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Throughout history, redheads have been feared and revered, loathed and adored, degraded and exalted. No other human trait has provoked such a array of emotions in such a large number of fellow humans. It is like boiling is to freezing or despair is to hope.
There are degrees of reddishness when referring to hair, including ginger, auburn (reddish brown), and strawberry blonde. Red hair is found most commonly at the western fringes of Europe. Leading the pack, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and England have the most redheads. Scotland has the highest proportion with 13% having red hair and approximately 40% possessing the recessive redhead gene. Ireland is second highest with approximately 10% having it and 40% carrying the gene.
The U.S. can boast (or not) anywhere from two to six percent of the population having red tresses. A seemingly insignificant figure, but with a massive population, this gives the good ol' USA the largest number of redheads in the world with 6 to 18 million. Compare that to 650,000 in Scotland and 420,000 in Ireland. Who's insignificant now? Read it and weep you redhead haters.
Red on the Head, Fire in the Bed
Red hair was thought to be a mark of a beastly sexual desire and moral degeneration. See? I told you it's not all bad. It is a common belief that redheads are highly sexed. Jonathon Swift satirized this redhead stereotype in Gulliver's Travels, part 4, A Voyage to the Country of the Houyhnhnms, when he wrote: "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." As Austin Powers might say.. Oh, yeah, baby!
So do not despair you red heads. Brunettes may be smarter, blondes may have more fun, but none are wrapped so tightly in mystery and intrigue. Like a gift to be opened on a special day.
Source: Christoph Reilly
