I’m blonde, blue-eyed, tall and thin. I didn’t really feel special because I’ve always been surrounded by other girls and women who are beautiful. A friend’s older sister asked me what it felt like to be the prettiest girl in the 6th grade. I was dumbfounded and said I wouldn’t know-I thought the prettiest girl in my grade was a girl who was a petite brunette.

Anonymous wrote:I am in my late 40s, Jewish, with dark curly hair. If anything, I thought that the barriers between me and generally accepted standards of beauty were the curls and the nose. But otherwise, who would even look at blondes next to Sophia Loren and Elizabeth Taylor! And Anne Bancroft as Mrs. Robinson, of course..

Wow, with those references you are old.

Anonymous wrote:I am 50 and I have luscious brown hair that is long. I also have brown eyes. I have a beautiful hair color and beautiful eye color.

People stare at me all the time. People used to stare at me when I was 20, 30, 40. Here in the U.S.

Two years ago I was in Rome, eyes were turning wherever I walked. My then 17-year-old DD turned eyes left and right too. She participated in a Dolce Vita event on Via Veneto.

I dare you to tell me I am not a standard of beauty. Your green-eyed monster can be nothing but scared of my confidence in my mind and my looks.

Cool story, bro.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter has blue eyes & blonde hair and only POC have commented on this. I have always just assumed this is because her look is more novel to them. In my family, and where I grew up, being blonde, especially as a child, is pretty typical, so no one cares or maybe even notices?

The comments have always come from woman who say something pleasant to her or to me about her looks.

I also have a blue-eyed blond. We used to live in a majority Black neighborhood and now we live in a majority Dominican neighborhood. My daughter gets a lot of compliments from older ladies, which comes from a kind and friendly place, but I cringe when someone is going on about my child's eyes and hair, she looks like a little angel (she's a hellion), she looks like Elsa, while their own grandchild is standing right there.

We have four kids. The older three have dark hair, super dark eyes, and a perpetual sun kissed dark tan complexion. Our youngest has blues eyes and blonde hair, and he frequently draws looks and compliments—especially when we travel to Spanish speaking countries or the Caribbean. It’s the novelty of looking different. That’s all.

I think this is the crux of it. Statistically blonds are rarer than any other hair color. Blue eyes tend to go with those genes.

I’m a dark haired blue eyed woman and they love me in the Nordic countries and N.Europe. It’s good because I love tall blonde Viking men .

Though I did very well in Spain & Italy when I lived there too.

Me too and I have olive skin. With a tiny bit of sun my blue eyes contrast even more with the dark hair and olive skin. I get complimented all of the time.

My kids and spouse are blonde/blue eyed and two are very fair. I’m thankful for olive skin, especially in middle age.

Skinny, big boobs, nice butt, blonde, olive skin is in, all of that requires plastic surgery and hair dye etc.. the in look requires cosmetic investment

I am naturally light blonde and blue/grey eyed. I have always wished for darker skin and it's only in the last few years that I feel that very light skin might be OK. In the summertime my family all teases each other about who resembles Casper the most. I also learned last year that people just assume someone of my age dyes my hair. There was almost a skepticism when I said that it's completely natural. To be honest, I think people with dyed blonde hair have a depth to their color that I just don't have and would like. I'm also an introvert and I sometimes feel like I stand out with my coloring. In a world that celebrates diversity I feel a bit like a throw-back, but at the same time I finally feel like pale skin is more acceptable than it's ever been (not as much emphasis on the bronze goddess shade of my teen years in the 80s).

I look like Northern European white. Never been mixed up with a US born white. More than the looks, I think it's what I do,how I carry myself or behave that give is away that I'm not originally from here. Like one guy said in 1997, "Are you from Sweden of something, because white people don't walk here".
If some of us do look washed out later in life, you know why; we can't take as much sun as the people with darker skin. But also, I'm a blonde who had "bad genes" and they are clearly coming out in my 40s. I'm surprised I ever looked good, and I did: blond hair and green eyes were bonus. I had fun when I was younger and absolutely recognized that I got a lot of attention for being blonde
( this attention disappears once I get off the plane in Northern Europe). At my age, 43, I just want to be healthy, do well financially, enjoy my children, and take it easy. When I was young I cared for looks and I had them, now I don't my looks, and I don't care.
I have been brunette but it didn't last long. Maybe I looked like a fake brunette or it didn't fit me, but people walked by me as if I didn't even exist.
Op, enjoy your good looks as I did when I was younger. It's good to feel pretty. I don't even put effort into looking prettier. I just don't care right now; priorities change. I take my shower, put cream on my face and I'm good to go.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter has blue eyes & blonde hair and only POC have commented on this. I have always just assumed this is because her look is more novel to them. In my family, and where I grew up, being blonde, especially as a child, is pretty typical, so no one cares or maybe even notices?

