Will Natural Blondes Become Extinct

March

Will Natural Blondes Become Extinct

Here’s an interesting story that is making the rounds on the internet about blondes, genetics and natural selection. According to the story (from the BBC no less) the number of natural blondes has decreased to such low levels that in 200 years there may not be any left. It seems that “bottle blondes” are out-competing natural blondes for mates thus having an easier time passing along their non-blonde hair genes. Does this mean you should run out and invest in companies like Revlon, Garnier, and Clairol that make hair dyes?

Don’t bother because it turns out that this story is completely false! The truth is blondes are not headed for extinction any time soon. The investigators at one of our favorite sites Snopes.com have shown that this is a different version of an urban legend that has been circulating since as early as 1865.

In this BBC story, it’s suggested that German researchers made the pronouncement. But upon further investigation the story’s source was actually an article published in the German equivalent to Cosmo. And while Cosmo, Glamour, Allure, and all the other women’s magazines have some great information, they are also not immune to sloppy reporting and accepting naivety.

The Beauty Brains‘ Bottom line

No, natural blondes won’t be extinct any time soon. And you can’t believe everything you read no matter how respected the source. It’s a basic Beauty Brains’ belief…

Always have independent confirmation of the facts

One Response to “Will Natural Blondes Become Extinct”

Jan Says:

If anything, I’m surprised at how often the children of this generation, even when they are 10, 15, etc., have hair that is lighter than both their parents. The dark eyes and the darker skin tone gets passed along, but the hair seems to be even lighter than both parents’, contradicting your High School-level genetics lesson. Of course, this is also completely unscientific observation. It is just that I’m surprised at how many of my dark-eyed, dark-haired friends married people with the same coloring and had blond and redhaired offspring, when none of the grandparents have that color hair.