Brown haired white kids never in photos

[StevieChicks]

Just that really.
Seen the new school prospectus. Beautiful blond children everywhere, front cover and throughout, a few mixed race children, fewer black and Asian students (because racism) but without a doubt the least photographed children are kids like mine. Children with naturally brown, mousey or dark brown hair.
It's not the same as racism and I would not for a second think that this trivial matter is in any way similar to other discourses around representation. And maybe I have a chip on my shoulder from the eighties when I was never a Disney princess and had to be the evil witch. It doesn't feel like much has changed.
My son's hair is thick and dark brown/ black. He has very pale skin. I just don't see this as the desired aesthetic. The world still goes mad for blonde children.

There is a photogenic bias which for the subject may just have the luck of the genetic draw, e.g good facial features, bone structure, eye colour, swishy hair, athletic build etc.

Take a look at mainstream movies, TV etc at the casting for the heroes & sometimes villains, you will find a disproportionate number of people with blue or green eyes with skin & hair colour secondary/discretionary.

Recently mass media & commercials have featured a disproportionate number of people of mixed race &/or ethic variation. This works because consumers like to buy that lifestyle or that representation of society. Should this no longer ‘sell’ the ideas, goods &/or services, then the format will adapt to what consumers prefer & that may be something entirely new. Nothing is fixed.

I've never heard anyone question a blonde person if they have a soul.

Well said!

Every picture on the website of my DS’s high school is a white kit with brown hair 😂

In our school it's the nepo babies that are featured in every PR exercise. My stunningly beautiful blonde, blue eyed dc has never, ever been on any of these photos or videos. Nepo baby in dc's class on the other hand is featured all the time. Harumph.

As a (very!) blonde person I have spent a lot of my life having the piss taken out of me for my hair. Not so much now as an adult, although called a ‘dumb blonde’ a lot in my twenties, bullied for it as a teen.
It’s nothing compared to what red heads get though I know

I just checked out my old school and there is a mix of hair colours in all pictures. What there aren't, are photos of non-white children, but the school is in an area where there are few non-white people living, so I think it is probably more a representation of the school as it actually is rather than a deliberate oversight.

I've just looked at my closest two schools - both have far more dark haired white children than blonde haired.

I suspect this is a personal bias, or an issue with your specific school.

All pale skinned with brown or blonde hair. Roughly 50/50. No obvious ginger hair at all.

Thick, dark hair for a male is a desired aesthetic though isn't it? That's where the phrase "tall, dark and handsome" comes from. It's a cliche but it's true that this is widely considered to be attractive. I know you're talking about children not adults, but I think it also applies to boys.

At our local school it is the kids whose parents are PTA or governors. It’s the same with the kids chosen each year to play lead roles in school shows. Always the same kiddies

The Catholic schools I know (in London) have a high proportion of Irish, Southern Europe, South American, and African families due to the geopolitical history of Catholicism. So a lot of brown haired kids. There was only one blond child in our daughter's class.

Taking photos of children for the prospectus to avoid brown hair would have been really hard.

I have a fair haired daughter and a dark haired daughter. The amount of fuss blonde kids get for their hair is silly. They subsequently sometimes struggle when they get older and it turns brown. I know 3 girls who really hated it when their hair darkened at puberty and begged for bleach. My fair daughter got loads of fuss and was told she was beautiful by complete strangers when she was small. No one has ever said that about my dark haired daughter and she is stunning.

YABU, all dark-haired kids in ours! It's random. Honestly, staff haven't got time. I think you're overthinking it tbh. If anything they're so careful now to be inclusive of all cultures. It isn't the 90s.

Same. I remember being cast as a troll and a skeleton 🙄 but never anything nice or girly. Never an angel, or fairy.

There is definitely a bias and always has been.

Just looked at my kids school website. Just the front page... Filipino girl hair tied back, below that white, light brown hair boy blue eyes, below that red haired boy, green eyes, below that black girl with braids, below that white, dark brown hair boy with brown eyes. That's just scrolling down the front page!

If we overlook the fact that every parent believes their children to be the most beautiful so your endorsement of your stunning children can't be taken as fact, what on earth is a "nepo baby" in the context of a primary school?! Are you referring to the children of teachers or governors? IF this is in fact the case, it probably has a lot more to do with the fact that a parent is much more likely to be able to get a child to act relaxed and happy in a photo than "just" a teacher or other staff member, but why on earth would this be a problem for you? You do know that your beautiful children wouldn't be adding the pictures taken for a school prospectus to their modelling portfolio or writing on their CV, "Chosen to be photographed for the landing page on my school website, painting a scale model of an Iron Age roundhouse," don't you?

My sister is super pale with very dark brown hair and was on the front cover of her school’s prospectus. I think it’s just a case of who your kid’s school happened to photograph on the day.

Anecdata, but my very pale, dark brown haired dd has ended up prominently featured on the glossy pages of more than one printed school prospectus.

how? They are likely to capture her in stem based activities (look here, a girl with science equipment, isn’t it great) and it doesn’t hurt that she has striking eyes.

what I find hilarious is how the brochure for our nursery did not look anything like the school. It was far more diverse than the actual areas demographics.

Ah, but on the day one of them was sick. Class got to vote for a replacement and it was I who ended up with the bedsheet and tinsel halo 😇 🤣

X-post, are you my Mum

Didn’t you fancy being Snow White?
My family fit what you are describing and I can honestly say I’ve never felt that way in terms of representation.

I've just looked at the prospectuses (prospectii?!) and/or website for 3 localish primaries, 2 comps, 2 grammars and one private. All have a mixture of all (very few redheads though!). I've always been mousy/dark and was definitely in the school brochure for secondary (can't remember primary). I don't really recognise that blonde is more beautiful though, never have, plus was more of a climb trees and play in the mud type than Disney princess. I'm afraid I think this stands out to you in brochures etc due to the chip you mentioned.

Am I correct @StevieChicks in thinking this is a school your dc is already attending? If dc is bothered then I might raise it as something to consider when they produce the next one but I probably wouldn't tbh.

Just looked at my youngest's school website. No bias at all. Big old mixed bag there - and that includes the kids in the white skin/brown hair category. (which mine is btw. - although technically he's also in the Asian category - you just can't tell by looking at him. )

Get off mumsnet and go clean your room

actually I only have one child and she is a teenager, so I’m pretty sure you are not my daughter