We’re seeing red
REPORTS that sperm donor collection companies are seeking more specimens from red-haired men to prevent an alleged “dying out” of the hair colour and to meet a growing demand, point to a cultural shift in attitudes towards what we fondly call “rangas”.
A campaign called #SaveGingers has been started.
Not only do I love red hair, but my family is peppered with redheads. From my Irish grandfather to my Israeli mother, to my giant of an Aussie son, my aunt and many cousins, all possess vibrant shades of titian strands.
Attributing the rise in popularity of fire-hair to people like Prince Harry and musician Ed Sheeran (pictured), actors Damian Lewis, Michael Fassbender, our own Luke McGregor, never mind Pippi Longstocking, Princess Merida from Pixar’s Brave, Ariel in Disney’s The Little Mermaid, and, lest we forget, Hollywood starlets like Rita Hayworth, Amy Adams and Jessica Chastain, when it comes to hair, red is the new black.
Long thought to have arisen from Irish, Scottish or Scandinavian ancestry, according to Jacky Colliss Harvey in her book, Red: A Natural History of the Redhead, the colour actually originated in Central Asia.
It arises due to a mutation in the MC1R gene that fails to produce eumelanin, which protects the skin from sun-damage. Instead, pale skin and freckles occur.
Interestingly, redheads produce vitamin D far more effectively than us blonds, brunettes and darker- haired variants, resulting in stronger bones and teeth. They’re also more likely to survive pregnancy and childbirth, and have a stronger immune system. Though, they need 20 per cent more anaesthetic, and bees and wasps love them.
A range of negative myths and stereotypes have surrounded the hair colour ever since Lilith, Adam’s first wife, roamed Paradise.
Long before it was celebrated, the colour was seen as a stigma and associated with witchcraft, unbridled passions, danger, betrayal and a host of other sins.
In his book, The Golden Bough, James Frazer notes in ancient Egypt, red-haired men were sacrificed to the god Osiris.
According to Harvey, there’s been a slow evolution that saw Mary Magdalene turn into a redhead — visual shorthand for her status as a reformed prostitute. Judas is often depicted with flaming hair, hence the association of the colour with untrustworthiness.
Sara Douglass, in The Betrayal of Arthur, discusses how, in medieval times, it was believed that if a man had sex with his wife while she menstruated, the foetus might be infected by being born with red hair.
Queen Elizabeth I and her father Henry VIII are famous red heads. Both possessed hot tempers, an attribute still associated with the hair colour. Shakespeare described red hair as the “dissembling colour”. The fear and doubt around redheads carried over into modern times with writers such as Jonathan Swift in Gulliver’s Travels, noting: “It is observed that the red-haired of both sexes are more libidinous and mischievous than the rest, whom yet they much exceed in strength and activity.” Charles Dickens made Fagin in Oliver Twist a ginger. He describes him “standing before a fire, fork in hand, with a villainous and repulsive face, and matted red hair”. Artists have long celebrated red tresses — both negatively and positively. Botticelli’s glorious Birth of Venus has the goddess of love emerging out of the ocean twined in her auburn locks. The preRaphaelites chose Elizabeth Siddal, a woman with a “coppery’’ mane, as the model for many of their early works. The father of modern science, Galileo was a red head as well as the wonderful Venetian composer Vivaldi.
Overall, with few exceptions in history, in religion and fiction, having red hair has been a dubious distinction that has seen the possessor mistrusted, judged and often imbued with a range of negative characteristics — portrayed as villains, betrayers, seductresses (the “scarlet woman”), as being soulless — akin to vampires and demons.
Associated with the supernatural, a great deal was at stake for those born with auburn hair.
When my son was born with his cap of ginger hair, the nurse, much to my horror, expressed her sympathy.
From shunned and reviled to appreciated and emulated, the fact is carrot tops now rule. More red hair dye is sold than any other colour.
Look at Sam Heughan (Jamie Fraser in Outlander) and Eleanor Tomlinson (Demelza in Poldark). Both possess chemically enhanced locks — and huge fan bases.
Even so, real redheads make up only 2-6 per cent of the global population.
It’s time to get on board and make sure red is never dead. So, let’s start our own campaign and #TingeToGinge. Dr Karen Brooks is a honorary senior research fellow at the University of Qld.