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[Lime]

Something that always irked me is the prevalence of blonde white women spewing hateful rhetoric while being held up by white supremacists as idols and superstars on right-winged media. So this article was really interesting:

And then, of course, there are the politics of hair color. Attributes associated with whiteness — light skin, narrow noses — have dominated American beauty ideals as long as there’s been such a thing. Which means that blondness has always been … charged: The ’50s gave us Doris Day, who once said that her only ambition ever had been to “be a housewife in a good marriage” (“Preordination had other plans”). To be blonde was to be a good American woman, pure of intention and heart — which implied also, of course, that to be a good American woman, pure of intention and heart, meant being blonde. Betty was blonde, Veronica was trouble. Ditto Sandy and Rizzo. Hitchcock liked to cast blondes because he said they made the best victims: “The color was virgin snow that shows up the bloody footprints.”

Fox News and Donald Trump have given blonde hair a new chapter: Now, blonde is the color of the right, for whom whiteness has become a hallmark. Over the past decade or so, as inclusiveness became the hallmark of Obama-era liberals, the left found feminist icons in Rachel Maddow, Samantha Power, and Michelle Obama, who make no apologies for their failure to fit traditional ideals. But #MAGA, Fox News America is a place where all the classic signifiers of privilege and wealth work on overdrive: country-club-issue blue blazers with brass buttons and khaki pants, and above all else, for women, that yellow-blonde, carefully tended hair — a dog whistle of whiteness, an unspoken declaration of values, a wink-wink to the power of racial privilege and to the 1980s vibe that pervades a movement led by a man who still believes in the guilt of the Central Park Five. During that Republican Preppy Handbook era, when Dynasty and Dallas were on TV, the type of conspicuous ostentation that would lead a real-estate developer to sheath his entire apartment in gold leaf was actually in vogue. Look at the movies: Jake’s girlfriend in Sixteen Candles with the lush swoop of thick, blonde locks that ended up stuck in a door (losing the boyfriend to a redhead of all things meant, literally, losing that luscious hair). Johnny, the villain of the Karate Kid films, had a decisive swoosh of blond hair that obscured his headband. We knew, the moment we saw that hair, that small, ethnic Daniel was up against more than another teenager, he was up against privilege itself.

The alt-blonde common on Fox News is a specific look: It’s layered and yellow and never too long. It’s controlled and polished and always in place. In earlier generations, news was delivered almost exclusively by white men, with neat auburn (when it wasn’t graying) hair. These men spoke in tempered tones; they strove for a bland, unquestionable authority. But at Ailes-era Fox News, the point was no longer to project a sense of well-being or calm, it was to instill panic and fear, and blonde hair was practically a prerequisite for delivering it. Panicked reports about dangerous immigrants and the president with Hussein for a middle name were presented by white women wearing snug dresses, with pert noses, bronze skin, blonde hair. The Fox blonde is, in the end, conspicuously unnatural. She is less blonde as sexy and more blonde as safe: This blonde is a matronly blonde, a suburban soccer mom who makes sure everyone buckles up in the backseat of the minivan. This blonde is a reminder, perhaps, of what many Americans feel is truly at stake in a newly global world.

And then there are all the White House’s shades of blonde — the president likes men who look like generals and women who look like they all pledged the same sorority house. Many of Trump’s prominent female surrogates have blonde hair: Kellyanne Conway and Ivanka Trump, of course, but also the Trump daughters-in-law and the new-to-the-scene talking heads like Kayleigh McEnany, who once told Don Lemon on CNN that Trump “doesn’t want a scenario where there’s New Black Panthers outside with guns, essentially, like, intimidating people from coming into the polls”; Tomi Lahren, who compared the Black Lives Matter movement to the Ku Klux Klan; and tea-partier Scottie Nell Hughes, whose big moment was telling CNN “I hope I’m not going to have to start brushing up on my Dora the Explorer” after Tim Kaine gave part of a speech in Spanish.

