Blonde Like Me The Roots of the Blonde Myth in Our Culture

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 beinga blonde.

Natalia Ilyin has taught courses in American mythic images at Cooper Union and Yale University. She lives in New York City.