Apparently, Cavemen preferred blondes, too

[HeyLeroy]

Cavegirls were first blondes to have fun (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2087-2058688,00.html)

THE modern gentleman may prefer blondes. But new research has found that it was cavemen who were the first to be lured by flaxen locks.

According to the study, north European women evolved blonde hair and blue eyes at the end of the Ice Age to make them stand out from their rivals at a time of fierce competition for scarce males.

[TimmyBerry]

Why do I vaguely recall reading something along the lines of blonde-ness, coming from generations of too much fish in the diet? (Also, last 've heard, the beauty standard for females in western Russia was dark-haired.)

[Outhere]

As northern women became blond and blue-eyed so did the men. And whose sexual preference had the most influence, the man's or the woman's? An article with such a sexist slant must have been written by a bored writer on a slow news day.

[Soapy Sam]

Or one who had read too much Jean M.Auel.

[NeilC]

What's sexist about this - other than the fact that all sexual behaviour is of course sexist?

[NeilC]

Coincidentally, I just happened to be browsing the museum of hoaxes website and found this:

"The Disappearing Blonde Gene
Status: Hoax reported as news
Peter Frost has an article in the current issue of Evolution and Human Behavior in which he argues that the trait for blonde hair evolved 10,000 years ago in northern Europe because men found blonde women to be attractive--and because there were more women than men, the women had to compete for the men. (I'm simplifying his argument a lot.) But I'm not bringing this up to make a point about Frost's article. Instead, I'm bringing it up because the London Times discusses his article and concludes with this observation:

Film star blondes such as Marilyn Monroe, Brigitte Bardot, Sharon Stone and Scarlett Johansson are held up as ideals of feminine allure. However, the future of the blonde is uncertain. A study by the World Health Organisation found that natural blonds are likely to be extinct within 200 years because there are too few people carrying the blond gene. According to the WHO study, the last natural blond is likely to be born in Finland during 2202.

They're referring, of course, to the story of the WHO Blonde Report, which was revealed to be a hoax back in 2002. The gene for blonde hair is not actually disappearing, nor did the WHO ever sponsor such a study. Did the Times not realize it was a hoax, or did the reporter slip this in as a joke?"

Appears that the entire premise for the story was a hoax.