Thursday, March 5, 2015

Gingers Have No Souls

That is just one of the epithets I have had to endure in my lifetime thanks to those wonderful creators of South Park. I can assure you that this redhead does have a soul and it's much more sensitive than you might think given my INTJ status on the Meyers-Briggs personality inventory. 

There are other forms of hate speech used to denigrate those of us that belong to the master race. I have heard "carrot top" which is really stupid if you consider that carrot tops are green. There is "red headed step child". This one is particularly nasty since I am not a step child and what if I was? There a millions of step children in the world. Why does the color of their hair matter? Another name I heard, particularly in high school was "red on the head like a @#$% on a dog". I assure you that the color of my glorious high school locks did not match that of male dog genitalia. And while the sight of orange pubic hair can be scary when seen for the first time by others in a high school locker room, I assure you that "Fire Crotch" is not a complimentary designation. There is also another myth, and here I speak for myself alone I think; the rumor is that we are really hot sex partners. The fact is that this red head is celibate. My sex drive is probably abnormally low and I really don't care. It's just one less burden from my point of view. Now there may be other red heads that have unquenchable desire in this area, but me....it's all crickets and cobwebs.

There is much hate and, I think even jealousy in regard those of us that enjoy the privilege of ginger status. It's like a mark has been placed on us by God as a warning to them. There is no doubt that we are individual, mostly because of the "hairist" environment that we have to live in, but that makes us even more special.

We are a rare item in the world among the human race. Wikipedia says,

Red hair occurs naturally in 1–2% of the human population. It occurs more frequently (2–6%) in people of northern or western European ancestry, and less frequently in other populations. Red hair appears most commonly in people with two copies of a recessive gene on chromosome 16 which causes a mutation in the MC1R protein.[1]
Red hair varies from a deep burgundy through burnt orange to bright copper. It is characterized by high levels of the reddish pigment pheomelanin and relatively low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin. The term redhead has been in use since at least 1510.[2] It is associated with fair skin color, lighter eye colors (gray, blue, green, and hazel), freckles, and sensitivity to ultraviolet light.[3]
Cultural reactions have varied from ridicule to admiration; many common stereotypes exist regarding redheads and they are often portrayed as fiery-tempered.

The fiery temper thing...really? I am so sick of that one. It makes me want to throw my tablet across the HyVee dining room and scream at all the bigots. How could anyone say such a thing? Miserable jerks. It's just not true!!!

Then there is this,

Today, red hair is most commonly found at the northern and western fringes of Europe;[1][9] it is associated particularly with the people located in the British Isles (although Victorian era.[citation needed] Ethnographers consider the Udmurt people of the Volga to be "the most red-headed men in the world").[10] Redheads are common among Celtic[1][9] and Germanic[citation needed] peoples.
Scotland has the highest proportion of redheads; 13% of the population has red hair and approximately 40% carries the recessive redhead gene.[11] Ireland has the second highest percentage; as many as 10% of the Irish population has red, auburn, or strawberry blond hair.[12] It is thought that up to 46% of the Irish population carries the recessive redhead gene.[1] A 1956 study of hair color amongst British army recruits also found high levels of red hair in Wales and the English Border counties.

So be careful with us. Be gentle. Be nice. Imagine we are white tigers or some other exotic creature of which there are few. We are special. I know everyone believes that about themselves, but we really are special. Among all of God's human beings, He blessed us with this glorious mark. My soul is uplifted because He loved me so much that He made me a ginger. I am His, chosen from before time and creation to be a red head. Praise the Lord for Gingerosity.