Here is a question...in Scandinavian and Icelandic countries..since blonds are so abundant

[angstlessk]

are brunettes considered exotic and sought after?

[cthulu2016]

1. Part of the blonde thing is youthful appearance

This does not answer your question, but it explains a part of blonde appeal that is not about Scandanvia or exoticism.

Many northern european but non-scandanavian (german, french, russian, british, etc.) children have blond hair that will turn darker over time to dirty blonde, pale brown etc..

Also, their hair lightens if they spend time in the sun.

So lightness of hair conveys youth and fitness. (We associate fitness and being outdoors)

[angstlessk]

3. Yes, I was a blonde child...but my hair grew darker as I grew older...

But don't the Scandinavian and Icelandic counties maintain blonde to old age?

[Igel]

2. Your gender shift disturbs me.

"Blond" can be either male or female, but by context often entails "male." "Blonde" is female only.

"Brunet" can be either male or female, but by context often entails "male." "Brunette" is female only.

If you're pointing out that either male Swedes or both male and female Swedes are often blond, so therefore female Swedes with dark hair might be considered exotic and sought after, then it's fine. It's just not the easiest interpretation because "brunette" (f.) immediately causes a reader to interpret "blond" as masculine.

If you're pointing out that male Swedes or both female Swedes are often blond, so therefore male, female, or male and female Swedes might be considered exotic and sought after, then rephrase.

English has very few adjectives that express gender. I wish we didn't have those that we have but while we still have something like standard English we may as well use it. I actively resist the introduction of new ones (with agreement class rules in English more oppressive than those in the source language), and my protest is to insist on importing more ad lib to annoy those who import some--and not just gender, but also, from time to time, grammatical case.

[angstlessk]

4. When I post blonde..the spell check wants blond...I had no idea

it was gender specific...nor brunette was female...

I love what I learn on DU

[bettyellen]

5. Anything with an ette or ess on the end is old school sexist terminology and....

It's likely there is a gender neutral alternative that doesn't diminish women.
Like steward or actor.

[angstlessk]

9. Yes and those sexist words have become passe...

Now everyone who acts is an actor..and we no longer have stewardess we now have Flight Attendents...

[angstlessk]

6. So in essence adding a 'e' to the end of a word makes it a female

in some cases..fiance is a male fiancee is a female...hell it would be easier if we added fe in front...making more sense than just adding a 'e'

male....female...get it?

[KittyWampus]

8. No, the poster is incorrect. Blonde MAY indicate female but is not definitely indicative of female.

I just posted a definition below.

DU is often a place where many people come to express how intellectually superior, uber-liberal or outraged they are.

[KittyWampus]

7. You are wrong. Blonde-

blonde [blɒnd]
adj
1. (of women's hair) of a light colour; fair
2. (of a person, people or a race) having fair hair, a light complexion, and, typically, blue or grey eyes
3. (Fine Arts & Visual Arts / Furniture) (of soft furnishings, wood, etc.) light in colour

[NuclearDem]

10. Nope, poster's right.

Blond(e) is French in origin. It uses the gender-specific adjective mechanic.

[KittyWampus]

13. I just posted a definition. Words evolve.

[Orrex]

16. AFAIK I have seldom if ever consciously seen the word "brunet" in modern print

Except in dictionaries or in articles about English linguistic quirks.

It strikes me that I would almost certainly have noticed it in regular prose, given its rarity, so I can only conclude that it must be vanishingly scarce at this point.


That's not to imply that you're incorrect, of course. Rather, it suggests that the word has lost general currency and has colloquially come to mean either "female only" or "male or female equally."

[angstlessk]

11. DU is probably the smartest forum on the internet...

Every one here knows something about everything...DU is what I wanted teevee to be...EDUCATIONAL...

I used to say if teevee was what I wanted it to be, I would have 3 PHD's by now...(joke..I watch too much teevee)

[AnotherMcIntosh]

12. What about those of us with red hair?

[angstlessk]

15. redheads have the fewest hairs per square inch..but they are more course...

My mother had auburn hair..both brunette and red..and however she wanted her hair to go..it went there

I was born with black hair..and turned blond'e' but it became darker as I aged...not to a real brunett'e' but to some sort of bland dark hair...

My hair was straight as an arrow and grew slowly and in different lengths...so as it grew it was scraggly

[valerief]

14. Dye job blond(e)s or natural blond(e)s? nt

[Egalitarian Thug]

17. I don't know the answer to your question, but that preference(?) for blondes only applies to

women. For men, Dark hair is preferred by far.

[WinkyDink]

18. Blonds are "so abundant" there because blonds are having sex with blondes. Next question?

[XemaSab]

19. There are a lot of dark-haired people there too

I get my curly dark hair from my Swedish grandmother.