On Wed, 17 Nov 1999, Charles M. Huffman wrote:
> Tasha Howe wrote:
>
> <A student in intro psych. asked the question and I had no
> <idea why most blondes' hair turns brown, do you?
>
> I am skeptical about the claim. Possibly, your student is refering to
> limited observations and you now have the opportunity to teach the student
> about the danger or restrictions of such thinking. In other words, you may
> not receive an answer to your question because there is none.
>
For whatever anecdotal evidence is worth, my wife and I were both blondes
as young children (through age 7 or 8), and we both sport brown hair now.
As far as I know, there was no bleaching of my hair by my parents while I
was sleeping, and I know that I don't dye it now, so the effect seems
legitimate. Although I have no idea why it happens, I suspect there's a
genetic component, as pictures of my (naturally brown-haired) mother also
show her with very light blonde hair as a child.
Jeff
BTW, being a blond-haired, blue-eyed child proved to be very
disadvantageous while visiting places where such things are anomolies. I
recall a visit to Turkey when I was about 6, and my cheeks were red from
all of the pinching they got from locals. People on the street would just
stop and stare--sometimes approaching our family to touch my head or
pinch my cheeks. A waiter cut my food up in a restaurant. A young lady
gave me a honeysuckle (or some other nice-smelling flower) necklace for
no apparent reason. Not the kind of attention 6-year-olds savor.
================================================ ____________________
Jeff Bartel Grad Student in Social Psyc | Manhattan >
[EMAIL PROTECTED] Dept of Psychology | x \_
www-personal.ksu.edu/~jbartel Kansas State U. | |
Syllabi page for psychology instructors: | |
www-personal.ksu.edu/~jbartel/syllabi.html | KANSAS |
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