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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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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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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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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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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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Essay On Blonde Stereotypes

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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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