Here's what you didn't know about redheads!
Number 14.
Less Hair
It might sound like a bad thing at first, but redheads have less hair than the average
person.
The average number of strands for blondes is one hundred ten thousand, and brunettes
beat everyone else at around one hundred forty thousand strands.
People with ginger locks are below the other hues at just ninety thousand strands on average.
This fact makes it sound like redheads are balding… or might go bald before people
with blonde, brown, or black hair.
Despite the difference in the number of strands, people with red hair often have thicker strands,
making it appear that they have the same amount of hair - or even more in some cases.
So, don't fret you ginger-haired beauties!
Your fiery locks look just as full as any blonde bombshell's.
Number 13.
Medieval Ideals
Redheads have been the target of discrimination throughout the centuries, as with anybody
who stands out from the crowd.
People with red hair were believed to be marked with carnal and corrupt desires.
They were often portrayed as such in various fables, including some by the Grimm brothers.
One author, named Theophilus Presbyter, wrote how the blood of a young man with red hair
mixed with basilisk ashes is required to make gold out of copper.
In the Malleus Maleficarum , or Hammer of Witches, the author noted that people with
green eyes and red hair were vampires, witches, or werewolves.
Nowadays, we probably wouldn't mind if our Teen Wolf or Vampire Diary fantasies were
brought to life, but in the Medieval ages, these things were considered evil, and redheads
had a difficult time.
Number 12.
Produce Vitamin D
Vitamin D is essential for the survival of all people, and most can absorb enough of
it through exposure to sunlight.
For people with fiery hair, however, the general lack of melanin in their skin means being
out in the sun for too long has some disadvantages.
Pale skin often means a higher risk of developing skin cancer.
Luckily for gingers everywhere, they've evolved to produce enough vitamin D with a lot less
sunlight.
That means redheads are pretty self-sufficient.
Unfortunately, the light skin also results in the inability to tan - easily, anyway.
Many folks with this warm hair color can't attain the coveted bronze skin that so many
desire.
Instead, they develop freckles in the sun or simply burn.
But, let's face it - there's nothing wrong with gorgeous coppery locks and cute freckles
dotting their noses and cheeks!
Number 11.
Eye Color
As a redhead, you're already a rare species - so to speak.
But, there are some folks with red locks that are even more uncommon than the rest.
Most people with ginger hair have brown eyes - probably because the gene for darker eyes
is dominant.
The next most likely eye colors for redheads are hazel and green.
But, if you're a natural redhead with blue eyes to boot, then you're the rarest of them
all!
The trait for blue eyes is recessive, as is the one of red hair.
That means that both parents must carry both traits to have children with ginger hair and
blue eyes.
Number 10.
Any Ethnicity
Most redheads we think about are of European ancestry.
But, since the trait is based on genetics, redheads make up a portion of all races and
ethnicities.
The only thing needed for a child to be born with flaming locks is for both parents to
be carriers of the recessive gene.
Despite the fact that Caucasian men and women come to mind when we talk about red hair,
there are redheads all over the world - in all corners of the Earth.
It's true that most people with this bright hue have their roots in northern Europe.
Since red hair comes with less skin pigmentation, living in hot sunny places isn't easy for
them.
So, as evolution would have it - these folks are even more uncommon in tropical, arid,
and other sun-drenched and sweltering places.
But, that doesn't mean they aren't out there.
A photographer from London, named Michelle Marshall, even took on a project photographing
red-haired beauties all over the world, including as many as possible with African or Caribbean
roots.
Number 9.
Uncommon
Having naturally red hair is extremely rare, and less than two percent of the global population
exhibit this trait - about one hundred forty million people.
The countries with the highest percent of gingers are Scotland - with thirteen percent
- and Ireland - with ten percent.
This isn't too surprising since redheads are most often associated with Celtic ancestry.
Number 8.
Festivals
Since red hair is so rare, there are yearly festivities to celebrate the distinctive color.
One such celebration is held in the Netherlands in Tilburg.
Redheads from all over the world go there to display their coppery locks.
There is also a yearly convention in Ireland, during which a ginger Queen and King are crowned,
there are carrot-throwing games, and competitions for the "best red eyebrows" and "most freckles
per square inch."
Number 7.
Discrimination
Although there are festivals celebrating gingers from all over the world, redheads have faced
a lot of discrimination throughout the years, and it has continued into the modern world.
The British media has used words like "gingerism" and "gingerphobia" to describe the resentment
some people have toward redheads.
