The blonde versus brunette rivalry is a rivalry—whether real, imagined, or fictional—between people with blonde hair and those with brown (brunette) hair. In popular culture and everyday conversation, the words blonde and brunette are used as nouns to refer to women by these two hair colors. This supposed rivalry is a common fictional theme in books, magazine articles, film, and television. Rachel Reinke proposed that the spectacle of blonde and brunette women engaged in physical fights with each other has been a male fantasy for many years.
Studies conducted in the Western world have found that dark-haired women are generally considered more attractive than blonde women. In East Asia, blonde women are ranked firmly below black-haired East Asian women in the female beauty hierarchy, and blonde women report feeling de-sexualized and masculinized by East Asian beauty standards. In one study, 92% of blonde women thought their hair color was the ideal; yet only 32% of heterosexual men considered blonde women the ideal.
Historical context
Competition and rivalry between blondes and brunette women dates back at least as far as Ancient Greece, where the blonde-haired love goddess, Aphrodite, "... inspired ambitious imitations among the dark-haired courtesans of ancient Greece." Helen of Troy, another Greek blonde, was also idolized by the men of her era. In response to men's reaction to blonde women, brunettes employed a variety of ways to lighten their hair, a practice that continues to the modern era. Ancient Romans also favored blonde women over brunettes, a social favoritism that continued well into the Middle Ages, particularly in art and literature. Nineteenth-century American literature had very specific associations with each color: "The maiden with blue eyes and blonde hair is invariably 'innocent,' 'good,' and 'pure'; while the dark lady is 'impetuous,' 'ardent,' and 'passionate.'"
During the early decades of the 20th century, as a reflection of society's fascination with female hair colors, it was popular for Hollywood's film industry to contrast the behavior and desirability of blonde and brunette women. Examples of the film industry's fascination with blondes and brunettes could be found in films such as Blonde or Brunette and Gentlemen Prefer Blondes.
Competitive events
For well over a century, blonde and brunette women have been competing against each other in a variety of formats such as baseball, basketball, football, swimming and golf. Pairing blonde women against brunettes in wrestling, boxing, and similar exhibitions has long drawn the special interest of men.
Baseball An example of the blonde vs. brunette rivalry in the U.S. being used in a competitive event dates back to at least 1875 when the first female professional baseball players were recruited to play on teams according to their hair color.Thorn, John (2011) Baseball in the Garden of Eden: The Secret History of the Early Game. New York: Simon and Schuster, page 191 Illinois businessman Frank Myers established the "National Amusement Association" that advertised the novelty of women playing baseball. Despite Myers promoting the games as family entertainment, suitable for women and children, the first several games in his home state of Illinois were attended almost exclusively by men. Media reaction was severe, as many newspapers decried the event as "revolting" and "... a species of semi-immorality." Myers enterprise collapsed financially in less than a year, but the concept of blondes and brunettes playing baseball was picked up by Pennsylvanian newspaper publisher Sylvester Wilson who, similar to Myers, attempted to promote the sport as a healthy exhibition of female athleticism, suitable for all audiences. After successfully sponsoring a half-dozen well attended games, Wilson was arrested in New York city for employing girls under the age of 16 for "immoral purposes." Blonde vs brunette baseball games continued after Wilson's efforts failed and for decades were a popular event to stage at picnics and fairs.
Beauty contests During much of the 20th century, promoting beauty contests between blondes and brunettes was a popular event. At times the contests were part of promotional activities such as the contests held in movie theaters showing the 1925 film Blonde or Brunette. At other times, they were held simply to spur interest in concurrent activities involving commerce and trade. A variation held beauty contests separate, one for blondes and another for brunettes, and then once the winner in those two categories were determined, brought them together for a final contest to pick the overall winner.