Of course it doesn't hold true for all Blondes (as everyone should obviously know):

But, of course, the right doesn’t own blonde hair. There are California surfer girls and the women of the other 49 states who like to look like them. There’s also a fair amount of elective blondness going on among the less fair-skinned. Many black and Latina women wear their hair blonde, perhaps the most prominent being Beyoncé and Jennifer Lopez. And there’s also the ironic, colorless blonde, the Courtney Love blonde, a platinum-stripped-of-all-pigment blonde in hipster land. But these are subversions — many of them attempts to undermine the implied racial essentialism of blondness rather than co-opt it. And then there’s the fact that for many women, blonde is flattering. To be blonde in adulthood is rare; to be blonde as a child is not, and as women grow older, we always search for qualities that connect us to our youth. “A blonde head attracts attention,” says Jena Pincott, a science writer who wrote a book called Do Gentlemen Really Prefer Blondes?

Read the rest of the article here: https://www.thecut.com/2017/08/politics-of-blonde-hair-from-persephone-to-ivanka-trump.html

 

[Platy]

 

[Spring-Loaded]

Damn

 

[Eylos]

They look related all of them

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

They look related all of them

thought it was a Warhol for a second there

 

[sphagnum]

It's because of Aryan idealization.

 

[Lime]

They look related all of them

They're probably a groomed product based on focus group tests composed of white men who want to get their Aryan dick hard while being brainwashed about the horrors of brown and black people.

 

[Bronx-Man]

It's because of Aryan idealization.

Damn.

 

[Slayven]

It's because of Aryan idealization.

Pretty much what i always thought.

 

[Farsi]

It's because of Aryan idealization.

Well damn.

 

[Peter Ian Staker]

It's because of Aryan idealization.

Yeah that's what I thought.

 

[Kinsei]

They all look like they were created in a factory. It's eerie.

It's because of Aryan idealization.

Yup.

 

[phanphare]

It's because of Aryan idealization.

yep

 

[caliph95]

They look related all of them

They're probably a groomed product based on focus group tests composed of white men who want to get their Aryan dick hard while being brainwashed about the horrors of brown and black people.

I was going to say some of them look like they cloned in a factory


but yeah they probably groomed themselves the same way

 

[How About No]

thought it was a Warhol for a second there

"Chrismas Dinner with the Raciston Family"

Coming to theaters this November

 

[Snagret]

The tagline(s) on this makes me feel like I'm having a stroke.

 

[UberTag]

How many of the blondes in the OP collage are natural? One? Two? Zero?
Just further reinforces the perception that they're an artificial construct built entirely around image over talent or the content of their character.

 

[Earthbound64]

One thing I don't really get is why people with obviously dyed hair are being called "blonde."
I mean, if dye meets the criteria, then anyone who wanted to could be "blonde."

 

[The Technomancer]

Damn

 

[Roronoa Zoro]

Well personally I'm into brunettes so fox is driving me away. Except for that one weekend chick who is pregnant now she fine. But yeah they're all equally annoying. Though I'd rather watch 100 uninformed aryans bicker than listen to tucker Carlson's laugh one more time

 

[Strike]

It's because of Aryan idealization.

Yeah. Pretty much.

 

[Vicetrailia]

Blonde white women uberalles!

 

[PixelatedBookake]

It's because of Aryan idealization.

Nail on the head. They'll never admit it tho.

 

[Host Samurai]

Reminds me of that collage of the white 30 something male video game lead.

 

[Rayis]

And I'm sure the right-wing's rebuttal to this would bring up figures such as Michelle Malkin and Stacey Dash not realizing that they're the exception rather than the rule.

In Malkin's case, she has to be extra vile to get noticed in the right-wing sphere.

 

[The Albatross]

I don't think it's an 'Aryan Idealization' because that's asinine, but I do think that it has something to do with the half-century old adulation of blond haired women as more desirable, which has fed into the Playboy Bunny stereotype, the 'Dumb blonde' stereotype, and the 'Blondes have more fun' stereotype, the 'Blonde bombshell' stereotype.

