"When women get into television, they dye their hair blonde."
Something about TV and blondness, apparently. But what?
When I was a teenager in the 1960s, and there were no women newsreaders on TV or radio, a high school teacher explained to the class that women could not be hired for these positions because their high-pitched voices simply did not work properly in broadcasting. A male voice was — to use a contemporary employment law term — a bona fide occupational qualification. He said it with utmost seriousness and authority, like it was science, and though it made me feel angry and rebellious, I believed him. Something about the technical equipment, which is another thing only the males can handle.
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Women dye their hair blonde for television????
Looking around my workplace, I also see a high number of female blondes. Giving that the number of male blondes is much lower. Not to mention suspicious roots, I'd say that it is not just a TV phenomenon.
Having a man's voice does seem to help in handling technical equipment. That's just my experience - I can't explain it.
When Bill O'Reilly was asked in an email how the brunette Kimberly Guilfoyle has been hired he dryly replied:
"(Dennis) Miller is a brunette."
One Guilfoyle makes up for a lot of blondness.
News was a loss center then, proving PR seriousness.
Since the 70s it's been a profit center, which means they maximize audience, meaning soap opera women.
A woman's voice works fine there, as for instance for asking this or that celebrity if she's had her vagina tightened.
I like blondes. Brunettes, redheads and most shades in between on women. What's the controversy? Fox = bondes? Hahahaha. A better example would be the brunette (whose name escapes me) on The Five where they the directors place her front left so her long gams and cfm shoes are prominent. Hubba, hubba. Read me some news baby. But I'm a dirty old man...
You've probably told us, Althouse, but why did you dye your hair blonde?
Dont just dismiss your high school teacher's opinion. A very large percentage of women in radio smoke cigarettes and that affects the timbre of their voices. I'm quite sure Vicki McKenna smokes.
I'd even hazard a guess that a similar or even greater percentage of women in TV smoke to control their weight.
Mostly blonde. Almost always smart and competent. Ailes knows how to make money. Beauty and brains are a compelling combination.
First of all, while somewhat indicative, more women are naturally going to be blond than men. Maybe not a lot more, but one of the reasons that men like blonds is that they are less male and more child like, the later since hair tends to darken as we grow into adolescence. The child-like part of it triggers, a bit, the male protective urge.
That said, there are an awful lot of dyed blonds out there.
First story - in HS, the biggest minority were the Italians. We got the rich ones, who had stayed in the old neighborhood until they had made oodles of money. The type who give their daughters corvettes for graduation. A lot of the Italian girls were blond. Thought little of it, until graduation, when I noticed that so many of their brothers and other family members were dark haired and dark skinned. (Yes, we had lighter Italians too, but I am remembering all the dark skinned blonds with dark haired brothers). Hmm.
Then, there was a club in Vail that I used to hang around in a lot. And, one of the guys I hung out with commented that the two of us were the only natural blonds in the place. The joke was that all the women were blond, and we both had gray hair.
Interesting to me, women seem to be able to detect dyed blond hair at a distance, as they can fake tits. A lot of us guys, not so much.
I'm impressed with both Chuck Todd on MSNBC, and Bill Hemmer on Fox, both anchors on the morning shows. That's the only news stuff I watch on TV. To get what's really going on, you need to watch both simultaneously with the remote (another exclusively male TV skill).
Both those guys seem very polished and comfortable with what looks to me to be a tough hour of work. None of the ladies seem as together and relaxed as them.
I think that part of what happened is that we went to a 24 hour news cycle. Men still predominate at night with the news. Most of those blond news babes seem to work the day shift.
I also think that when you have maybe a half an hour to get all your news for the day, as it used to be, then it may be more important for the newscaster to be authoritative. But, we now have 24 hours a day for the news channels to fill, and so much of it is regurgitation. Also, daytime news, where you see a lot of (mostly blond) women is a more female audience. I think that it is the men who don't take female news people as seriously more than the women.
Still think that you are going to still see the guys getting the big stories, and being the major anchors (think perky Katie Couric and how she failed to see why).
