“I dye my hair brown to be taken more seriously at work,” said a Silicon Valley female CEO. She was a blonde, but was told by investors that dye job would be a benefit because of “stronger pattern recognition of brunette women CEOs.” Pattern recognition theory suggests we look for familiar people, which in turn makes us more comfortable with the risks we’re taking.

Reading her story on business news flashed me back to my early days as a trans adult entertainer. Albeit with a flip of the script since I started out as a brunette and went blonde for business reasons. Nobody advised me to do it and I certainly had no clue about pattern recognition theory. But my financial bottom line mos def spoke loud and clear.

When I transitioned I was a brunette and began my adult entertainer career that way. I had never tried being a blondie. But being an (ahem) “mature” trans in a young girl's profession, a mentor suggested going blonde. “You need a ’new and improved’ look” is how she put it. And by most accounts, it worked.

During that changeover, my ad photos were a mix of brunette and blonde versions. But as my adult entertainer colleagues know, ads have a preview thumbnail for clients to click through to a full profile. And marketing 101 dictates changing up a thumbnail to keep your ad fresh and to figure out what works best (or if you prefer fancy schmancy terminology, analyzing your “return on investment”).

When I cycled my thumbnails between the looks, a “gentlemen prefer blondes” pattern emerged. Thumbnails of the brunette look invariably lagged the blonde in click-throughs and ad replies. Potential new client convos often included his asking, “I’ll be meeting with the blonde Kacy, correct?” And when a producer approached me about doing a porn shoot, he specified, “I want the blondie MILF.”

No, we’re not talking controlled scientific experiment here. But there were things that factored out some other potential explanations. My ads were consistent as to content, platforms, and placement, and without gaps in time. One might bluntly ask, “Maybe you were just easier on the eye as a blonde?” But without prompting, by and large, my non-client acquaintances said the brunette look suited me better (interestingly, those thinking otherwise were mainly men).

Or maybe, the causation was simply the blonde look shaving some years from my mature hide. Like I said, not claiming scientific results that will withstand peer review (although I'd be interested to hear of other adult entertainer experiences). I also wonder about that pattern recognition theory that people look for the familiar to make them more comfortable with risks. The “blondes have more fun” cliche’ is familiar to gents. So when they look to take the risk of engaging a trans adult entertainer, or casting for a porn project or buying a porn video, are they more comfortable doing so with a blonde? One can only wonder.

Then again, I’m just a ditzy blondie so what would I know? ;-)

What do you think? Leave a comment down below to let me know your opinion!

xoxo Kacy TGirl