I don't think that those cultural phenomenons have anything to do with some Nazi-esque longing for blondes, I think it's a coincidence that American popular media has long sought beautiful blonde bombshells, and Hitler also outlined blonde-haired, blue-eyed people as Aryan ideals. I think Fox is trying to play into that 1950s/60s/70s pop-culture stereotype of beautiful blondes, yet another aspect of them trying to appeal to a sort of 'good old days' of longing for their viewers -- which likely has an element of racism or blonde, white ideal, but I don't think it's some longing for Nazism or Hitler-esque Aryan ideal other than that those might be coincidences. For instance, I don't think that the Blonde Bombshell trope that really captured the American sexual psyche Post WWII with, say, Marilyn Monroe for instance, was motivated by aspiring to a Nazi ideal, and I think that trope informs Fox's hiring, promotion, and producing tactics more so than something else.

 

[Measley]

My wife (who is brunette) pointed out that almost all the women on Fox news were bottle blondes. That's just fucking weird.

 

[Dr. Worm]

I'm pretty sure Fox is trying for "hot" as opposed to "safe."

Maybe there's a subconscious thing, but I vaguely remember an Ailes quote about the anchors as eye candy.

 

[rtcn63]

I'm pretty sure Fox is trying for "hot" as opposed to "safe."

Maybe there's a subconscious thing, but I vaguely remember an Ailes quote about the anchors as eye candy.

Maybe Aaron Sorkin is the true owner of Fox

 

[Glazed]

yuck

 

[Earthbound64]

I don't think it's an 'Aryan Idealization' because that's asinine

Why is it asinine?

 

[Pryce]

They all look like country club Republican women from Orange County or Houston. Yes they vote Republican but they're not mean.

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

Looks like the Number 6 production line has been donating the models that failed quality control to Fox.

 

[gblues]

We got the bubble-headed bleach blonde, comes on at 5
She can tell you 'bout the plane crash with a gleam in her eye
It's interesting when people die
Give us dirty laundry

 

[Typical]

If I remember correctly the Israelis were accused of doing something similar putting forward blond western looking women as spokes persons during conflicts.

 

[Locke562]

I don't think it's an 'Aryan Idealization' because that's asinine, but I do think that it has something to do with the half-century old adulation of blond haired women as more desirable, which has fed into the Playboy Bunny stereotype, the 'Dumb blonde' stereotype, and the 'Blondes have more fun' stereotype, the 'Blonde bombshell' stereotype.

I don't think that those cultural phenomenons have anything to do with some Nazi-esque longing for blondes, I think it's a coincidence that American popular media has long sought beautiful blonde bombshells, and Hitler also outlined blonde-haired, blue-eyed people as Aryan ideals. I think Fox is trying to play into that 1950s/60s/70s pop-culture stereotype of beautiful blondes, yet another aspect of them trying to appeal to a sort of 'good old days' of longing for their viewers -- which likely has an element of racism or blonde, white ideal, but I don't think it's some longing for Nazism or Hitler-esque Aryan ideal other than that those might be coincidences. For instance, I don't think that the Blonde Bombshell trope that really captured the American sexual psyche Post WWII with, say, Marilyn Monroe for instance, was motivated by aspiring to a Nazi ideal, and I think that trope informs Fox's hiring, promotion, and producing tactics more so than something else.

I think this makes more sense. The average Fox viewer is in their what, 60's? 70's? They grew up in that era and that's what they want to see. It definitely tempting to jump to the "Aryan idealization" idea and honestly that was my first take.

 

[The Albatross]

Why is it asinine?

Maybe I shouldn't say assinine, but rather, I think there are more logical explanations than "Fox hires blondes because Hitler's ideal was for blondes." The Aryan Ideal certainly predated Nazism and Hitler, but Hitler and Nazism popularized the idea, and today if you're casually talking about Aryan ideal than there's a strong association with Nazism.

Beyond that I think that people can find blonde haired women beautiful and don't need to be motivated by Nazism to do so. I personally prefer dark haired women, but don't think somebody who is attracted to the 'blonde bombshell' media trope is necessarily attracted t o them because of Nazi or Aryan idealization. I think FOx is trying to appeal to what their audience might have grown up with as being the feminine media ideal: A tall, slender, blonde haired beauty, something that would appeal to a man who read Playboy in the 70s and 80s and thinks that "this is what a woman should look like!"