My theory on why Greta is able to make it on Fox late night is that she is not your normal beautiful blond news babe. Her face is noticeably unsymmetrical, and she was a lawyer and legal analyst first. Which means that you tend to think of her as a decently good news person first, who just happens to be a woman, instead of the other way around. And, notice how she dresses - much more like a lawyer than for a cocktail party, with a crisp shirt and sport coat/blazer.
Derbyshire still working follow the links.
It's not rocket science. TV News Babes are hired because they are babes. Blondes are seductive. But more than that, Blondes attract the decision makers ( both the male and the female ones) at the Networks for in depth personal time together.
Bobby Petrino's new hire was a blonde that loved riding his hog. And she was also good at seduction which made her perfect for her job as Co-ordinator of recruit visits of athletes.
A brunette has to be twice as good at seduction as a blonde.
Roger Ailes is a mensch who specializes in learning about people and then giving them whatever they want so long as it is Not Boring Programing. And they told him they wanted blondes with hair like lion's manes in yellow colors.
What about that pioneering Internet concept the "Naked News"?
A noticeably more even distribution of hair colors among the newsreaders, and the "blondes" are mostly shaved.
Sorun said...
Having a man's voice does seem to help in handling technical equipment. That's just my experience - I can't explain it.
Women's recorded voices are used in 100% of two commercial applications.
- Voice mail, where a soothing female voice gets you through 10 levels of "push 1 for"
- emergency warnings. Think, "Stall, stall, " where a sort of nagging voice has traditionally been used to get pilots, (up till now male) to shake off the cobwebs and respond....
Interesting that he would suggest that J majors change them to something else. One thought might be to get law degrees. Probably his two highest profile women on FNC, Greta Van Susteren and Megyn Kelly, are former attorneys.
It's not just visual, most radio personalities are men too, at least on the conservative side, but the people who typically give the short news reports between shows are mostly female. I can't quite figure it out, but I know it's a conspiracy. Of that, I'm sure.
Comedy courtesy of WuzzaDem, FOX Babes Have More Fun
Laurie Dhue! What man does not miss that 6 ft beauty!
Blogger AJ Lynch said...
Laurie Dhue! What man does not miss that 6 ft beauty!
==================================
The Uber Fox blonde. What became of her?
Blonde hair is an excellent framing device for a woman's beauty. And anymore blonde hair is available to anyone. I think Beyonce looks better with blonde hair.....I think there's some kind of niche for homely women in journalism. Helen Thomas, Cindy Crawford, Christine Amanapour: The theory is that eyesores like them must be really smart, and you can really learn something by watching them.....To give a news organization credit for hiring dumpy women is like giving John Edwards credit for marrying a chunky wife. There's probably more to the story.
Most of them talk to fast and smile to brightly without any change in expression no matter what the subject is.
Van Susteren makes it because she is comfortable with being Greta van Susteren and pays attention to her subject matter. Highbrow thinking is not what she does, but she has sound instincts and can tell when something is off camber, and maybe one of you smartypants bigshots can explain to the audience just what is the matter. And if they can't and just go off about how complicated it all is, she will go rapid-fire falsetto on them.
Cindy Crawford ? Homely? You must have meant to type Andrea Mitchell.
Fortunately, she didn't get the memo
Lars asked an important question.
Laurie
I like having news in Spanish. Those stations always reliably have the hottest women. They compete for hotness. They're chosen for their norks bursting out of their clothes and their ability to dance on stilts. They dance. That's part of the news sometimes especially the morning. Dance in the morning.
Sometimes with Fox I think to myself, I cannot watch another moment until you see your colorist. *click*
women newsreaders
Why not "female" newsreaders? Would you say "men newsreaders"? I'm really curious about this. Is saying "female" suddenly antifeminist or something? I've noticed a lot of people doing this and it is truly mystifying to me.
In fact I feel like you've posted about this before, Althouse, but I can't find it now. Something about the phrase "woman driver", maybe.
