Do blond haired people never experience angst? Are they all happy go lucky cutesy sorts who never have deep thoughts? At the other end of the spectrum, are they all ultra sophisticated, chic, to die for models?
And are all red heads spunky spitfires who are as passionate about grocery lists as they are about sex?
Poor brunettes. They are delivered all the emotional turmoil, the seriousness, tragedy and teeth gnashing.
To me, using hair color as the major component of characterization is just plain lazy. Not to mention, it’s annoying as hell. Why can’t brunettes be cute and carefree? Why can’t we have a blond tortured hero/heroine? Why can’t a redhead be laissez fare and slow to anger?
Lumping together people by hair color is just plain boring. It’s not realistic, and yet authors do it time and time again. I know the whole spiel about how blond heroes aren’t popular, but damn, someone marries these guys!
Are we so used to the romance versions of the blond, the brunette and the redhead that we won’t accept any variation of the tired stereotype? Would you read a blond hero who was dark and brooding? Would you read a dark eyed, dark haired hero who was a regular clown?
I’ve decided I want to be blond so I can kiss all my worries goodbye.
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Using hair color and interesting shades(lengths/attitudes) of it as an expansion of character is a romantic convention.Hair is after all a tertiary sex characteristic.
Furthermore it’s probably one based on cultural/historical motifs( Beware the dark stranger). Only when it is limited and slotted as you describe does it become a tiresome cliche. Interesting how variants of the Doctrine of Signatures (ie. red = choleric) has persisted.
I do notice it, especially when it comes to redheads. And I’ve never seen a brooding hero who’s blonde either.
How many fair-haired witches of the light have we seen? Or the curvy pagan?
Although I’m blonde, I find most of the heroines I write are not. However, two of my heroes have been. As have two of my husbands…wait, I’m starting to see a pattern here…
Refocus. I think hair stereotypes are just that – stereotypes. I know redheads who are as easy going and laidback as sun-warmed cats and icy blondes who never look anything but perfect. Some people live up to the stereotype and some don’t but if you’re going to write a character that way, you better have good reason for it and make those reasons realistic.
And for the record, I tried being a brunette. Blonde is definitely more fun.
All my heroines tend to have shoulder-length brown hair (of varying shades) simply because I have shoulder-length brown hair…and all my heroines are extentions of me!
Wait…maybe I shouldn’t admit that…
Diana
I know what you mean about falling back on hair-color stereotypes. There has to be much more to a characters’ personalities than hair, eye color or body type. On the other hand, I’ve seen sassy brunettes, angsty blondes, shy redheads, and golden-haired villains, too.
sassy brunettes, angsty blondes, shy redheads
Yep, that describes the three heroines of my current series for Special Edition to a T. Except that since humans tend to be complex creatures, it’s rare that I could so neatly define any of my heroines — the shy redhead might have some pretty angsty moments, or the brunette’s sassiness might actually mask a deep insecurity, etc.
I won’t say that I’ve never had a hair-color stereotype in my stories, but thinking back, it’s been pretty darn rare. And completely coincidental.
And I have had blond heroes, but the Art Department hates them — they don’t come across well on covers (they say).
You know, haircolor in my writing barely blips the radar. I might mention it in passing, but I let other characteristics define my heroine. And I probably do this intentionally … I’m 4′10″ with red hair (aiii!) so I’m SICK, SICK, SICK of all those comments about “dynamite sure does come in small packages.” When I get angry, I get bitchy and cold. I don’t blow.
In my current WIP, my heroine has blonde hair … and she could be a twin of her younger sister … only she’s the one who needs help looking polished, while her sister comes across as glam and sophisticated. It’s not your looks … it’s what you do with them. Stacy and Clinton on WHAT NOT TO WEAR show us that time and again …
Eeek!
“have”. I hate it when I change thought in mid-type and fail to agree the verb.Apologies.
Karen, I know what you mean. My friend just got her cover. Her hero is a dirty blond, but on the cover he’s a brunette
LOL Kristen, yep, definitely a pattern emerging
Diana, that could get you into a lot of trouble *g*
The darkest protagonist in my series so far is a cornsilk silver/blond (I won’t offend anyone by calling him a hero.) Usually I make serious antagonists blonde or light-haired, too, just to mess with people’s assumptions.
Brunettes mainly populate my books because they’re the genetic majority. I’ve written only one slightly air-headed heroine, but she was a redhead.
Kind of like the White Hat vs. Black Hat in old Westerns. Perhaps my protag will have to have streaked hair.
I’ll second Cynthia. Hair color just doesn’t figure into my character descriptions unless it’s relevant to the story. And, just how often is it really relevant?
With heroines, I’ve had a pale blonde (angsty with and acid tongue), a strawberry blonde (quiet, almost meek, but strong), one with black hair (a bit impetuous but very smart), and one with dark brown hair (suspicious and wary).
With heroes, I’ve had two with black hair (one rather sullen, the other revenge-obsessed), one with black-streaked silver (intense but with humor), and one with brown (stuffed shirt).
I don’t fall into the categories at all! *g*
I don’t use any straight colors. I’ve had heroes with sable colored hair, almost black but not quite. My heroines tend to be honey blondes or auburn. I don’t really use hair color for character as much as how it looks.
As a raader, I can tell you straight up that I don’t care about hair color of either the hero or the heroine. As the mother of a red haired man, I can tell you I am sick of the prejudice (both in real life and in novels)against red haired males as heroes. Yes, there are some exceptions, including Jamie Frasier, but for the most part red hair is only acceptable on females. My son’s father had red hair, my own grandfather had red hair, so I guess I am at a loss to figure out what is the problem!
I just finished reading “Unmasked,” by Virginia Henley: the heroine was a “high spirited” red haired young lady, the hero had black hair (both on his head and chest, although the stepback cover showed a man with lighter brown hair & not a single chest hair of any color), and the sort-of villain was a blond male. Typical. And ho-hum.
I don’t find any particular hair color any more appealing or significant than any other…but a red haired hero, or even a balding hero, would be an interesting change of pace.
Oh my gosh, I’m in the middle of plotting a deeply troubled and brooding blond hero right now. And that’s not popular?
It’s a western too. I guess it can’t get any worse.
Have to say the sterotype of short girls being perky – that has to go, too!
What about Fabio? He graced(?) the covers of probably hundreds of books looking brooding and alpha. I’d call him blond.
Jill,
Little and perky. Even the clothes they make for us are little and perky. Drives me nuts.
Pamela,
I’ll read your western, blond hero and all Paul Newman, Robert Redford – blond – they made lots of western movies.
And I’d say it’s hard to get a more dark and brooding hero than Paul Newman in Hud or Sweet Bird of Youth.
I don’t care about hair color. I’ve seen some pretty sexy gray haired, not to mention bald guys.
Mo
My heroines: blonde, dark brunette, dark blonde.
Respective heroes: brown, blond, black
WIP: Hero: brown hair; Heroine: dark brown hair.
All my heroines are tortured. Only some of my heroes are.
Looking back, I discovered most of my “cool” heroines had curly hair — not frizzy curly, but a certain (and quite rare, actually, in life) kind of fat glossy sausage curls. Guess that’s because mine is pin straight and the best I can get out of it is some loose beach-bunny wave
Talking about stereotypes, how often do you see a redheaded hero?