Elle Woods, modern American fictional hero, relates to many women around the world. Often, the stereotype for women who are blonde, like pink and fashion is that they are "dumb blondes." However, this is not the case, just because a girl has yellow hair and wears sequins has no impact on her IQ. The stares women in engineering classes often are because of their appearance, the only way women in these fields have a chance of gaining any respect is to act less feminine. Why should women have to change their appearance or interests to prove their intelligence?
Being a somewhat blonde woman, I receive surprised looks from my peers when I say something that implies I did the reading or understand math. Whenever I come to class with makeup on, I feel as though people who do not choose to dress the way I do underestimate my intelligence. This type of sexism impacts women across the world, and probably has something to do with the unequal pay for equal work many receive today.
Many professions in the math and technology world are male dominated, and seeing a woman, especially a "girly girl" in the field is almost unheard of. Why? Because women are often told to be these things. They are told to look pretty and rely on their spouse to make money for them. These are outdated values and if we can reject these values from our society, why can we not reject them for all women? Just because a girl is blonde does not make her stupid. Just because a girl is brunette does not make her smart. Women are not our enemies, we all face similar struggles. There is no reason to single out a group of women in a time that we need to stand tall and strong together.
In addition, there is girl on girl hatred for women who look different than one another. Women who care about fashion are perceived as "dumb bitches" and those who do not are made fun of for being "masculine." There is no reason to make assumptions about someone because of the color of their skin or hair or even their clothing choices.
The Legally Blonde Theory goes much deeper than just blonde girls who like pink. There are stereotypes for every person. Someone who dresses well is not stuck up, not everyone is the same. Embracing individuality is what makes this planet great. Every person you meet is not going to have the same story or the same appearance. Next time you look at the girl with the perfectly curled, blonde hair in a pink shirt, do not call her stupid. Someone could very well do the same to you.