Then Greta comes on. I think she's blond. She is Clutch Cargo's sister originally born a machine gun. She has a voice that is very good for silent movies. Listen to when she says the word "I." There are ten of them every time. It goes like this:
I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, don't think that's what she meant. I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, I, think she meant something else.
I lover her so but it's very hard on the ears.
Isn't it "bleach" their hair, not dye?
Anyway, I've got this whole crazy theory that blonde (and red) haired, blue-eyed women are more attractive because both are recessive genetic traits. A woman showing those traits would be more likely to pass on the male partner's genetic traits to their children.
It's similar to that idea that "pretty" female faces can be made by combining thousands of female faces to get the "average".
Most of Americans get their news from likes of John Stewart's Daily Show. So I'm not sympathetic to "critics" whining about blondes on FOX.
This was supposed to be another line of attack in the Democrats War on Women, yes? Maybe these "critics" didn't get the memo.
Actually the babeage factor is higher on FBN than FNC; Cavuto seeming to snag more good-looking women per square acre than Ailes - Cheryl Casone, Tracy Byrnes, Melissa Francis, and, of course, Liz MacDonald who's got that Naughty Profess..., oops.
But, yeah, Ailes made sure most of them are pretty credible. MacCallum's a ditz, but Kelly's one of the toughest interviews around.
Ann Althouse said...
When I was a teenager in the 1960s, and there were no women newsreaders on TV or radio
You must have moved out of the Philadelphia coverage area before the early 60sand Marciarose, who started there doing the noon news and stuff.
With Tom Snyder!
rhhardin said...
Derbyshire still working follow the links.
Taki's never going to fire him, rh.
AJ Lynch said...
Laurie Dhue! What man does not miss that 6 ft beauty!
So true.
And, even better, she kicked the bottle.
Laurie Dhue! What man does not miss that 6 ft beauty!
Its the lips. When she would come on, I didn't hear a thing she said. I just watched her lips.
Seriously, every now and then you run across a woman with the perfect ____ . And its not always dirty. It can be eyes, legs, hair, hands, etc.
Laurie Dhue has the most beatuiful lips I've ever seen on a woman.
Mr Ailes,
FOX is wandering. I wish you would get them back on track.
The Martin/Zimmerman reporting was atrocious. We rely on you to give us the news that the MSM is hiding. And yet there you guys are, using the same pic of Trayvan as a 12 year old, feeding their narrative. You were also 3-4 days behind the story.
Park ONE guy in front of a computer and have him watch Instapundit. Its the Gateway Site to all the news stories the MSM won't run. You'd get enough material to fill half your week.
Also, less fluff please. I'm very weary of Greta's Chandra/Lacy/Natalie underwear sniffing rubberneck. When young women are kidnapped, we don't need to see comely pics of them or hear speculation about whats happening to them sexually. Its creepy and sick. Like you're playing to a BTK fetish audience.
Also less innane chatter. I'm beginning to finally tolerate "soft" news shows like The Five and RedEye. But waayyy to much time wasted on nonsensical chatter. I guess they are trying to be funny? Fine. Make your jokes and move on, keep them short.
Anyways, I found FOX during the Florida 2000 fallout. I depended on you for the "other" side of the story that the Legay Media wouldn't provide.
Stay true to that. Or waste away into another ABCNBCMSNBCCBS clone. Because viewers like me already have one foot out the door.
[...] women newsreaders [...]
Can someone please explain the adjectival "woman/women" to me? The adjective used to describe a man is "male," and when a speaker or writer thinks it necessary to clarify the sex of a man working in a mostly-female profession, that's the word everyone uses. I have never heard or seen anyone described as a "man nurse" or a "man secretary."
But "woman writer," "woman scientist," "woman construction worker" ... always, always.
What's wrong with "female," people? You have a perfectly good adjective right there. Use it.
Interesting to me, women seem to be able to detect dyed blond hair at a distance, as they can fake tits. A lot of us guys, not so much.
Its not that we men don't notice, its just that we don't care. If it looks good, then its good. Just like lipstick, makeup and eyeliner, no difference at all as far as we are concerned. Its all good. Funny thing in my case of all the woman I have had truly serious relationships with only one could look good as a blond.
