On Blondes [Paperback]

Joanna Pitman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 18, 2004

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.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Pitman, a writer for the London Times, offers a history of the world as seen through abundant locks of magnificent blonde hair, from the ancient sexual power of Aphrodite to the California sun-streaked hair of Farrah Fawcett. In this world history, Eve and Mary Magdalene become the blonde "bad girls" who represent forbidden sexuality, eternal beauty and sin, while Queen Elizabeth and Princess Diana gain attention because they continued to lighten their hair as they aged, attempting to harness the power of blondeness. The examples may sound a bit frivolous, but Pitman takes great care to treat the topic with a serious edge, particularly in the second half of the book. The obsession with blonde hair may have created seemingly innocuous Hollywood icons like Marilyn Monroe and Jean Harlow, but it also was essential to the notion of Aryan supremacy, and the author addresses how Nazi Germany attempted to lighten the hair of its population by ordering soldiers to procreate with blonde female citizens. Later on, Pitman looks at 1970s ad campaigns for hair dye and their internal conflicts about whether a woman ought to dye her hair to appeal to men or to feel good about herself (as L'Oreal so famously puts it, "Because I'm worth it"). In this way, the book tackles issues of race, gender and class, ultimately asking, "[W]hy is America, a culture so publicly concerned with overcoming its problems with race, still so fixated on the blonde?" Pitman admits there are no clear answers, but she offers a bright, energetic and witty exploration of the topic.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

Did you hear the one about the journalist who wrote a book about blondes? No joke, it's true. Pitman, a distinguished Times of London writer, has taken up the subject of why golden hair has so fascinated men and, to a lesser extent, women, for so many centuries. She traces the origin of the fetish to Greek times, when the sex-goddess (literally) Aphrodite was depicted as a golden blonde, thereby encouraging any number of naturally raven-tressed women to bleach themselves to match her image. Through the ages, the association of blonde hair with sexual allure has held, right down to the present, when advertisers double-talk women into seeing blondeness as both empowering ("I'm worth it") and seductive ("I'm worth dating"). With such an engaging subject, it would be hard to go wrong, and Pitman's engaging style only highlights the appeal of this combination of history, folklore, and shrewd cultural commentary. Patricia Monaghan
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA (March 18, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582344027
• ISBN-13: 978-1582344027
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,870,363 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating investigation, June 20, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: On Blondes (Hardcover)

I think many of my fellow reviewers are missing the point - the author is not making a wild statement in saying that there is a mystique to blondes, she is exploring a historical phenomenon. No one is denying the beauty of red or any other color hair, it's just that blonde does have sociological baggage attached to it - and for those who have a problem with the idea that bleached blondes are included, they're proving this argument, for why do so many people bleach their hair if there isn't a certain mystique to blonde?
That said, the author does a wonderful job exploring this. The language is clear, the examples good, the subject truly fascinating. An excellent read for those sociologically minded, whatever haircolor they are.

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting and informative, June 10, 2003

By 

S.R.W. Phillips "StevieRae5" (Lexington, Kentucky USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: On Blondes (Hardcover)

As a blonde, I of course just had to buy and read this book. I was definitely not sorry.

It is easy reading and, more importantly, it is truly interesting. Ms. Pitman traces the history of the blonde, a subject that she points out has been taboo in the past due to Hitler's fascination with just this subject. It is interesting to discover where I would fit at different points in history. At some points, I would be considered a goddess, the symbol of purity; at others, I would be considered the most vile of temptresses. (Obviously, either choice seems appealing in its own way!)

I think blondes would probably find this book most interesting, however, brunettes and redheads may be able to appreciate it also. If you take an interest in popular culture and why we believe what we believe, this is definitely a work you should consider adding to your library.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Left a Lasting Impression, Educational, January 7, 2005

By 

M. E. Wood "Content Writer and Reviewer" (Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: On Blondes (Hardcover)

Joanna Pitman has given us everything we wanted to know about blonde hair and some stuff we didn't. On Blondes is about the people who love it, those who desire it, those who fake it, those who steal it, those who envy it, those who paint it, those who write about it, and those who kill in the name of it. She follows the allure of blonde hair through time from the days of Aphrodite to modern day Hollywood.

Each chapter directs the reader through the seductive seven lives of Blonde hair from the Dark Ages to present day. Pitman teaches the extremes that the Romans and Greeks and succeeding generations went to for blonde curls. This self-abuse for blonde went on for centuries to the detriment of health and scalp. Substances as natural as saffron and as toxic as ammonia, bleach and the aforementioned goat urine were used to achieve the desired shade of blonde.

The zest for blonde has not always been positive; in fact most of it seemed quite negative. "Blonde hair was highly divisive and provoked extreme reactions." Nowhere is this more apparent than during Hitler's reign. Pitman's journey into Teutonic and Aryan history is informative and answered many questions for me on the German philosophy of Blonde hair/blue eyed superiority and how Hitler managed to promote it despite his dark colouring; propaganda. After World War II the world knew of Germany's love of blonde hair.
This book reads like a weekly dose of the History channel with each chapter being a new episode in the series of events. In some areas she seems to ramble off topic, going on about relationships or other personal quirks of the personalities. The history of the white flour wigs drags on long after the main idiosyncrasies were driven home.

In the afterword Pitman states she approached "several American women academics," on the study potential of blondeness and they "refused to discuss it at all." Perhaps a sign that they are embarrassed they didn't discover the topic themselves. I'm sure Pitman's On Blondes will be a text in future feminine study.

On Blondes left a lasting impression on me. I've begun to question every form of blondeness that I see. From a blonde perspective this is an informative book but I wonder if there would be the same interest with the brunettes and redheads of the world. And for those who may be wondering, yes it is natural.

Review Originally Posted at http://www.linearreflections.com