HU researches blonde jokes
I can't think through my hair.
Dr. Limor Shifman of Hebrew U and Dafna Lemish of Tel Aviv U studied the current state of blonde jokes. Their research was published in the journal Society.
In case you thought that blond hair and low IQ really are connected genetically, well, this probably isn’t the case. Very possibly, argue Shifman and Lemish, men make jokes about beautiful women in order to put themselves at ease if they are feeling inferior.
Interestingly, because of the Internet, blonde jokes have spread from the U.S. and Britain to cultures all over the world. They have reached countries where the majority of people are blonde (Scandinavia) and countries where almost no blondes exist (China and Japan).
The three main findings of their research:
- The jokes are more about these women being stupid than promiscuous.
- Though these jokes originate in the United States, they have spread throughout the world thanks to the Internet.
- A new kind of joke has been created which builds on the old-fashioned blonde joke and reflects on it. Problem is that through that stereotype are reinforced.
I wonder… If some people actually believe the stereotype, are there women who purposely act stupid thinking that the dumber they act, the prettier guys will think they are? Maybe the ditz image, and the fact that many girls and women seem to choose to act flighty almost purposely, grows out of the connection made in society between beauty and lack of intelligence.
Read the full article in the Daily Mail here.
BTW, I found this article by following @HebrewU on Twitter.
Photo by lilivanili on flickr.
Not even in 100 lifetimes would I have guessed that “blonde” jokes would be the subject of an HU study…but I guess this reflects the world we live in these days. In my experience, most of these jokes are pretty harmless and hardly worth the time of day, but I suppose there are always some people who will complain that this is a classic case of racial-profiling, stereotyping, misogynistic behavior. Still, the question is whether blondes themselves find this type of humor offensive, in the same way, let’s say, that a Jewish person would find an anti-semitic joke singularly distasteful? Hmmmmm…..