Synopses & Reviews
In Blonde Like Me, Natalia Ilyin twists personal experience with cultural criticism to show us the essential difference between having blonde hair and being a blonde. Citing ancient myths, fairy tales, Hollywood iconography, and the daily assault of advertising, Ilyin shows us that our very modern fixation has very ancient roots.
When a woman decides to go blonde -- or just add some highlights -- she is deciding to stand for something, but what? In answer, Ilyin traces the power of blonde back to its primeval goddess origins: the sun blonde, the moon blonde, and the innocent blonde. She offers shrewd and often hilarious explanations of how they evolved into The Apollo Blonde, The Trophy Blonde, and The Ironic Blonde, along with many others. Using examples ranging from Princess Diana to Gloria Steinem, from Martha Stewart to Farah Fawcett, Ilyin shows us how a woman somehow always picks the shade that brings out the blonde inside of her.
With bull's-eye wit and probing intelligence, Natalia Ilyin reveals the underlying dreams and fantasies that explain why the allure of being a blonde has crossed the boundaries of ethnicity, economics, and age. She shows us that blonde is a hair color, but a blonde is a symbol.
Review
Ilene Beckerman author of What We Do for Love and Love, Loss, and What I Wore Natalia Ilyin forever puts to rest the theory of the "dumb blonde." This very witty, very wise book reads as if Mae West, RuPaul, Princess Diana, Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, and I all had Freud on the couch and were trying to explain to him why he should "lighten up."
Review
Bruce Jay Friedman Funny -- and helpful to those of us who have spent much of our lives trying to puzzle out the insufferable appeal of blondes.
Review
M. G. Lord author of Forever Barbie Natalia Ilyin takes a premise as wispy as a strand of baby blonde hair and weaves it into a surprisingly rich and entertaining tapestry.
Review
Judith Viorst author of Imperfect Control and Necessary Losses Mix one part Robert Graves, one part Fran Lebowitz, and one part peroxide, and you get this scholarly, slyly funny, and deliciously readable exploration of the ultimate, and not-so-ultimate, meaning of blondeness.
Synopsis
In this irreverent, unsparing, and witty look at our cultural obsession with blonde, Natalia Ilyin shows us that our apparently modern fixation has truly primeval roots. Highlighting cultural criticism with personal experience, she cites ancient myths, Hollywood iconography, and the daily assault of advertising to reveal why the allure of being a blonde has crossed the boundaries of ethnicity, economics, and age. In essence, she shows us the difference between simply having blonde hair and being a blonde.
About the Author
Natalia Ilyin has taught courses in American mythic images at Cooper Union and Yale University. She lives in New York City.
Table of Contents
ContentsIntroduction
The Drugstore Goddess
In which we are seized by a longing for peroxide, and get locked in the dress-up box.
Innocent Blonde
In which we meet The Algerian, wander about in flowery fields, and find our first blonde.
Oh, That Strawberry Roan
In which we are introduced to a blonde horse who leads us to some early conclusions.
The Semi-Dior Pivot
In which we review our sensitive adolescence and apply gaffer's tape, while Persephone picks a flower.
I, Defiler
In which we get terribly confused and are thrown out of a very small room.
Sun Blonde
In which we meet Rita and find ourselves in a tight spot at a banquet.
Farrah and the Song Girls
In which we remember California, and touch upon the significance of pigs.
Apollo in Drag
In which we are compared to Miss Rhode Island, wonder about tape measures, and meet a new Sun Blonde.
The Armpiece Years
In which we descend a crag and give advice.
The Dark Side of Blonde
In which people jump out of darkrooms, a colorist gets shot, and we think about light and dark.
Moon Blonde
In which we wish for Mace.
Ironic Blonde
In which we are invited to a party and a famous person disagrees with us.
Jung for Home Use
In which the blondes return to the familial table.
Old Blonde
In which we ponder crones.
Fair Fame and the Goat Lady
In which we begin our tale just as the book is ending.
Reading Group Guide
Touchstone Reading Group Guide Blonde Like Me
Discussion Questions
1. Blonde Like Me appears to be a book about hair color. But it is really a book about identity. What are we trying to tell the world when we go blonde? Why do so many women choose to go blonde? What are you trying to tell the world when you cut, curl, perm, color, or grow your hair?
2. Fashion is a system of signs. We signal what we are thinking of ourselves and others by what we wear. Quick takes: say what high heels mean, what black leather means, what white lace means, what flat shoes mean. Why do these articles of clothing mean anything? Ask each person in the room to describe what she or he is wearing. Do you all agree? Is that person sending the signals that he wants to send? Is she aware of what she is saying with her clothes?
3. Changing your hair, wearing makeup, even picking out certain kinds of clothing can be a form of self-expression, but can also be a kind of mask. Think about some of the masks you have worn. Did you put them on voluntarily? Were you trying to conform to a cultural standard? Were you trying to avoid something unpleasant?
4. If a woman is trying to tell the world something through her hair color, makeup (or lack of it), and clothing, what might she also be trying to tell herself? Can changing the outer you also change the inner you? If the world treats you differently, do you become...different?
5. On a lighter note, Natalia Ilyin points out that there are different kinds of blondes as well as subsets of those blondes. The possibilities here are endless. What are the distinguishing features of an East-Side-of-Manhattan blonde? A Connecticut blonde? A Texas blonde? A corn-fed Midwest blonde? A Santa Barbara blonde? How are they different? Think of the blondes you know and start making up classifications for them. Then think about why you are classifying them that way!