was a pendulum from perfect/sexy/height of beauty to cheap/slutty, back and forth all throughout. I did find it interesting to learn that the whole "dumb blonde" thing was manufactured by Hollywood to undermine women wanting to stay in the workforce after WW2.
October 14, 2017
I liked this book quite a bit, but I hated the section on Phryne, so minus one whole star.
April 29, 2008
I found this fascinating and really enjoyed this.
Pitman traces the history of the blonde mystique through thousands of years of Western culture, tracing the association of blonde hair with sexual desirability or moral virtue -- or both. She describes the waxing and waning of blondeness (there were only a few years where blonde was not considered desirable) in fun detail.
Not only did I enjoy learning about the origins of the dumb blonde image (centuries old) and the various recipes used throughout history to bleach hair, I gathered a great deal of cultural knowledge for other applications as well. While this book hardly deals with New Testament matters, I myself have a new perspective on the writings of the Apostle Paul, often criticized as a misogynist but perhaps only responding to the cultural associations with the display of hair. It bears further investigation.
Pitman follows blondeness all the way into the twenty-first century, into the Aryan movement and pop art and present music artists' images.
While I wish she could have covered the history of blondes in the East as well (we have only a tantalizing mention of blonde mummies found in China), she has more than enough material for Western history. While it may seem a frivolous topic, I found this book truly interesting.
Pitman traces the history of the blonde mystique through thousands of years of Western culture, tracing the association of blonde hair with sexual desirability or moral virtue -- or both. She describes the waxing and waning of blondeness (there were only a few years where blonde was not considered desirable) in fun detail.
Not only did I enjoy learning about the origins of the dumb blonde image (centuries old) and the various recipes used throughout history to bleach hair, I gathered a great deal of cultural knowledge for other applications as well. While this book hardly deals with New Testament matters, I myself have a new perspective on the writings of the Apostle Paul, often criticized as a misogynist but perhaps only responding to the cultural associations with the display of hair. It bears further investigation.
Pitman follows blondeness all the way into the twenty-first century, into the Aryan movement and pop art and present music artists' images.
While I wish she could have covered the history of blondes in the East as well (we have only a tantalizing mention of blonde mummies found in China), she has more than enough material for Western history. While it may seem a frivolous topic, I found this book truly interesting.
February 18, 2020
Lots of inaccuracies in this book. Phryne was not blonde. She was known for her dark skin color! Phryne was depicted with black hair in Greek antiquity.
Recent western artists have changed that. Aphrodite was not blonde. This is the modern Western image. Aphrodite was always depicted with black hair in Greek antiquity. I am familiar with Greek literature and it was never mentioned that Aphrodite was blonde. There is no evidence that Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene were blond. I find it very irreverent that she just made this up. I cannot recommend this book because it is based on fantasy and not on facts.
There are a lot of successful brunettes so what is she talking about?
Message of the writer: blond beats brunette and is the best. A feel-good book for blonde girls. To read for fun and not for education.
Recent western artists have changed that. Aphrodite was not blonde. This is the modern Western image. Aphrodite was always depicted with black hair in Greek antiquity. I am familiar with Greek literature and it was never mentioned that Aphrodite was blonde. There is no evidence that Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene were blond. I find it very irreverent that she just made this up. I cannot recommend this book because it is based on fantasy and not on facts.
There are a lot of successful brunettes so what is she talking about?
Message of the writer: blond beats brunette and is the best. A feel-good book for blonde girls. To read for fun and not for education.
March 11, 2009
Let's be honest--according to this book, blonde hair is mostly about sex appeal... now that that's out of the way, I'd have to say that the book was pretty fascinating. Did you know that "King Kong" was one of Hitler's favorite movies? Did you know that women in ancient Rome sometimes used pigeon dung to dye their hair blonde? Did you know that it was popular in the Victorian era to make jewelry out of hair? This book follows the tangled history of blonde hair, from blonde depictions of Venus, to eugenics, to Marilyn Monroe. All you wanted to know (and more) about blonde hair.
March 14, 2008
This was a fun (and yes, intelligent) read on the history of blonde hair. It sounds like a boring read, but I had a good time reading all about where the stigma of "dumb blonde" came from. Perhaps I needed a break from "blonde" jokes, and just wanted a bit of honest history on the subject, if just for my own reassurance, (I am a natural blonde :) )
March 5, 2012
A fascinating look at the history of blonde hair and society's relationship to it, I would recommend On Blondes to anyone interested in history, sociology, and/or double standards. I found the book engaging and at times frustrating (particularly once it started getting to the rise of the Aryian myth in the late 1800s-- what WERE those people thinking?!), and would gladly read it again.
April 19, 2014
Μια σε βάθος ιστορική αναζήτηση της ιδιαιτερότητας του ξανθού. Μια ιστορική αναδρομή της επίδρασης του ξανθού στην κουλτούρα, την τέχνη, τη φιλοσοφία. Μια ενδιαφέρουσα αναμόχλευση της σαγήνης του σατανικού-θεϊκού αυτού χρώματος στις κοινωνίες του ανθρώπου.
Όμορφο βιβλίο, αλλά κακή μετάφραση. Π.χ. ο πληθυντικός του "κόμης" είναι μάλλον "κόμητες", παρά "κόμηδες"!
Όμορφο βιβλίο, αλλά κακή μετάφραση. Π.χ. ο πληθυντικός του "κόμης" είναι μάλλον "κόμητες", παρά "κόμηδες"!
March 1, 2013
Blond really does appear to be a state of mind. After reading this I can't decide if I want to continue growing out my natural hair colour or if I want to call up my salon and bleach it tomorrow! Very fascinating read.
August 22, 2015
Very much 'pop history'. Nice, quick read, but it deals in broad strokes and some of the conclusions of the author seem a little reaching. But a fun read for anyone interested in the 'cultural' history of the blonde.
June 13, 2015
thought provoking....those lucky blondes....
December 4, 2016
Very informative from a historical and cultural standpoint.
Did I like it? Yes.
Would I reread it? Possibly.
Would I recommend it? Yes.
Did I like it? Yes.
Would I reread it? Possibly.
Would I recommend it? Yes.
April 23, 2017
Entertaining, but sometimes not very coherent.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 17 reviews