A long time ago now, when I lived in Manchester, I saw the players of mighty MUFC on the telly. The players were from all over Europe and beyond, and of many different ethnicities. On the other hand, many of their wives looked very similar. They all looked a bit like Barbie dolls. Mostly blonde, mostly blue eyed, curvaceous, with skinny waists. And then a few years later, I saw a bunch of Australian cricketers wives watching a match. Again, many of the cricket wives looked spookily similar to the soccer wives.
My sister and my mother are blondes. They have often claimed blondes have more fun. To which I snort loudly. But maybe they are right? I found this crazy article (via J.F. Beck) which says that there are evolutionary reasons why men like women who look like Barbie. Women with skinny waists and large breasts are more likely to be fertile. And blondes are likely to be young (unless, of course, they’re bottle-blondes). Finally it is easier to see if someone’s pupil is dilated if they have blue eyes, and thus it is easier to see if they are interested in a person as a potential mate.
I’m tempted to snort loudly again…but then I think of the soccer wives. Those guys were from all different backgrounds and cultures, but they all seemed to have chosen wives which fitted the above stereotype. Maybe there’s something in it?
The Legal Soapbox 
“…with skinny waists and large breasts are more likely to be fertile.”
Does that include silicone implants?
Silicone is CHEATING. But the authors hypothesis that the reason women want to get silicone implants is to appear attractive.
Ugh. Seems pretty unattractive to me.
I heard this discussed on the radio this morning. They did a quick poll and found that most of them were, funnily enough, attracted to brunettes.
I wonder if the tanned, blonde footballer’s wife thing has to do with money. It takes a lot of it to maintain permanently straightened, blonde locks, a suntan and fake nails. Is their appearance another way of showing their wealth?
I never cared for blondes too much.
In fact, I think I’ve only dated two or three in my entire life. I just don’t find them that attractive.
Yeah, quite a few guys of my acquaintance have pooh-poohed this research. Personally, I don’t think hair or eye colour ever had much influence on whether I dated someone.
Attraction comes in all shapes, sizes and colours. I wouldn’t really have had a stated preference for any particular type but friends noticed a pattern with the women I dated: full figures; dark hair. And I did find Natalie Wood; Nigella Lawson; Ava Gardner very alluring.
I am fair so it might have been a case of opposites attracting. Legal or not, thought-provoking as usual, LE.
I would say it’s true that men prefer blondes.. although if you look at my site, you can see I’m quite biased lol.
I think another aspect that has to do with it is what I call the “trophy-wife” syndrome. A man with a girlfriend who is blonde and has big boobs gets more attention from other men and women which can constitute quite the ego boost.
Colin, my Dad is apparently a gentleman who preferred blondes – his sister tells me that all the girls he dated were blonde, and he married one. He’s dark-haired, and so is my sister’s partner, so maybe Lad Litter’s “opposite attracts theory” has something to it? Then again, I’ve married someone with similar hair colour to me, so I don’t fit the trend.
There’s definitely an element of the “trophy wife” with some of these sports star marriages, I think. And perhaps it’s a self-fulfilling prophecy – the kind of girl who is interested in dating a sports star is also more likely to interested in maintaining her appearance and appearing at events? I’d be no good at attending events or things like that. I’d never want to be a celebrity. Knowing my luck, I’d probably trip over on the red carpet anyway, and there’d be horrible pictures plastered all over the magazines…
LOL if you tripped, you could just blame it on the blonde hair 😉
I have noticed that too, that blondes seem to prefer men with dark hair, so the opposites attract theory seems to be true. In general the darker hair on a man seems more “masculine” and the blonde on a woman more “feminine.”
I agree with the article that we have natural attractions that we can’t really explain or know why. In this case, it’s really only hair color so it’s a good thing it can be changed just like that. For me, it doesn’t matter if it’s a real or fake blonde, it’s just the color I have a preference for. Seeing the blonde is very bright – like a ray of sunshine – and usually can lift my spirits.
Pingback: Why Do Blondes Have More Fun? « rveWong’s Photography Weblog
I have a post that takes a serious crack at addressing this issue. I blame photography and the media. You might care to drop by.
http://rvewong.wordpress.com/2008/07/25/why-do-blondes-have-more-fun/