Chip- yes Spanish language news is the best for hot babes. Someday, I may take the time to learna little Spanish so I know what they are saying!
Maybe the dichotomy between woman/female is to keep old men out of trouble. You hit 40 and the 16-25 year old crowds start to blend together? Someone ask John Edwards.
Okay, seriously... I think its due to the diversity reflex. For example, your plumber (a profession dominated by men) is female. So say you're talking to your spose about calling the plumber to come out and fix something. You can describe her as either a "female plumber" or "woman plumber". I think both choices pop up in our brains and that most of us choose "woman" because we are still conscious of feminist warnings about policewoman, etc.
have never heard or seen anyone described as a "man nurse" or a "man secretary."
Policeman. Fireman. Craftsman. Businessman. Fisherman. Congressman. Salesman. Middleman. Marksman. Helmsman. Doorman.
But Fen, in those cases (policewoman, fireman), the word is part of a noun.
"You've probably told us, Althouse, but why did you dye your hair blonde?"
The natural color is too hard to maintain with the amount of white that took over. It's a question of the roots growing in. I much prefer my natural color, but it is not available to me anymore. My hair looks very light but the truth is: I go in every month to have my roots darkened and every once in a while I have lowlights (not highlights) added.
I think all white might look cool, but it wouldn't be easy to make the transition, and I think I would look a lot older.
For me, the blonde is very easy to do, very easy to maintain, and I like it well enough.
"Roger Ailes answers critics who say the women he puts on Fox News are mostly blonde."
He would definitely be guilty of sexual harassment if he insists on knowing if they are "mostly blonde" or totally blonde.
Our instinct is to say "lady," but most of us have learned that that will get us a lecture, so we back off to woman, but are still reluctant to say female, since that connotes to a creature you take to the vet to be spayed.
But Fen, in those cases (policewoman, fireman), the word is part of a noun
Right, but my point (which I admit I'm having trouble verbalizing) is that we don't create titles for females, we convert them from the male form.
So when you get in the habit of translating into policewoman, saleswoman, congresswoman... you inadvertently start using "woman" as the default (instead of female). So when its time to convert words for the other sex, you reach for woman instead of female, even though you end up sounding clumsy and awkward with "woman pilot".
Again, this is just my opinion based on how my own brain works... and we all know I'm wired a bit er off.
"You must have moved out of the Philadelphia coverage area before the early 60sand Marciarose, who started there doing the noon news and stuff."
This was at Wayne Valley Sr. High School in Wayne, NJ. We were in the NYC area.
Yes, but at least Fox hires women. I dare say you would find as many brunettes, red headset, let alone blonds near the oval office.
The lingo has changed to gender-neutral for many of those:
Police officer. Firefighter. Businessperson. Congressperson. Salesperson or sales rep. Middleman = gobetween. Craftsman = Artisan.
It hasn't caught. Some of it sounds as clumsy as "female pilot". And I think people still want more information than "person". For instance - I'm a chameleon in public, so I prefer to know a few moments ahead of time if I'll interacting with a male or female so I can adjust accordingly.
M.A. I dare say you would find as many brunettes, red headset, let alone blonds near the oval office.
Yes, where *is* Bill Clinton holding court these days?
Really audacious to launch a GOP Hates Women campaign with Bill Clinton still in the house.
"Put some ice on that baby"
Fen, I can't say about some of the others, but I do believe somebody has something on O'Really that's made him pull in his horns. Hannity seemed to go in his usual full bore mode on the Zimmerman thing.
Ann Althouse said...
You must have moved out of the Philadelphia coverage area before the early 60sand Marciarose, who started there doing the noon news and stuff.
This was at Wayne Valley Sr. High School in Wayne, NJ. We were in the NYC area.
I realized you were in the NY area during your teen years, just unaware when you made the jump.
You've probably told us, Althouse, but why did you dye your hair blonde?
The natural color is too hard to maintain with the amount of white that took over.
Hah! The Blonde had dyed her hair for so long when the white (silver, really) came in, she just let it go because it looked like the normal color she'd been using forever.
