Monday, September 26, 2011

I See Red!

I'm a redhead; a natural one at that and a lot of the time I don't think much about my colour.  I inherited my colouring from my family - who are a family of redheads.  My Mum, brother, Uncle, Aunt and niece all have red hair; so it's hard to shake that gene in us.  Our redheaded gene goes back to the times of the Vikings in the Irish Sea on the Isle of Mann and Northern Ireland and Northern Scotland area at around 1500's or so.  We were the Danes; so our Vikings traded silks and spices.
My particular hair colour came from my Grandpa.  He had the bright red hair and fair skin.  He also had a short temper; which I inherited as well.  But I found that when I went to school, having this colouring didn't play in my favour.  It drew the bullies to me like a target.  I was short, pale and had bright red hair and didn't have that many friends.  However, any other redhead out there also had the same problems I did.  Why this happened was beyond me; and it still occurs.
My self-portrait I painted this year - took 4 months.
There's many myths about redheads that make the rounds and they keep popping up around me like bad pennies; and I keep wondering why people believe them so much.  Like the one about us having bad tempers. Well, we do, but then anyone can if you push their buttons continually.  And the one about redheads 'being hot in bed'... whoever came up with this one just had to be a guy.  Stupid idiot.  I've come across this one many times and ended up walking away shaking my head.  Another one I've come across - which ruined my dating life for some time - was a movie trilogy that Alyson Hannigon was cast in.  It was the "American Pie" trilogy where she had a famous line:  "...one time at band camp..." and she'd say something really gross about that time or another.  Well, it didn't play in my favour especially seeing I do play the flute and no I've never been to band camp in my life as when I was younger, there was no such thing!  




In my 20's, I coloured my hair every shade of red or pink I could get my hands on.  I even coloured it Mulberry once; and I looked like a Goth; so much so that Mum didn't know who I was from the back.  It was so funny when she saw me getting something out of my car, she had to ask who I was then I turned around and she got the shock of her life.  I wasn't all that keen on the colour anyway; thank god I could wash it out.
As I've hit my thirties, I've found that people have complimented me on my hair colour.  My hair has changed a lot.  It's starting to lose that brightness it once had; and I've noticed it's turning a lovely blond colour.  I have been told it's going to turn a platinum blond colour; something people try to get all the time but fail as they end up with a brassy blond instead.  So, I'll be going from one colour which people pay dearly to get to another people pay dearly to get without touching a single colour bottle.  Personally, I think that's pretty cool!
Lately, though, I've found I've become allergic to a few hair products and have had to go organic.  Now, I don't know if it's my skin changing or the way these products have been changed to make them a certain way, but I don't like that I have to change the way I do things to make my life easier; especially if it's more expensive to do so.  I have been enjoying seeing my hair colour change - and strangely enough, I was the first one to notice before anyone else in my family did.
However, I have also noticed that people have been telling me that my hair colour is lovely.  One lady at Priceline a few weeks back now, was at the checkout in front of me and she turned and said that my hair was 'a lovely red colour; how wonder to see your red... and it's gorgeous and long too!  Such a pity it won't be around much longer.' I said that I was from a redheaded family; and our gene goes back quite a few centuries back to Ireland and to the Vikings.  She was amazed to hear that there were redheaded families around still and didn't know the gene wasn't all that repressed at all.  In some cases it is; but it depends which part of the world your family's ancestors come from; and mine are from the part of the world where they are the most dominant; how fortunate is that?
The funniest thing about being a redhead is that I'm never forgotten.  People from my past - like for example:  high school - have found me in a crowded shopping centre, or in the middle of the Queen Street Mall in Brisbane City to say hi and I have barely remembered them.  But they remember me all too well from then.  I guess it's the hair that give me away.  The thing is, compared to the time I went to school, it's so much different.  I had a hideous hair do at school whereas it's so much longer now.  I must still look the same - or a little like I did - when I attended school.  I'm not sure; but my brother gets the same thing from people too.
Well, what kinds of opinions do you have about redheads?  I have found a link you may be interested in about us - some of it may  be true, some may not be - and yet it's an interesting read.  Do you have any friends who are redheads?  If you do/did, what do you remember about them the best?  Until my next post, take care, keep warm and safe and remember, I'm always here.

Redheads Myths and Legends   

2 comments:

  1. As you know I do have a family member with red hair. The poor kid gets bullied at school. I probably dye her hair more brown once she starts high school.

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