being ginger .

I know, the title of this sounds absolutely ridiculous. I don't know exactly what it is, but it seems that ginger people are just a bit outcast sometimes. I read an article the other day (link is here: click meeeeee to read it!) that someone wrote about being a redhead. Sometimes we are described as having a fiery personality, or having a short fuse. I can't really deny those things... but as with all other stereotypes, they can get frustrating and downright annoying. None of us can control the color of our hair, unless you dye it. Funny thing though, if someone dyes their hair red (and often times, it's that fake sort of red) they get told it looks great. But having natural red hair is not generally a desirable thing.


Personally, I've been told on occasion that my hair color is "nice." But for a really long time I certainly wasn't a fan of the fact that I had red hair. When I was younger, it used to be REALLY red. Now, it's gotten a bit darker and more mellow. I am no longer the kid with flames growing out of his head. Though there are some other kids I knew that were much brighter than I ever was... I've always wanted to dye my hair. But for some reason can't bring myself to do it.

For me, red hair was just something that I had that made people assume that I was Irish (I am not... but as of now, I would love to be...) or provided an opening for someone to make a joke. For the record, the whole fire crotch thing is getting old. Obviously I can't help that, so piss off? Not to mention it's getting old too. And things like Kick A Ginger Day... are just not nice. I'm sorry. Let's be real though, for a minute, things like that would never happen to a group of blonde kids or brunettes. To say we weren't a "minority group" would be lying, but we are not a minority in the way that it is normally connoted.

Some people take the whole ginger thing wayyyyyy too far.... If you've ever seen CopperCab on youtube, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. We are not a race, we are not our own separate people, and shouldn't be treated as such. It's just hair color, after all. Maybe it's all the things that generally go with red hair -- pale skin, freckles, etc. The combination is a very literally "bright" person. I swear sometimes if I'm out after dark I can illuminate the air around me... But that's okay. I'm down with that now. I never really hated myself for having red hair, I guess I just didn't like the fact that a lot of people made fun of that or looked down on it. Looking back, that was stupid.

In the same way that I have B negative blood type is kinda cool (something like 7% of the population), so is being a redhead! According to that article... we make up a very small 4% of the population worldwide, and only 2% of the US. That's kinda cool, in my eyes. I'm not saying we're any sort of elite... but in a way, we have a little tiny thing that can bring us together and have something to relate on. Getting red hair is not easy... being that it is a recessive gene (thank you biology class from freshman year of high school..).

Anyways, the article just caught my eye, and since I can't explain the feeling of being a redhead (and a natural one at that) very well, I implore you to just go ahead and read it. The author has an interesting take on the whole shindig. Seriously. It's neat.

Lost the link? Don't feel like scrolling up to the top again?

No worries... LINKvvvvvv

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/katherine-bindley/redheads_b_921627.html?ncid=webmail8#s329372&title=Corina_Walsh