Counter Representation
At the same time, there are many examples where the stereotype is exploited only to combat it. The film Legally Blonde starring Reese Witherspoon featured the stereotype as a centerpiece of its plot. However the protagonist turns out to be very intelligent and is shown to have been underachieving due to society's low expectations of her. Country music entertainer Dolly Parton, aware of this occasional characterization of her, addressed it in her 1967 hit "Dumb Blonde". Parton's lyrics challenged the stereotype, stating "...just because I'm blonde, don't think I'm dumb 'cause this dumb blonde ain't nobody's fool...". Parton has said she was not offended by "all the dumb-blonde jokes because I know I'm not dumb. I'm also not blonde."
The author of the comic strip Blondie, Chic Young, starting with "Dumb Dora", gradually transformed his subsequent Blondie into a smart, hard-working, family-oriented woman. The Simpsons' season 21, episode 20 To Surveil With Love: Lisa faced prejudice from her brunette peers because of her blonde hair at a debate meeting. Refusing to give up and wanting to prove the stereotype wrong, she intentionally dyed her hair dark brown. In the 1970s and 1980s, actress Loni Anderson portrayed curvy blonde character Jennifer Marlowe as an intelligent, eloquent, and sophisticated anti-stereotype on the American sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati.
See also: Valley girl and Essex girlRead more about this topic: Best Blond Joke Ever, Dumb Blonde
Famous quotes containing the word counter:
“I’d take the bus downtown with my mother, and the big thing was to sit at the counter and get an orange drink and a tuna sandwich on toast. I thought I was living large!... When I was at the Ritz with the publisher a few months ago, I did think, “Oh my God, I’m in the Ritz tearoom.” ... The person who was so happy to sit at the Woolworths counter is now sitting at the Ritz, listening to the harp, and wondering what tea to order.... [ellipsis in source] Am I awake?”
—Connie Porter (b. 1959)