During the 911, Patsy did not give the operator the name of her 'kidnapped' daughter. She also omitted JonBenet's height, weight, eye color and what she was last seen wearing. However, as means of identification, she only offered up JB's age, and "She's blonde."
Why was JB's hair color uppermost in her mother's mind? Of course, JonBenet's hair was likely colored. PR's friends meant to speak with her about what they viewed as the excesses of the pageantry.
By altering JB's natural shade, the girl was messaged that she was not good enough as she was. "I don't feel pretty."
Why was the blonde image of such importance to Patsy? None of the major child stars had been blonde: Shirley Temple, Jane Withers, Elizabeth Taylor, Margaret O'Brien, Natalie Wood. (But there is Macauly Culkin. haha) From where did this penchant arise?
At the 1977 Miss America contest, in which Patsy competed, the winner was Dorothy Bentham, who was sandy blonde and later fully blonde. Did PR associate being brunette with losing?