If you were a blonde growing up, you most likely faced many jokes and comments that you lacked intelligence. Sadly, some girls embraced this as their role. I decided to make it a point to prove them wrong. And while they are usually nothing more than innocent jokes, they are widely accepted comments in society. It would take pure stupidity to actually believe there is a direct link between hair color and intelligence.

If I ace a test or compete in an academic competition, it has nothing to do with my hair color. When I graduated, the color of the hair under that graduation cap had no relevance.

I think it's time that we get rid of this ugly joke. There were far too many girls in my class that were told these jokes and they started to believe that it actually defined them. Hearing these kinds of jokes over and over again can have a tremendous effect on someone's mental state. I was blessed to not have this experience.

However, I would get so worked up in elementary school because I was concerned that the people making the jokes actually believed them. Did they seriously believe that all of the blondes in our class were below them academically? Did my A in the class mean less than the brunette's A? I was outraged that my hard work and studying was overshadowed by the appearance of my hair.

As I grew older, this anger turned into fear that people would see me as less capable or professional. Somehow my hair made me an airhead with little to no responsibility. In reality, most of my college experience has been all work and little play. But blondes have more fun, right?

Maybe I am being dramatic (per usual), but I know that this perception of blondes has changed the confidence and self-worth of so many people that I know. We are all guilty of making these jokes, myself included. This just goes to show how widely accepted it is. We need to understand that our jokes are so much more than jokes that people can shrug off. The things we say can really impact someones conscious.

But these jokes do not phase me because I have been able to prove so many people wrong. The jokes gave me motivation to push myself and rise above the stereotype. I did not give in and dye my hair. Instead, I lived my life how I wanted to and allowed only my opinion to affect my self-worth. In return, many of my peers got a clearer picture of the truth. The truth is that being a blonde is just the same as being a brunette except for the lack of melanin.

And at the end of the day, people can say whatever they want to me because my blonde comes from a box now. Yes, that's right. Despite the stereotype, I decided that was the color for me.