WV "meadyinf" The recipe for the sweet potato biscuits.
Shannon Bream was fired from her first TV job in Tampa because her voice was too high pitched.
Former Tampa TV reporter finds new life at Fox News
"I didn't have any journalism training but I wanted to learn so I made coffee; I clipped newspapers; I did filing and all the other beginner tasks just to be in the newsroom," she said in a recent telephone interview.
Just as she was given a chance to do some on-air reporting, the station had a shake-up in management.
"I hadn't even been there a year when there was a new news director who told me I was terrible," she says. "He said my voice was too high. And I should have never given up being an attorney."
Since Ann is posting I guess the Tax Day rally is over?
I do believe somebody has something on O'Really that's made him pull in his horns
Its really time for him to go. He was great when he started, now he's a blowhard. And its all about him.
I know what you mean too. We call it "pulling an O'Reilly", ie. throwing a conservative POV under the bus so you can bolster your cred as a "moderate".
First time I saw him do this was with the SwiftBoat story. If I wanted media spin and misrepresentations, I'd flip over to CNN.
Reminds me when I was watching a local ABC newscast:
Anchor: "And now for our latest on the Swiftboat story. Molly?
Molly: Yes, John. The Swiftboat vets have been discredited.
[viewer leans in]
Anchor: Discredited. Okay. And now for your local weather..
/no shit, thats the way it actually went down. I was laughing all night
I'm Ann's age and am hanging on to the blond too, for the same reasons. Transition is a bitch. And when you let it go white, people have this annoying tendency to think something Terrible is going on that aged you so fast! Also I'd hate to have that severe, short gray hair that liberal women seem to favor so much.
Besides, as long as one is still trying to work it's worth it to put on the appearance of someone younger, or at least someone who is still trying.
So, many reasons....But I definitely believe in retaining professional help. No more Nice 'n' Easy for me.
One Saturday I was watching F & F weekend when it occurred to me that all three hosts were Black. Julian, Lauren Green and Kelly Wright. It just hit me, though I didn't think of it when I first saw them sign in. That's the way Fox is. It's just people.
Since then, the first two have been moved out and I sincerely regret it. I thought FNC did a great job hiring minorities but lately, not so much. The whole blonde thing. Well, it's more a GOOD LOOKING thing, considering THE FIVE.
Heard Sarah Palin speak live recently- her voice is richer than what comes across on t.v. An interesting essay is Anne Carson's "The Gender of Sound." McLuhan said radio was hot. I wonder if he meant a certain style of maleness.
Fen,
Policeman. Fireman. Craftsman. Businessman. Fisherman. Congressman. Salesman. Middleman. Marksman. Helmsman. Doorman.
But not "man" in front of the name of a profession, functioning as an adjectival descriptor. I'm wondering why it is "male ________," but "woman ______", when the obvious counterpart to "male" is "female," and how "woman" (but not "man") came to be used in this way.
It's not all that new, either. I just found an instance in a book written in 1963. So I think it predates "diversity-speak."
wv: ropiing charew.
So I think it predates "diversity-speak."
I prefer PCBS (Politically Correct BullShit). Only 4 syllables.
I see what you mean about the other, but I'm out of ideas. Maybe we can get Ann to ask Amanda Marcotte and Jessica Valenti to weigh in on this. That would be entertaining.
Especially if Valenti dons her Monica costume again. Mmmmm. Push that rack out, baby! You've come a long way.
Hagar,
Our instinct is to say "lady," but most of us have learned that that will get us a lecture, so we back off to woman, but are still reluctant to say female, since that connotes to a creature you take to the vet to be spayed.
No, the creature you take to the vet to be spayed would be a "bitch." Or else a "queen," of course. (I do not know the generic name for a female ferret, I'm afraid.)
There may be something to this.
There is a woman who calls NFL games on TV and I just cannot watch the game if she is announcing.
Don't know why, but it just doesn't "sound" like football.
William you forgot Rachel Maddow. Now there's a scary looking woman!