The comments have always come from woman who say something pleasant to her or to me about her looks.

I also have a blue-eyed blond. We used to live in a majority Black neighborhood and now we live in a majority Dominican neighborhood. My daughter gets a lot of compliments from older ladies, which comes from a kind and friendly place, but I cringe when someone is going on about my child's eyes and hair, she looks like a little angel (she's a hellion), she looks like Elsa, while their own grandchild is standing right there.

We have four kids. The older three have dark hair, super dark eyes, and a perpetual sun kissed dark tan complexion. Our youngest has blues eyes and blonde hair, and he frequently draws looks and compliments—especially when we travel to Spanish speaking countries or the Caribbean. It’s the novelty of looking different. That’s all.

I think this is the crux of it. Statistically blonds are rarer than any other hair color. Blue eyes tend to go with those genes.

I’m a dark haired blue eyed woman and they love me in the Nordic countries and N.Europe. It’s good because I love tall blonde Viking men .

Though I did very well in Spain & Italy when I lived there too.

Dark hair and light blue eyes is the most stunning combination, IMO.

Anonymous wrote:I’m going to disagree with posters up thread — I’ve been blonde and brunette, and get no more or less compliments with either one. You know what gets me compliments? Red hair. And I think the reason is what others have noted- people like novelty and they praise things that are different. So when my hair is red (it looks pretty natural on me) people are more interested in my specialness. Being a brunette isn’t special. Neither is being a bottle blonde.

So if people praise natural blonde, blue-eyed people, sure, there is probably some latent racism there. But I tend to think that at this point, it’s just people being interested in this somewhat rare recessive trait (at least blue eyes are recessive like red hair, not sure about blonde ness). That’s my experience with having red hair— people assume you have this trait that is getting less and less common and that’s appealing.

Red is reviled around the world. A “ginger” is derogatory. There are some pretty harsh shades. Some are orange. Some are very brassy.

When I lived in a S. America red heads were thought as devils. In the UK, lower class.

I think people have very strong reactions to red hair: either despise it or love it.

They usually need a lot of sunscreen.

Anonymous wrote:It’s all a form of misogyny at the end of the day.

This! End of thread.

I'm a blue eyed brunette of nordic heritage and I never felt like I fit in as a kid. I totally get where you're coming from in terms of the blondes being the standard of beauty, at least when I was a kid in the 80s. I was never blonde, even as a baby, and always hated that all my baby dolls were blonde. It made me feel like I was inferior until I was quite a bit older, so I can only imagine how much harder it would have been for little girls of color who had a hard time finding dolls that look like them. I love that diversity has become the standard of beauty.

It’s all a form of misogyny at the end of the day.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My daughter has blue eyes & blonde hair and only POC have commented on this. I have always just assumed this is because her look is more novel to them. In my family, and where I grew up, being blonde, especially as a child, is pretty typical, so no one cares or maybe even notices?

The comments have always come from woman who say something pleasant to her or to me about her looks.

I also have a blue-eyed blond. We used to live in a majority Black neighborhood and now we live in a majority Dominican neighborhood. My daughter gets a lot of compliments from older ladies, which comes from a kind and friendly place, but I cringe when someone is going on about my child's eyes and hair, she looks like a little angel (she's a hellion), she looks like Elsa, while their own grandchild is standing right there.

We have four kids. The older three have dark hair, super dark eyes, and a perpetual sun kissed dark tan complexion. Our youngest has blues eyes and blonde hair, and he frequently draws looks and compliments—especially when we travel to Spanish speaking countries or the Caribbean. It’s the novelty of looking different. That’s all.

I think this is the crux of it. Statistically blonds are rarer than any other hair color. Blue eyes tend to go with those genes.

I've always thought blue or green eyes are stunning, and super light blond hair (natural, not bottle) or red hair. I also think very dark skin is stunning. Lupita Nyong'o is one of the most beautiful actresses I've ever seen. I guess I like kind of extremes in the color spectrum!

But finding something aesthetically pleasing is just that. I have very unremarkable features, mid-brown hair, eyes my sister says are "slime green," and no one has ever thought I'm beautiful. It's fine. I'm not spending my time agonizing over not having blond or red hair or dark skin. I've known beautiful people who were assholes. I definitely gravitate toward more homely folks in real life!