As some of you guys already know, my hair is ever-changing... blonde, red, long short, curly striaght. My question is: does hair color really matter? Do blondes have more fun? Do gentlemen prefer them? Are blondes less intelligent that brunettes? Are redheads fiesty, hot-temperred? Do people treat you diffenently because of your haircolor?
I've been blonde most of my life....natural as a child and then I lightened my hair from my sophomore year in high school on. I think my hair color pretty much fit my personality but recently I've gone red....ginger actually and my husband swears that my personality has changed. (He wants his sweet blonde back LOL)
So what do you think? Does hair color really matter? Alter your personality and how you are treated? I think, yes.
This is an interesting question for authors too, because I put a lot of thought into my characters hair color. There was a question at a conference once about red-headed heroes. You almost never see them. Would a red-headed hero turn you off, keep you from buying a book? Or are red-headed guys hot too?
Give me your thought. Color me curious ;-)
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20 comments:
WOW, very cool conversation LuAnn.
After being a blond (not my natural color) for the last 25 yrs, last night I changed my hair color to ginger with blond highlights. My husband hates it - LOL.
But I think changing hair colors is fun and keeps things interesting. Plus it makes me feel like a whole brand new person, when I need a change!
To answer your question, YES I think hair color does change us a little bit and it definitely affects the way we are treated. Being a blond, people had a tendency to treat me like a bubblehead, and I am not a bubblehead - LOL. It will be interesting for me to see how I am perceived now.
As for hair color on a hero or heroine....No it does not bother me what kind of hair color they have. For me it is the whole package.
Billie Jo
I'm a chicken when it comes to coloring my own hair, so I can't comment on the woman thing. The only thing I have ever done is use the temporary color that gradually washes away. And even then I used a shade close to mine. But... the hero in Outlander (Janice's all-time favorite book) is a Scottish guy with red hair, and he is one of the best heroes ever!!
As a reader, I tend to like dark-headed heroes, but the heroine's hair color can be anything.
In movies I love blondes... i.e. Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Hudson.
Cool prize, LuAnn - too bad we can't give away a weekend at the Scimitar!
Janice
Great post!
I don't think hair color really matters too much. I am a brunette and haven't noticed if I am treated differently because of it. Of course, I have never colored my hair before. If I did, I might notice differences.
And there are not that many red-haired guys/heros out there are there? There are not even that many actors with red hair are there? You see red-haired heroines all the time, so why not a red-haired hero?
I don't believe I would be put off by hair color. As long as a story sounds good and is good then it doesn't matter what color the hair color is. I don't really pay attention to it much in stories.
-Jennifer Y.
I think the haircolor helps ypur self-confidence. My natural hair color is a chaotic mix of red, blond and brown, but I changed it to a darker brown. Now I am personally feeling better to due the color change. I really hated it when my hair color got lighter from the sunshine.
The hair color of the hero/heroine aren't so important. But I have to say it's really rare to see a red haired heroine and I never saw a hero with red hair. It's really a shame.
Hi LuAnn, often when women are making/desiring a drastic change in their life, their hairstyle/color also undergoes a change. I think it acts as a reminder everytime they look into a mirror and unconsciously reinforces the change in behavior which may in turn change how other people interact with them. Social conditioning also comes into play. I was never exposed to the blond jokes when I was growing up so I have never associated blonde hair with airheads.
Great question. I've never noticed that my hair color really affected how anyone treated me, but it has a huge impact on how I feel about myself. I was blond as a child, but it turned into a muddy brown as I got older, so I do have it highlighted regularly, and I love it. My hair stylist loves me because I'm willing to try anything - we've experimented with color and style and it's usually successful and always fun.
As for hair color in heroes - I JUST finished reading a book with a red-headed guy. When the description first came up, I admit my nose wrinkled a bit, but it didn't take long before I fell totally in love with the hero, red hair and all.
Does it matter? I remember years ago I changed my hair to blonde and cut several inches off. My husband felt like he had lost his best friend. He had a rough time getting used to me looking different.
I've never really thought about judging somebody for their hair color. Now if somebody does something totally stupid and they happen to be blonde, I attribute it to that (LOL).
I know after I cover up my gray, I feel better and that's what is important - feeling good about yourself.
Hair color for the hero would not turn me off. A red-head who treated his heroine the right way, was kind to little children and old ladies and puppy dogs could have red hair and I would still love him. It might be hard to picture him on the beach with a dark tan, though.
Oh, these comments are great. I think changing hair color is fun and spices things up a bit and I am totally not afraid to experiment but when I went to different shades of blonde no one realy cared but the red has gotten some comments... some people don't recognoze me and I do think that I somehow feel different.
I've got to learn how to post a picture! Hopefully I'll have one up soon.
