On Blondes

In art and literature, in history and popular culture, blonde has never been a mere colour. For two and a half thousand years, it has been a blazing signal in code, signifying beauty, power and status.

To feed this obsession entire industries have developed, influential trends set. From Greek prostitutes mimicking the golden-haired Aphrodite, to the Californian beach babe; from pigeon dung and saffron dyes to L'Oréal (because you're worth it), we see the lengths to which women will go to become blonde. The power and duality of the blonde as either erotic symbol or saintly virgin waxes and wanes but never disapears.

By looking at the world through the prism of what it is to be blonde, we are drawn into an intriguing portrait of the world. Why is it that blondes rose to prominence in Hollywood and in Nazi Germany at the same time? Why do young Japanese women today want to be blonde? Weaving a story rich in anecdote, history and high intrigue, Joanna Pitman effortlessly combines the wealth of her knowledge with a sharp and clear-sighted view of the power of the blonde through the ages.

‘Pitman has masses of evidence ... no period is left unturned. She assiduously works her way from the Greeks and Romans, through the Middle Ages and Elizabeth I (whose portraits show 'a staggeringly unreal blonde diva'), through the 18th century, and fairy tales, to German Aryan supremacy ideals, to Marilyn, Madonna and Margaret Thatcher’ —Sunday Times

'Joanna Pitman tells us something we already suspect to be true, and she does it beautifully. She takes us on a blonde history of the world. It is a history of sex and subterfuge, of prejudice and fantasy — the best kind of history. Women reading this book will want to go blonde; men reading it will hanker after blonde women. But the book has a powerful subtext: be careful' —William Leith, Spectator

‘In the last year of her life, Diana, Princess of Wales spent £3,600 having her hair bleached. If Diana had stayed the pleasant shade of country mouse she was on her engagement day, would she have come to exercise such fascination? At the height of her stardom, you could not look upon her without squinting in the glare: the girl had gone for gold. The late Princess's peroxide habit is one of the many riveting strands teased out in On Blondes, Joanna Pitman's provocative history of the fairest of them all. Fifteen years ago, working in Africa, Pitman felt the primal charge of being blonde for herself. Exposed to the sun all day, her brownish hair turned bright gold. Mistaken for a saint, she was asked to heal a man with a snake bite. After a dash to hospital, the grateful patient shyly tried to touch his saviour's golden halo. A brunette in the same circumstances might have earned profuse thanks, but it is unlikely she would have commanded the 28 goats offered to the blonde. On Blondes shows how every age has restyled blonde hair in its own image, investing it with its particular dreams and anxieties. The subject has taken Joanna Pitman down some unlikely paths ... for purposes of research, Joanna Pitman herself went electric Andy Warhol white at colossal expense and is horrified to report that it was money well spent. She was served first in shops and people smiled at her for no reason at all. 'After a while I wondered whether I could afford not to be blonde.' Travelling undercover, this brunette produced a book which, like its subject, is wonderfully enlightening’  —Allison Pearson, Daily Telegraph

'Pitman skillfully navigates the complicated history of our addiction to fair hair, skipping through the centuries with an elegant touch ... I have to confess that being brunette was a bore. I feel happier, younger, sexier and pleasantly light-headed with my highlights. Being blonde is not just a look, it's a whole way of life. This lady, at least, prefers to be blonde. I'm thankful to Joanna Pitman for explaining why' —Independent