Blonde Like Me: The Roots of the Blonde Myth in Our Culture (Paperback)

by Natalia Ilyin (Author) "It started naturally enough..." (more)
Key Phrases: sun blonde, strawberry roan, father culture, Moon Blonde, Innocent Blonde, Apollo Blonde (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
Ilyin, a teacher and a critic, has constructed an insightful and humorous examination of the meaning and myth of the blonde, especially blonde women, in American society. She introduces us to a few different kinds of blondes--the Apollo Blonde, the Trophy Blonde, the California Sun Blonde, the Moon Blonde, and the Ironic Blonde--each of whom corresponds to a series of cultural ideas and attitudes. Using real-life blondes like Marilyn Monroe, Martha Stewart, and Gloria Steinem to demonstrate these categories and weaving references to cultural theorists like Joseph Campbell and Robert Graves into the narrative, Ilyin has written a unique book. A nice companion to Forever Barbie: The Unauthorized Biography of a Real Doll (Morrow, 1994); recommended for libraries serving general readers and undergraduates.
-Jenny Lynn Presnell, Miami Univ. Libs., Oxford, OH
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From The Washington Post
... Natalia Ilyin reaches for the peroxide bottle to highlight our sometimes dark fascination with the light-haired... Blonde Like Me is a memoir masquerading as, or braided with, a clever critique of the obsession with blondeness... A wisecracking writer and smart scholar, often a pleasure to read, Ilyin could have taken her ideas further. Maybe she didn't want to try the reader's patience with too much academic analysis and organization...Still, it's about time somebody peeled the foil off our obsession with blonde and blonder, and Blonde Like Me does.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Touchstone (February 22, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684852144
• ISBN-13: 978-0684852140
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #847,758 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brunette Like Me, August 12, 2000

By A Customer

Natalia Ilyin has written a masterful little book, filled with insights on the blond archetype in our culture, brilliant descriptions of blond subtypes (the "Armpiece Blond" and the Martha Stewart segments are hilarious), and warm memoirs of her own blond childhood to adulthood.

As a brunette with a California blond daughter, and an East Coast mother who had a blond childhood but elected to grow out of it, I was intrigued to find every blond I've known (practically) described almost flawlessly in this little book. The value we place on golden hair is obvious in this society. But as we become more diverse, and as people with darker hair and skin become more dominant, the value may change. I recently had a compliment from an African-American woman who admired my summer tan. "But you're not dark enough," she added.

It would be interesting to have had a footnote, at least, from the author with some comment about women of color. I wonder, will the value change enough as our races merge so that blond eventually looses some of its mystique.

"Blond Like Me" is a quick read of interest to both scholars and casual readers. It should be taken seriously by reviewers and social commentators.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Suicide Blonde (dyed by her own hand), March 26, 2000

By	d. l. goines "[e-mail]" (Berkeley, California) - See all my reviews

"I'm not offended by people who think I'm a dumb blonde, because I know two things they don't: I'm not dumb, and I'm not blonde." -- Dolly Parton

People are just not happy with things as they are. Australopithicus africanus used tools, which means that he willfully and imaginatively altered his environment, and -- even though he was not a true human -- probably did the one thing that we humans do best when not making decorative cuts in our enemies, which is to make decorative cuts in ourselves. People trim, style and color their hair, tattoo their bodies, daub on paint and enhance or minimize sundry parts for the simple reason that they can. As soon as a new way of altering the body comes along, we greet it with glad cries and rejoicing. It's not a fad, it's the human condition. True blondes -- blondes over the age of six -- are as scarce as hen's teeth. But blonde, as Natalia Ilyin discusses in her witty, poignant book "Blonde Like Me," is a state of mind that disregards exterior reality in favor of the inner vision. Beginning with the title, itself a clever play on John Howard Griffin's 1959 "Black Like Me," the book explores the social condition of people who, because of their coloration, are treated differently by their fellows. In Ilyin's case, better, and in Griffin's case, worse, but the kicker is that neither is what they seem. Natalia Ilyin, 6'2" in her stocking feet, armed cap a pie with blonde hair and high heels has "caused minor traffic accidents," as well you might imagine. Blondeness is a metaphor for beauty and allure. Blondeness confers instant sexual power. What do I mean when I say, in cryptic shorthand, "Tonight I have a date with a blonde"? Natalia knows, and if you read "Blonde Like Me," she'll tell you.

David Lance Goines

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Blonde Like Me, a great companion, July 26, 2000

By A Customer

I picked up Blonde Like Me because I needed something light to read on a plane. It turned out to be much more than humor and entertainment, although it was that in spades. This story about the meaning of blondeness, and its meticulously researched and scholarly explanation of why so many women (and men) yearn after the golden crown blondness implies, is a metaphor that reveals much deeper stuff about the ways people search to matter in life. Anecdotes from the author's own life that form the core for each chapter reveal a fresh, civilized attitude totally lacking in pretension. As Howard Thurman wrote, we all long for relationships in which we do not need to pretend. I, for one, found that the candor and vulnerability displayed without vulgarity (imagine reading a book these days where you are not obliged to be constantly scraping scatalogical images off your consciousness), and layers of insights through feelings graciously and generously revealed made me feel heartened on my own journey. Although Ms. Ilyin's depth of learning is carried so lightly on waves of truly delicious wit and engaging stories, deeper insights kept surfacing. I felt this was a book that could accompany many different journeys and I subsequently gave it to friends young and old who were experiencing various life challenges. Without exception, each reported back that they found in it something that mirrored their own circumstances. For them, as for me, the book provided a good companion, lighthearted but compassionate, on the road to menschdom.