In the United Kingdom, there have been numerous cases of crimes against redheads.
A twenty-year-old was severely injured in 2003 for "being ginger," a family was forced
to move twice in 2007 after being targeted for their hair color, a young boy took his
own life in 2009 after being bullied for his red locks, and in 2013, a boy of fourteen
was stomped in the head by three men who also broke his arm - all because he had red hair.
But, like all serious issues, the discrimination against gingers has been satirized in shows
like South Park, which inspired "Kick a Ginger Day" in Yorkshire.
During the episode - called "Ginger Kids" Cartman also says redheads have a disease
called "Gingervitis."
Although the episode was created with comedy in mind, it sparked some negativity all over
the world for ginger-haired people.
Number 6.
Hard To Dye
Anyone with red hair has had numerous people tell them, "Don't ever dye your hair!"
But, as with any other hue, redheads like to switch things up from time to time.
Unfortunately, dying red hair is much more difficult than dying other colors.
This is because the hair holds on to its pigment much more firmly.
If a ginger person wants to change their hair color, then they have to bleach their hair
beforehand… but, doing so is unhealthy for those beautiful locks.
Number 5.
Sensitive & Resistant
It isn't only their hair color that sets redheads apart from other people.
Studies done on ginger-haired folks suggested that they experience pain differently.
One test showed that people sporting the coppery hue feel thermal pain more intensely - so,
warm and cold temperatures have a greater effect on them.
However, other studies showed that gingers are more resistant to other types of discomfort,
such as electrically induced pain.
Redheads often need more anesthetic than other people as well, which is why the doctor will
sometimes ask before surgery if your hair color is naturally red.
On average, people with fiery locks need approximately twenty percent more anesthetic than those
with other hair colors.
Number 4.
Throughout History
Although redheads have been negatively targeted for their fiery locks, some powerful people
throughout history had this trait.
Ramses II was one of these ginger-haired rulers.
Also known as Ramesses the Great, he was the third pharaoh of Egypt's Nineteenth Dynasty.
He is often regarded as the most powerful, celebrated, and greatest of all pharaohs.
When his mummy was transferred to France to be better preserved, the roots of his hair
were examined microscopically.
They discovered that his hair was originally red and determined that he most likely came
from a family of redheaded people.
In ancient Egypt, ginger hair was associated with Seth, the god of fire, chaos, envy, disorder,
violence, and foreigners who slew Osiris.
Ramses II's father's name also meant "follower of Seth."
Other well-known redheads throughout history include Galileo , Vincent van Gogh, and Mark
Twain.
Some modern celebrities with ginger locks are Rupert Grint, Prince Harry, and Nicole
Kidman.
Number 3.
Fashion & Fascination
Gingers have faced discrimination throughout history, but people have also been envious
of their uniqueness and beauty.
Queen Elizabeth I was another famous redhead, and during the Elizabethan era, having coppery
locks was sought after by women throughout England.
This is also true nowadays throughout the world.
In addition to Nicole Kidman, actresses like Emma Stone and Alyson Hannigan have inspired
women everywhere to dye their hair red.
Approximately thirty percent of the women who buy hair dye choose a red hue.
Plus, the fascination with redheads has gone on for centuries.
Renowned painters like Sandro Botticelli and Gustav Klimpt depicted redheads in some of
their most well-known works.
Botticelli's The Birth of Venus is one of the most notable paintings in history, in
which Venus has fiery red locks.
The English painter, Edmund Leighton, made redheads the subject of several of his pieces,
including God Speed! and In Time of Peril.
Number 2.
Mutation
Technically, redheads are mutants - but, in a good way!
Redheads attain the hue via a mutation in the M.C.1.R. - or melanocortin-1 receptor.
This gene mutation also results in pale skin fairly often, which is why red hair is often
associated with light skin tones.
The presence of a significant amount of pheomelanin in redheads is what gives them their unique
hair color.
This type of melanin is generally found in larger concentrations in the lips and intimate
places of the human body, which is why these areas are much more pink in hue.
But, with ginger-haired people, the pheomelanin resides in the hair and skin, giving them
coppery locks and a pinkish skin tone.
Number 1.
No Grey
One benefit of having red hair - besides being incredibly unique - is that your fiery locks
won't ever turn grey!
Gingers retain the pigment in their hair much longer than people with other colors.
So, instead of going grey, red hair fades to different shades of copper and eventually
turns silvery-white.