Of course red-haired heroes are hot!!!! I really don't get why not. I married a redhead and one of our good friends is also a redhead. There were some more red-headed guys in the engineering program while at college, too.
And they aren't the pale skinned, freckle types either. Both our friend and my husband tan quite easily. And nary a freckle to be seen. For my husband, it's most likely his Norwegian heritage. Neither of them are Irish.
But hair color...hmmm...I'm a rather dull brown and my sister the Barbie is a blonde. But do I really not have as much fun as she? Err...actually, she probably does have more fun. She's not nicknamed Barbie for nothing. ;-)
Every spring I have blonde highlights put in my hair. Several years ago, after making it through the winter 'blahs', I wanted something different. Since I freak out at the thought of going short, I highlighted instead. LOL I've been doing it ever since. :)
I have gray hair galore at 33 and that, for some reason, never has really bothered me. I feel I earned every single one of 'em. LOL So when I do the highlights, people think it's for that...and it's really not. I just feel the need for something different come spring. :)
Hair color for a hero/heroine doesn't make a difference to me.
Cindy
Hair color, like names and body type are very important to me when developing a character. A natural brunette has some different intrinsic personality elements than a woman who dies her hair six shades of purple for her high school reunion. :)
And I do think that hair color can impact your behavior. Especially when you are the one that chose it. But because some cultural beliefs cling to hair color type, even natural coloring can dictate how *some* people behave.
For instance, in my daughter's eighth grade class, there are several blondes. The all act the part because for whatever reason, the class has decided that blondes are airheads and when I died my daughter's bf's hair blond for her (with her mom's permission of course), she immediately started acting ditzy. The girl is a straight A student who plays viola, base and has trained in ballet for years. In other words, she's brilliant and very dedicated. But she could pass for California Valley Girl right now, no problem.
My hair is three different shades in chunks like a Calico cat and I love it. What does that say about me? I'm artsy and not afraid to draw attention. LOL
Hugs,
Lucy
Jana...I love your coloring and use that combo on heroines. I'd have to search through files right now to find which ones, but it's one of my favorite combinations as to me it is so perfect.
Hugs,
Lucy
Nicole, I think red hair rocks...and we need more red haired heroes. I think it's a hair color we don't see on guys because unlike women, guys tend to shy away from coloring their hair and there just aren't many natural redheads. My husband is blonde but his beard comes in red.
I've had one... nope... I think two red headed heroes. I don't think the bright brassy red hair is a great color on a lot of people, but it's not going to keep me from reading a book.
Hair color doesn't much affect me when it comes to reading choices.
As to hair color in general... nah. Not with me, although I do love funny blonde jokes
I always liked guys that had red hair. I would like to read some stories that had a red headed hero.
I've been coloring my hair since I was around 13 when I tried Sun-In because I badly wanted blonde hair. What I got was orange. Yep, bright orange, and right before school pictures were taken too - LOL. Not a good look for me.
Then when my hair was longer (it had always been short cuz my mom told me that if I kept cutting my thin hair, it will eventually get thicker - right, mom, you just didn't want to have to deal with it, that's all) I put blonde highlights in it and I thought it looked terrible but I honest-to-God got more attention from guys. Weird. While I enjoyed it for awhile, it just convinced me that unless I enjoyed how my hair looked, it didn't matter what other people thought.
Now it's brown with reddish highlights and I'm happy with it (Loreal Experte #53: Chocolate Macaroon - yummy). But I do love red hair and if I had my wish it would be a deep, auburn color, though I like my hair just fine now.
As for stories, I love it when the author shatters pre-conceived ideas about physical appearance. Let's have a fiesty blonde and a mysterious redhead. Mix it up. Don't do what's expected. I agreed with Jamie that I didn't think I would want to read about a red-headed hero, but then I "met" Jamie Fraser from Diana Gabaldon's series and oh, is he yummy! He is my absolute favorite hero, hands down. So bring on the diversity!
Stacy I loved your comments about turning the expected on it's ear... a smart blonde...a shy redhead and a red-headed hero to die for is now on my list of characters to develop.
Hi I have never colored my hair, I have always been brunette. I guess I just have never been brave enough to go for a compelete change.
As for hero's it does not matter to me what color hair they have - yes even red hair would work, because there are some really goodlooking, nice red headed males out there.
I think the color of one's hair makes people treat you differently. I am blonde, always have been, with natural highlights and I'm treated like a dumb blonde very often. I'm not dumb (but I do have my moments as I believe everyone does) and I despise being treated differntly becuase of the color of my hair.
Hair color for heros/heroines don't matter to me. Just make them hot and I'm happy!
I think having a hero with red hair would be cool as you don't see very many these days. As for my ownself I do color my hair as I have quite a bit of gray with a pure white streak running in my bangs.My hair color before I color it is a dark brown salt and pepper.I got my first gray hair at the age of 16.
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