As far as I know there is only one way tell if the lady is a real blonde--but being the gentleman that I am I wont go there.
Laura Ingraham says she dyes her roots dark but she's joking.
Some feminist in the 70s confessed that one longs for a male voice after a while in all woman meetings.
I wonder if was only pitch she was noticing, or maybe content figured in.
Who has issues with the FOX blonds? Is there somebody trying to build a descrimination suit against FOX, methink?
If there is a dumb blond on TV it's Chris Mattews
What's wrong with getting the news from an attractive person? Male anchors are generally good looking too.
I hated being a blonde. Maybe it's a "grass is greener" thing.
My sister's hair was very light, called a platinum blonde back in those days. Mine had more a more golden hue.
Both of dyed our hair as soon as we left home. We looked horrible as brunettes and both finally decided on shades of red.
But I totally understand what Ann means about the gray. When the gray appeared, I started dying my hair closer to it's original natural color. Blondes don't 'go gray' gracefully -- we often end up with sort of a sickly, dirty-looking yellowish gray. At least the blondes in my family do.
"...reluctant to say female, since that connotes to a creature you take to the vet to be spayed.
No, the creature you take to the vet to be spayed would be a "bitch."
Already taken. For lawyers.
Fen said...
Mr Ailes,
FOX is wandering. I wish you would get them back on track.
The Martin/Zimmerman reporting was atrocious.
Fen,
be glad you didn't see the HLN coverage led by Nancy Grace.
She was an over the top emotional, weeping, hysterical boob when she had Martin's parents on. She made Prosecutor Corey seem calm and rational.
It was awful television...
Women on television have far deeper voices than the average woman. In fact, one of the reasons that Sarah Palin gets mocked as a leader is her feminine voice.
This prejudice hits men, too, by the way. Romney has a manly voice. Newt Gingrich does not.
"He said it with utmost seriousness and authority, like it was science, and though it made me feel angry and rebellious, I believed him. Something about the technical equipment, which is another thing only the males can handle. "
Eh, he probably believed what he was saying too.
I don't know how many men feel this way, so I am not sure if I would be surprised by how many or how few have had this thought: Men created all of these things like radio and TV and so it stands to reason that men understand the science behind them better than women and so are better equipped to know the parameters of the technology. I suspect that normal men and women are a lot more like each other than either of them are like the kinds of men who thought up sending sound and moving images by radio waves through the aether.
"To get what's really going on, you need to watch both simultaneously with the remote (another exclusively male TV skill)." - bagoh20
They need to make a tv remote with a robotic thumb that you have to successfully wrestle to change the channel.
It's really very simple. Blonde hair makes a woman look younger. Who could fail to learn this lesson after seeing the years fall off Sigourney Weaver in Galaxy Quest?
I imagine this is because so many youths have blonde hair that changes color in adolescence.
I once allowed my hair to go back to its natural color. Everyone told me that it looked better blonde. They were silly, I thought.
Then I saw a picture of myself from a couple years before when I'd had it blonde.
Those silly people were correct.
My hair has been blonde ever since.
Most of us naturally non-blondes don't have beautiful chestnut locks, gorgeous fiery tresses, or luscious ebony manes. Most of us have hair the color of mouse fur. It is easier to go from mouse fur to blonde than mouse fur to one of the others, so blonde it is.
With utmost sincerity, "with utmost seriousness and authority, like it was science, and though it made me feel..., I believed" is one of the keenest insights I should hope a teacher has.
Teacher here being defined not as a job title but an attitude infused with the love of learning, and a love of inspiring the sharing of learning, in hopes of altruistic advancement, based in the gratitude hindsight affords all who abound in it.
Like Justice Thomas
Bravo!
We've had stereo TV for ages. If newsrooms are still using excessive compression on sound, or microphones tuned for male voices instead of for the full dynamic range, they are being penny wise and pound foolish.
Though perhaps not blondeness, being easy on the eyes appears is becoming a BFOQ for (R) politics as well.
I can't beleive that in a thread about hot-blonde-right-wing women that nobody has said anything yet about the communication director for Scott Walker's campaign staff.
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