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Stereotypes Of Dumb Blonde Women In Media

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One of the most common and persistent stereotypes in media is the idea that blonde women are dumb. Blonde women have been stereotyped as unintelligent in Hollywood since the popularity of actresses like Marilyn Monroe and Jayne Mansfield. As a result of this trope, many people believe that blondes have no work ethic and are not smart enough to succeed in the workforce. One Hollywood movie that challenges the dumb blonde trope is the romantic comedy Legally Blonde starring Reese Witherspoon. Legally Blonde follows sorority president Elle Woods after her breakup with her longtime boyfriend. Elle follows her ex-boyfriend to Harvard Law School in an attempt to get him back, and after being repeatedly underestimated by her peers and professors for being a blonde socialite, Elle decides to prove her judgemental peers wrong by excelling in her legal classes and securing a prestigious legal internship (Legally Blonde 2001). Legally Blonde challenges the stereotype that …show more content…

While defending a client accused of murder, Elle combines her legal expertise with her extensive knowledge of the cosmetic industry to discredit the key witness of the prosecution, resulting in the charges against her client being dropped (Legally Blonde 1:22:20-1:27:18). Despite being underestimated by everyone in the room, Elle persisted and proved her capabilities as a lawyer while once again challenging the belief that blonde women are unintelligent and unambitious. The dumb blonde trope extends beyond Hollywood and into the workforce as "blonde women might be sorted into lower paying and less mentally taxing jobs than they have the ability to handle"(Zagorsky 2), according to researcher Jay Zagorsky. This discrimination is shown and challenged in Legally Blonde as Elle Woods transcends expectations in the

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The Real Housewives Franchise (RHW) is a reality television show that provides insight into the lives of socialite, suburban housewives. The Real Housewives franchise has been around for nearly two decades, and has become a worldwide phenomenon. The series is known for its drama, gossip, and catty behavior between its cast members. The women of the show are often portrayed as shallow, uneducated, and judgmental. Although some of these traits may be true in some cases, many of the women on the show have overcome their challenges to become successful individuals.

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Following the incident, she gets some unwanted attention at school and with the law. One of the strongest themes throughout

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Legally Blonde vs Mean Girls Elle Woods vs Regina George, who will win? Legally Blonde is a movie starring a “dumb blonde” named Elle Woods, played by Reese Witherspoon. It is about how she chases her then-ex-boyfriend to Harvard Law School in the hopes of getting him back. Stating the famous quote “Warner: “You got into Harvard Law?”

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Sometimes people find the place they are meant for in unusual ways. In the 2001 classic Legally Blonde, Elle Woods goes on a quest for love but ends up finding herself in the end. Although she is a blonde sorority girl from California, Elle Woods completes her hero's journey by crossing the threshold and following Warner Huntington III, the ex-boyfriend, to Harvard; she stands up to Vivian and they end up supporting each other; receiving her boon by knowing the steps of a perm to win her case and ultimately she realizes that she doesn't need him and graduates with honors; a master of two worlds. In her departure stage, when warner dumps her and declares he is bound for Harvard to find a more serious wife, Elle takes this as her call to action

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She happens to have a unisex name. She knows the killer and is a virgin. Also, she doesn’t have dark hair, but has blonde hair. Max portrays a young teen who misses her mother and gets a chance to see her again.

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She is portrayed as the “gender police” of her high school, and she is displayed as a sexual

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Next, many gender and sexual stereotypes are perpetuated in media, through the ways of movies. In fact, the movie Legally Blonde fits under the category of stereotypes exceptionally well, since it shows many stereotypes of women in the society. For instance, there is one scene in the movie, where Warner, the handsome boy is playing football with his friends, and Elle, the dumb blonde sits on the sidelines to study and distract the guys playing as she wears nothing but a sparkly bikini top under a furry shawl on her upper half. This example evidently portrays the serotype of being a blonde dumb. Throughout the movie “Legally Blonde” Elle is shown as a material sorority girl, who is a duplicate copy of barbie in real life.

