Breaking Stereotypes Episode 2: The Blonde Stereotype in “Legally Blonde”

This is the second episode of the series “Breaking Stereotypes”. In this episode, the “Blonde stereotype” is addressed. In simple words, the “blonde stereotype” refers to how people think women with blonde hair are merely just beautiful, but useless and lack knowledge. They are regarded as women that are simple-minded, naive, and dumb. However this is false because people shouldn’t be judged based on their appearance such as hair color.

The blonde stereotype is being addressed in a timeless movie named “Legally Blonde” starring Reese Witherspoon as the main character named Elle Woods. She is blonde and this is literally the reason why her former boyfriend broke up with her. He thinks that blonde women are dumb and they lack knowledge; however, Elle proved her former boyfriend completely wrong by getting into a prestigious major in an Ivy League university named Harvard Law School.

Elle had always been dreaming of becoming a lawyer by getting into Harvard Law School, everyone thought it’s impossible for her to do it just because she was blonde. She worked extremely hard and had a 4.0 GPA, she finally got admitted into Harvard Law School with her intelligence which breaks the blonde stereotype

The highlight of the movie was when Elle Woods won a case in court, showing that she was capable of being a defense attorney on the spot in an actual court. She proved that she can stretch beyond her potentials and win a case, proving her former boyfriend wrong about the blonde stereotype. She delivers a speech at the end of the movie during her graduation, showing how successfully she handled her academic performance.

The Blonde stereotype still exists even in today’s society as people think blondes are dumb, this is known as “dumb blonde”. People shouldn’t judge a book by its cover; people shouldn’t judge a person by their appearance. Making assumptions about people’s capabilities solely basing on their appearance is incorrect. A person’s physical appearance does not reflect a person’s amount of knowledge, abilities and capabilities. The movie “Legally Blonde” successfully portrays a break in the blonde stereotype as Elle Woods, a blonde girl successfully attends the prestigious Harvard Law School with a high GPA of 4.0.