As a teenager, I saw being born with red hair as a curse.
Dramatic, I know!
I held this point of view for most of my teenage and early twenty-something life.
With pale, blotchy skin, freckles, and the tendency to burn from a slither of sunlight or blush like a beetroot at the drop of a hat, I couldn’t see any perks to being a redhead!
At. All.
Redheads are fugly.
Fugly = Funny looking + ugly.
I never saw myself as ‘pretty’ until my 30s, which is how long it took me to appreciate my red hair colour!
Before red hair was ‘cool’, I was stalked down the street by groups of guys talking about how ‘ugly’ redheaded girls were and how they would never go out with one. This also happened on the bus, in the cinema, in nightclubs… I even got it from women.
I loved being heckled by so-called ‘bronzed, blonde Aussie goddesses’ – not. It made me want to move countries to say, well, Scotland! But it was too cold there, so that wouldn’t work.
I’ve realised later in life how much people envy chicks with natural red hair (which could also explain some of the teasing)! The number of times people say to me ‘I would love your hair’ is flattering and scary. It all takes me back to high school when my friends used to dye their hair red…
Single White Female, anyone?
And then there was the bullying.
We, redheads, are prime targets for bullies, especially in Australia. Ginger, Ranga, Fanta Pants, Bluey, and Carrot Top are the ‘family friendly’ nicknames.
Bullying towards us gingers even has its own word – Gingerism;
The dislike, prejudice and social bias against people with red (ginger) hair, a phenomenon intertwined in the English culture and attributed to a popular belief in the inherent inferiority of those of Celtic and Irish stock.
The Free Dictionary by Farlex
Just. Freakin. Awesome.
Whether you see it as a bit of fun or a lot of hate, Gingerism can have lasting effects on the psyche! One of the worst examples I can recall was back in November 2008 when Facebook received criticism after a ‘Kick a Ginger’, a group that aimed to set up a “National Kick a Ginger Day” on 20 November, acquired almost 5,000 members.
Seriously!
I’m surprised I made it out of my teenage years in one piece, with my red hair still intact. At one stage, I dabbled with maroon hair, blonde streaks ala Degrassi Senior High, and I tried to go brown, but that didn’t take.
The Red Hair Fan Boys
Red hair fanboys. They are a thing, I’ve decided.
Red Hair Fan Boys are generally of a certain ilk with a few standout characteristics, such as obsessive-compulsive bordering on stalker-like behaviour.
Redheads are more like a trophy for them or an addiction. They’ve generally dated a couple, possibly married one, and in the days of the internet (because I’ve been around since pre-internet), tried to hit on you over networks like LinkedIn. Extending a hand of friendship or a kind word to them must be done with caution, as they thrive on it like a drug.
I’ve experienced my fair share of the redhead ‘addicts’. At one stage, I considered dying my hair permanently or walking around with a bag on my head.
The worst I experienced was the guy I once shared a co-ed dorm room with when I was in Vienna. Just me and him and a whole lot of beds; he chose to lie in the one next to me and stare at me. That is the reward I got for saying hi and going for a walk with him. I admit I was a little (okay … a lot) naive, and I should have told him forcefully to leave me alone. Instead of doing a runner after a few days of being stalked around Vienna. Over the next ten years, now and then, he would pop up after finding me on Facebook, just to say hi and how beautiful I was.
Hmmm. Let’s take that as a compliment. No?
To cut a long story short, I’ve come a long way in embracing and rocking my red hair.
I am now Ginger and Proud!
It’s a shame the white hairs are now taking over my head. And so begins the search for a red hair dye that matches my natural hair colour!
