My Life As A Red Head

This is a story about my life as a RED head with a few little myths and facts thrown in for good measure. I used to hate my RED hair and to be honest it has taken a few years for me to embrace my RED curls.

Society can be quite cruel to a shy, clumsy, fair-skinned, RED Haired, blue-eyed little girl... but ooh how things have changed! STICKS and STONES may break my bones but names will never hurt me....Some names that I've been called are:

• RED head.
• Carrot top.
• Ginger.
• Annie.
• Anne of Green Gables.
• Blue.
• Nicole.
• Ginger
• Does the carpet match the curtains.
• You must be a witch with that hair.
• Don't upset her or she will explode
• OH RED head = bad temper
• You must have eaten too many carrots

THE FACT IS, that throughout history RED heads have been, ridiculed, loathed, hated and even hunted... fast forward to modern times and, RED HEADS seem to be quite fashionable and even admired these days, as seen gracing the Hollywood screens as movie goddesses and hitting the international modelling runways.

"ARE YOU SEEING RED"? Love us or hate us... why are so many people intrigued by red heads and why are so many women taking the exciting step into the RED Head world by dyeing their hair? There are various degrees of RED, ranging from flaming copper RED to, brownish RED"Auburn" with every, fire truck red, cherry, orange flame, burgundy, rouge shimmer and ginger snap colour in between. I've even heard some fellow RED heads being quite creative with their own colour, such as African Sunset, Strawberry blond, and golden river red.

MY MOTHERS WORDS: When I was born my Mothers exact words were,"Where Did That Hair Come From" To say she was a little surprised at the colour of my hair was an understatement. RED hair is the rarest hair colour in humans. 80% of redheads have an MC1R gene variant with the highest concentration of redheads being in Scotland followed closely by Ireland.... I guess my surname O'Brien explains a lot. Even though my parents have varying shades of brown hair, they are both carriers of this gene... (actually my hair colour is the same as my fathers beard) Interestingly both my Grandfathers, Patrick O'Brien and Patrick Foran had shades of RED hair. I wonder how far back the MC1R gene goes?

FACT / MYTH:

• Fact: Red hair occurs approximately in just 1 - 2 % of the human population.
• Myth: Red heads are more temperamental and fiery than others.
• Fact: Red hair appears in people with 2 copies of a recessive gene on chromosome 16 which causes a mutation in the MC1R protein.
• Myth:Red heads are highly sexed... this is thought to me a mark of beastly sexual desire and moral degeneration.
• Fact: Red heads don't go grey, they go sandy then white.
• Myth:Red hair and green eyes are thought to be the sign of a witch.

CULTURAL MYTHS:

• Romans kept red-haired slaves and sold them at a hight price.
• In Denmark it is an honour to have a red - haired child
• The Greeks believed that Red heads would turn into vampires following their deaths.
• During the Spanish Inquisition flamed coloured hair was evidence that its owner had stolen the fire of hell and had to be burned as a witch.
• Bees sting redheads more often
• It brings you luck to rub a redheads head
• In Poland if you see 3 RED heads at the same time then you will win the lottery.
• A French Proverb states that "red headed women are either violent or false, and usually both".

ITS TIME TO BE TRENDY According to fashioning.com, 2011 is the time to be RED. Yes you blonde bombshells you read it right, its time to make way to the luscious RED HEAD. It seems the rarity of the natural red head is very sought after and the closer you can get your hair to look natural the more on trend you will be. Wow, who would have thought it??

RED HAIR DAY Not only is it trendy to have RED hair these days but the Dutch have taken it even further by announcing yes... wait for it... a RED HAIR DAY... Yippee its time to celebrate and embrace the Red Goddess within. I know I will be taking my little RED haired angel there next year to celebrate.

WHAT ADVICE WILL I TELL MY RED HAIRED DAUGHTER: Love the person you are, Love your RED hair. Always wear warm colours. Stay away from bees. Be kind to others even when they are not kind to you.... if they are still unkind to you then try to ignore them... they won't be lucky enough to know you.

Your rare... embrace the RED Haired Goddess within!

Thanks for reading. 

http://www.stewardessbible.com

Article Source: Kylie_O'Brien