Asinine was too strong of a word, and I wrote that before expanding on my thought, but "A major stretch" is probably more appropriate.

 

[Breakage]

Rarely see naturally blonde women on TV media these days; I don't even see them that often in real life either.

 

[AnotherDayAnotherDollar]

I only know who Ann Coulter and Kellyanne Conway are out of the whole group. Surprised they didn't include Lauren Southern or Tomi Lahren there. EDIT: Or Kayley McEnany (or however you spell her name). Unless they are all there, but I don't recognize them.

 

[The Wart]

Maybe I shouldn't say assinine, but rather, I think there are more logical explanations than "Fox hires blondes because Hitler's ideal was for blondes." The Aryan Ideal certainly predated Nazism and Hitler, but Hitler and Nazism popularized the idea, and today if you're casually talking about Aryan ideal than there's a strong association with Nazism.

Beyond that I think that people can find blonde haired women beautiful and don't need to be motivated by Nazism to do so. I personally prefer dark haired women, but don't think somebody who is attracted to the 'blonde bombshell' media trope is necessarily attracted t o them because of Nazi or Aryan idealization. I think FOx is trying to appeal to what their audience might have grown up with as being the feminine media ideal: A tall, slender, blonde haired beauty, something that would appeal to a man who read Playboy in the 70s and 80s and thinks that "this is what a woman should look like!"

Asinine was too strong of a word, and I wrote that before expanding on my thought, but "A major stretch" is probably more appropriate.

You're missing the point -- Fox News doesn't idolize blonde women because Hitler did, it's that they both idolize them for the same reason: as a symbol of racial purity. And this is not at all mutually exclusive with thinking they are attractive.

 

[Slayven]

You're missing the point -- Fox News doesn't idolize blonde women because Hitler did, it's that they both idealize them for the same reason: as a symbol of racial purity. And this is not at all mutually exclusive with thinking they are attractive.

Bingo, it all flows back to the same well of White Supremacy

 

[MKIL65]

She literally looks like a doll, what the hell...

 

[HyperZone<3]

That first reply...

 

[Dishwalla]

I see some of these women and I have to wonder if they actually know what they are saying or if they are merely parrots. Like I've never seen a Tomi Lahren video where she was making her own unique argument, it's always an argument that has been made somewhere else.

 

[phanphare]

I don't think it's an 'Aryan Idealization' because that's asinine, but I do think that it has something to do with the half-century old adulation of blond haired women as more desirable, which has fed into the Playboy Bunny stereotype, the 'Dumb blonde' stereotype, and the 'Blondes have more fun' stereotype, the 'Blonde bombshell' stereotype.

I don't think that those cultural phenomenons have anything to do with some Nazi-esque longing for blondes, I think it's a coincidence that American popular media has long sought beautiful blonde bombshells, and Hitler also outlined blonde-haired, blue-eyed people as Aryan ideals. I think Fox is trying to play into that 1950s/60s/70s pop-culture stereotype of beautiful blondes, yet another aspect of them trying to appeal to a sort of 'good old days' of longing for their viewers -- which likely has an element of racism or blonde, white ideal, but I don't think it's some longing for Nazism or Hitler-esque Aryan ideal other than that those might be coincidences. For instance, I don't think that the Blonde Bombshell trope that really captured the American sexual psyche Post WWII with, say, Marilyn Monroe for instance, was motivated by aspiring to a Nazi ideal, and I think that trope informs Fox's hiring, promotion, and producing tactics more so than something else.

you basically explained why it is Aryan Idealization

 

[FUME5]

Focus tested by white nationalists.

 

[Chie Satonaka]

It's because of Aryan idealization.

That's some hot truth right there.

 

[Generalpsyduck]

It's because of Aryan idealization.

And what we are done.

 

[Aaron]

Rarely see naturally blonde women on TV media these days; I don't even see them that often in real life either.

Naturally blonde women don't fit the manufactured Fox News ideal.

 

[DogDude]

When being offended by everything goes too far