What`s with the bleached blonde look?

Those of you familiar with my posts likely noticed that I prefer natural hair to chemically altered (dyed, bleached, permed) hair. I`m not going to discuss the entire issue,
but would like to know why one aspect of this is so
popular. Perms, fortunately, seem to have gone out in
the late 80s or early 90s, but something else has reared
its very popular head: very many women I see like to
bleach their hair this one standard pale yellow, almost
fluorescent blonde. In nature, a similar color occurs, especially in Scandinavia and Holland, but it is not common, and is just different from the bleached color: it looks natural, whereas the bleaching usually does not. The color looks rather trashy, and spoils the natural beauty of the hair. I saw Sharon Case (who plays Sharon Collins/Newman on The Young and the Restless) the other day. She used to have such nice, natural (or at least natural looking) brownish-blonde hair, yet for some reason, she`s now gone to the ubiquitous pale-blonde look. Why would she do that? Now she looks like her hair was done in a womens`jail beauty parlor. :) Of course, her roots have grown out. This is something I very often see - bleached blondes with long intervals between bleachings, which is ironiv. On one hand, the roots make the whole look messy. On the other hand, the rare bleaching at least reduces the chance of your hair falling out during the process (read the hair bloopers board -
it happens) or that you`ll have thinner hair later on. So
I just want to know why this exact color of hair is so popular(not to mention the 2-color look where about half your hair is its natural color, the rest bleached yellowy).

Is it to attract men? If so, then you should know something: surveys suggest that men don`t like unnatural looking hair and that while many prefer blondes, a bit more prefer brunettes, and others prefer other colors. There shouldn`t be an "ideal" color of hair - what color looks nice on hair seems one of of the most subjective aspects of beauty. I admit my favorite color of hair is a sort of auburn blonde (very rare in nature), but I am not looking for it anywhere - I love all shades of blonde and brown (including ash-colored "mousy" hair - I think it`s nice) and like red hair too, and black hair can also be nice, as long as it`s you. I really have no clue what color hair will be my wife`s. Her natural color will likely not be much of an issue. Your hair is naturally colored to complement your skin and eyes. Those with dark hair easily ruin it by bleaching, such as Jennifer Lopez. Oh - and don`t you think guys should like you for who you really are? If I met 2 gorgeous twins, who were identical except that one naturally had the most boring color of hair, the other had dyed it in the most attractive color, I`d choose the first twin!

The thing about hair is that it has natural highlight, which are difficult or impossible to recreate. Since we are expanding the issue, I might mention that I have an expecial problem with highlights/streaks, another popular thing these days. I first noticed this problem about 3 years ago. A close friend (we were about 18)
was really a simple person. I was stunned to find out that she put highlights in her hair (which is naturally ash
blond, like mine. We kinda look similar, as if we were
related). I couldn`t believe that such a smart, fulfilled girl
as her, who I`m sure had turned heads of guys for just being herself, had accepted this conformist fad, because she was really good enough as herself, and looked like she had better things to worry about, and on which to spend her money. Bold highlights (streaks) irk me, because they break up the natural color of the hair, whereas "natural" highlights irk me because a) they really don`t look natural - they`re glossy and often obvious b) they are sometimes well-done, leading to confusion as to who is naturally highlighted and who isn`t c) they create the impression that the hairstylist "needs" to "touch up" your hair`s color, that highlights are as normal as shampoo, and should be part of a hair salon`s standard procedure. In essence, it creates a society of phoney people, who spend big money on a useless service - highlights are VERY expensive. Of course, highlights are better than a complete dye job since they are healthier - much less of the scalp is damaged.
But of course, hairstylists don`t care, so long as they earn money. It`s sad that there seems to be no chance for employment in Hollywood for a woman who insists
on keeping her ash-colored hair color, but there is ample opportunity for those who look like they have sprayed strands of their hair with copper spraypaint!

Demodoll, what is it that makes you want to dye your hair? What color is it naturally? Dyed? Do you have any desire to go back to your natural shade? You can any time, yaknow. It`ll make you stand out from the crowd, and you`ll save money.