Her Book About Her RFK Jr. Affair Was Always Going to Be Self-Serving. It's So Much Worse Than That.

"Are blond white women OK? I am, notoriously, brunette, but even I have started to notice that blond white women are in such varied states of disarray. This summer, Sydney Sweeney seemed to tank her career (and then doubled down) with a poorly placed denim ad that was, incredibly, about white supremacy. Meanwhile, Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, can't get her boss to stop talking about her hot, thin mouth while she ignores her nephew's mother's deportation."

"Nuzzi is fixated on blondness, her own and others', throughout American Canto. She writes about Marilyn Monroe and Britney Spears and Pamela Anderson, and wonders where her self-incrimination fits in as another blond woman misunderstood by our culture. She talks about her own looks at length, remarking on which public figures admired her features, while also saying she defied the odds to make it in journalism."

"especially considering she's a conventionally attractive white woman (she keeps reminding us!) who went to a good school and became a nationally successful political journalist with name recognition in and out of Washington by her mid-20s. Her deep reflections into blondness extend even to the president. "If you do not count strawberry blondes or dirty blonde (a stretch, but I could make an argument), and if you do not count Gerald Ford (easier), Donald Trump is the first blonde president,""

Blond white women in public life are portrayed as occupying contradictory positions of privilege and vulnerability. Incidents cited include a controversial denim ad tied to white supremacy, a press secretary whose appearance draws more attention than immigration actions, and a journalist whose memoir centers on blondness and personal relationships. The journalist repeatedly reflects on blondness through references to Marilyn Monroe, Britney Spears, and Pamela Anderson while framing her own attractiveness as an obstacle overcome. Claims of having defied odds clash with evident advantages like education, conventional beauty, and early career success. Blondness is analyzed as a pervasive lens shaping cultural perception and political narratives.

Read at Slate Magazine