| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. |
A Practical and Authoritative Guide to Contemporary English. 1996.
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5. Gender: Sexist Language and Assumptions
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| § 2. blond / brunet |
| Terms that came into English from French to designate hair color, such as the pairs blonde/blond and brunette/brunet, are sometimes treated in English as in French: the gender-marked form of the adjective or noun, ending in -e or -te, is used when referring to a female, and the non-gender-marked form is used when referring to a male. However, this has not always been the case. In fact, the history of these terms shows a mixed usage. As early as 1481 the adjective blounde was used of men’s hair, and in 1683 Prince George of Denmark was described as being blonde. In 1860 George Eliot wrote of “the blond girl,” and in the 1930s James Thurber wrote, “He was a quiet, amiable blonde youth.” And there are numerous citations in modern prose of blond referring to females. | 1 |
| Recently, the usage of blond or brunet to refer to members of either sex has become more widespread among writers. This trend makes sense when you consider other French-derived words that have more recently come into wide usage in English and can refer to either males or females: entrepreneur, gourmand, restaurateur. The obvious discrepancies in usage between words such as blond/blonde, which have tended to be gender-marked in English, and words such as entrepreneur and gourmand, which have not, suggests to some that the usage has at its base a sexist stereotype: that women are primarily defined by their physical characteristics. | 2 |
| Furthermore, you still see both blonde and brunette used with some frequency as nouns to refer to females, while blond and brunet do not have a history of this usage when referring to males. When you read about a blond (or a blonde) entering the room, you automatically assume it is a woman. In other words, it is easier for speakers of English to equate a woman with her hair color than to do the same to a man. | 3 |
| If you agree that these usages are sexist, you should use the adjectival forms blond and brunet to modify the noun hair or one of its synonyms (a woman with blond hair, not a blond woman). You should also avoid noun usages of these terms. | 4 |
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| The American Heritage® Book of English Usage. Copyright © 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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