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This is quite a common stereotype, especially for women with blonde hair. Blondes in films and TV shows commonly have odd personalities where they are a little “out there” in terms of their thought patterns. They’re typically clueless in situations and have strange ideas. Phoebe also seems to be a bit of a flirt. She sometimes makes flirty jokes and may even hit on someone.

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Samantha Edwards Ms. McAleer English 102 February 12, 2023 Legally Blonde The early 2000s film industry banked off of exploiting stereotypes for comedy, however, the wildly successful film Legally Blonde, starring Reese Witherspoon as main character Elle Woods, did just the opposite. The character Elle Woods is a walking stereotype for the dumb blonde girl, yet throughout the movie she accomplishes things due to perseverance that many could only dream of. Instead of succumbing to the dumb blonde stereotype, she faces it and works extra hard to prove herself to her family, friends, and mentors. This idea and era of film became known as “neo-feminism” and Elle Woods quickly became an icon for women around the world who felt like they had something

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She mainly portrays this through her main character, Cher Horowitz. When first introduced to Cher, many may categorize her in the dumb blonde stereotype, and the film’s title certainly does not help. But, Cher forces the audience to rethink their prenotions of a typical blonde and makes it clear she is working towards self improvement (Mazmanian 5). Mazmanian also added that “...Hecklering taps stereotype and cliche to challenge the audience’s opinion.” (Mazmanian

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There are many controversial topics that we see on a daily basis through the media. Some of the topics that we are exposed to are race, stereotypes, sexism and sex. These things seem to be a key factor in how media makes its presence felt. Whether it is through T.V. shows, how stereotypes and race are still a common trend in present day movies. I believe that stereotyping is everywhere you look movies and T.V. in particular but also music.

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Many believe all who attend a private school are wealthy due to the expensive cost per year, whereas at a public school education is free. Since outsiders see these students as offly wealthy, who are given everything and more, being stuck up is yet another stereotype. The movie legally blonde enhances this particular stereotype, when Vivian

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According to Lippmann, “stereotypes are ‘pictures in our heads’ that we use to apprehend the world around us” (16). Stereotypes can be formed due to effects of media, as Wood describes media as pervasive, powerful and influential (31). Hence, stereotypes can be defined as inaccurate perceptions towards a group of people or community that is strongly influenced by the media. Whether positive or negative, stereotypes are usually false as they are formed based on personal judgments, which are biased or exaggerated. When stereotypes are consistently portrayed in media platforms, they subconsciously form and maintain assumed identities for the stereotyped groups.

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There are many stereotypes based on hair color blonde, red, and brunette. According to (dictionary.com), A stereotype is to characterize or categorize. Let's start with blondes, blondes are established as the unintelligent or the ones who like to have fun all the time of the hair stereotypes. Blondes stereotypically have a shortfall of intelligence, their picky, outgoing, crazy, and like to party. It also says that woman with blonde hair gets better tables at restaurants, flirtatious, gentle, gullible.

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Frequently, the lead character of a film is Caucasian and according to Dr. Robert Entman (a professor from George Washington University), “[in] dramatic Hollywood movies…whites play the lead roles nine times more often than non-whites” (15). A female lead who is considered to be beautiful is often a blonde Caucasian woman (examples include Legally Blonde, The House Bunny, and The Amazing Spider-Man). Young girls who are not Caucasian may have a difficult time with their self-image while developing, because they are unable to relate to Hollywood’s very limited and unrealistic standard of beauty. Tracey Owens Patton, Associate Professor of Communication at the University of Wyoming states that, “[a girl’s] desire to change her outer appearance to meet a Eurocentric ideal may lead her to loathe her own physical appearance and [believe] ‘...that she can only be lovely by impersonating someone else (177)”. Hollywood directors and writers will often cast Caucasian male leads to play a strong, masculine hero character; this is the case for popular movies such as The Avengers, Man of Steel, and The Dark Knight.

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