Chess Competitive events between blondes vs. brunettes extend to chess matches that began in 2011 as part of the World Chess Tournament held in Moscow. The match was hosted by the Botvinnik Central Chess Club and featured two teams of young girls, blondes dressed in light colors and brunettes dressed in dark colors. This division is a play on the fact that chess is a game played using light and dark pieces. All of the contestants had to prove a degree of expertise to participate. The inaugural 2011 match was won by the brunettes who also went on to win the 2016, 2018, and 2019 matches. The team of blondes, by comparison, defeated the brunettes in 2012, 2014, 2015, and 2017."Chess Match: Blondes vs. Brunettes in Moscow" (May 23, 2012) Chessmate News Retrieved April 7, 2013 "Blondes Take Revenge on Brunettes" (May 22, 2012) Susan Polgar Chess Daily News and Information. Retrieved on December 22, 2012 The 2013 match, also held at the Central Chess Club, resulted in a tie score.Kublashvili, Eteri (April 3, 2013) "Blondes and Brunettes tie the match 50:50" ChessDom Brunettes continued their winning streak in 2020, defeating the blondes, 57:43. In 2021, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, blondes and brunettes played each other again, without masks. Brunettes prevailed by a score of 37:27. Although chess is a cerebral game, the matches between blonde and brunette girls have been described as a physical contest where the girls are fighting each other.Kosteniuk, Alexandra (April 3, 2013) "Blondes-Brunettes Chess Match Drawn" ChessBlog.com
Powderpuff football Powderpuff football games have long been a venue for blonde and brunette women to compete against each other. Featured during 1953's "Powderpuff on Parade" at UCLA, was an event where "Blondes ... battle brunettes in a football game at 3pm on Spaulding Field." In 2005, the Alzheimer's Association began sponsoring blonde vs brunette powderpuff football games as part of the association’s fund raising activities. Later that year, 2005, the first blonde vs. brunette powder puff football game was played at Hains Point in Washington, D.C. and raised $10,000.Staff writer (September 15, 2010) "Blondes vs. Brunettes: Grassroots Effort Scores for Alzheimer's Association” The Non-Profit Times Retrieved March 16, 2012 Argetsinger, Amy (November 14, 2011) “Hair’s The Thing: Blondes vs. Brunettes is a Win-Win” The Washington Post Retrieved March 12, 2012 Motivated by the opportunity to have fun while supporting a worthy cause, interest in the games spread to multiple cities, assisted by media headlines designed to grab the public's attention: "Blondes battle brunettes to fight Alzheimer’s", "Blondes and brunettes battle it out to fund Alzheimer's research", "Blondes Battle Brunettes at the Cotton Bowl", "Blondes vs. Brunettes. This is how all battles should be played out: hair color", and "Blond women will battle brunettes to help tackle Alzheimer's disease at Cotton Bowl Stadium Saturday evening." In 2014, the Alzheimer's Association rebranded the games as "RivALZ", emphasizing other rivalries such as east vs. west or city vs. suburb.
Tug of war During the 20th century, tug of war events during picnics, fairs, and festivals, often featured teams of blondes and brunettes competing against each other. During a 1918 picnic in Ohio, a tug of war between blondes and brunettes was "Won by the blondes. They stripped the brunettes off the rope against a tree like beads off a string." A 1933 women's club meeting in Missouri ended in a "jolly tug of war between the blondes and the brunettes. The blondes won." Sports writer Pete Axthelm refereed a 1978 tug of war between blonde and brunette women at a Kentucky charity event, declaring the blonde team, led by Anita Madden, winners of the event.
Tug of war competitions between blonde and brunettes have been held in many countries. A 1939 event in Australia was "a novel event that created much interest." Held in London during the month of November, a swimsuit fashion show featured five blondes and an equal number of brunettes engage in a tug of war on a stage, all 10 wearing swimsuits. In Saskatoon, Canada, university men cheered loudly as a team of blondes students defeated a team of brunettes.
Blonde and brunette women have been more likely to engage in these competitions than men: a 1932 Labor Day picnic in Flint, Michigan featured blonde and brunette women competing against each other in a tug of war, the men's tug of war was between married men and single men. Blonde women defeated brunettes in a 1937 company picnic tug of war: the men's tug of war was between white collar and blue collar employees.
Tug of war competitions between blondes and brunettes have also been part of promotional activities. A promotional photo for the 1947 film Road to Rio showed several of the film's actresses having a playful tug of war on the beach. Titled "Beach fun, blondes vs brunettes in a tug of war" the photo showed brunettes Sally Rawlinson and Marliyn Gray engaged in a light-hearted tug of war with blondes Dorothy Abbott and Kathy Young. In 1955 to promote the film Gentlemen Marry Brunettes, the New York Daily News theater page featured an article titled "Colorful Battle", saying "Blondes and Brunettes will battle it out at noon October 29 in front of the Mayfair to celebrate the premier of Gentlemen Marry Brunettes. Every female with the right colored hair will be able to join in and pull for her side in a tug of war."
Wrestling
Matches promoted as "blonde vs brunette", have long been a staple of women's professional wrestling. Spectator interest in the events was often reflected in newspaper descriptions of upcoming matches: "It'll be blonde vs brunette for the women's world wrestling title tonight at the coliseum when blonde Penny Banner meets June Byers, the brunette title holder."; "It will largely be a girls show, the promoters calling it a battle of blondes vs brunettes."; and "Blonde Battles Brunette in Armory Tonight."
During the 1970s and early 1980s, Stanley Weston published Sports Review Wrestling, a magazine known for bloody covers and outlandish stories of the professional wrestling world. Faced with anemic sales, Weston began including feature stories themed as "Apartment House Wrestling" that showed posed photographs of bikini-clad models wrestling each other. Weston's staff writer, Dan Shocket would craft stories to accompany the photos taken by Theo Ehret, a notable Los Angeles sports photographer, and invent dialogue between the wrestlers. Leveraging the competition between blondes and brunettes, his the stories would include numerous references to hair color as the women fought each other, typically with the brunette making comments such as "What a loser, a dumb blonde with dreams of glory." The April 1978 issue featured a wrestling match between Gaby, a French brunette and Angel, described as "gossamer blonde." In her version of the fight, scripted by Shocket, Gaby referred to her opponent as "A stupid blonde. All the blondes ones are stupid."
A blonde model named "Cynara" became one of the series most popular wrestlers and was considered the Apartment House Wrestling champion. She was eventually defeated by a brunette named Salome.
In the media and entertainment industry