Ginger Nut

I read an article on the BBC website today that filled me with joy and want to share the link with you.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8245290.stm

The article is about a festival in the Netherlands for redheads. It's a celebration of redheads around the world. I so with I could have been a part of it.

People rarely identify themselves with their hair color anymore, it's so easy to change it if you don't like it. That being said, I believe redheads share an unshakable bond mostly due to shared experiences.

In England and I would assume the rest of Europe (based on the article above) having red (or ginger) hair has always been a glowing neon sign saying "tease me." To be honest I don't remember having many experiences being teased in school. When I was young and living in England it never seemed like a problem, and once I moved to America people seemed far more interested in my accent than my hair color.

When I moved back to England I was at the age when I really didn't give a shit what other people thought anyway. I did have some smart ass kid come up to me one day going "ha ha ha you're ginger" I remember turning around with a blank face and saying "yeah" he didn't really know what to do with that and walked away. luckily for me there were so many other redheads to tease (younger and generally male) that no one seemed to bother me much.

When I was little my granddad used to call me "Goldie locks" "ginger nut" and "carrot top." He used to ask me if he could have my hair because it was so pretty and every time I went to get my hair cut I'd collect a little scrap of hair and put it in a ring box for him. Apparently he still has them in a drawer somewhere.

I have to say that while I never hated my hair like many redheads, there were times when I just got bored with older women saying "oh, don't you have lovely hair" or the infuriating "people pay a lot of money to have your color hair"

Once I hit my teens I completely fell in love with being a redhead. I was proud that less than 4% of the population had red hair and the history of accusations of witchcraft from the past. I realized I had an excuse for having a temper, and that the longer my hair was the more compliments I got on it. For someone who isn't fond of being the center of attention, the hair thing gave me a little boost...I stood out from the crowd just a little bit.

I've heard that the gene for red hair could die out by 2040 and I think that would be terrible. Both the man and woman need to have the gene for their children to have red hair (they don't both need to be redheads, just to carry the gene.) I've never contemplated dating a guy with red hair before (mostly because I thought it would make us look like brother and sister) but since hearing that news I certainly wouldn't rule it out. I've got to do my bit to keep the gene going, after all, think how boring things would be without the redheaded temper to entertain the world.

I've also included a link to a website devoted to famous redheads...check it out:

http://www.indopedia.org/List_of_famous_redheads.html

I have to tell you I was bloody surprised when Cleopatra's name popped up on the list...I suppose you learn a new thing every day.

To close I suppose I'd just have to say that I love being a redhead. I worry that when I get older the color will fade and I'm sure I'll resort to dye like everyone else. But it'll be worth it.