Women's hair color. It doesn't pay to be average

Gene expression has run a second post on blonde preference. This time the analysis is based on the front covers of Maxim magazine, whose readership is 27.5 years old on average and thus provides a better guide of what young men prefer (Playboy’s readership is 32.5 on average).

The post makes two points:

1) After increasing from the mid-1960s to about the year 2000, preference for blonde women seems to have levelled off over the past 11 years.

2) In comparison to the white American population, there is an overrepresentation of women with either blonde or dark brunette hair on the front covers of Maxim. Women with intermediate hair shades are underrepresented.

The second finding is interesting because it bears out the frequency-dependent nature of hair-color preference. Men seem to have a stronger preference for less common shades.