Sunday, October 3, 2010

Show a Ginger Some Love







Tesco has withdrawn this Christmas card after a complaint from the mother of three redheads.


Even gingers…


Redheads, like any minority, have taken quite a few punches throughout history.  People either love them or hate them (why so extreme?). 


Also, redheads--and this is important if you are one--have a higher chance of suffering certain diseases and ailments (see below--it goes beyond skin cancer, people).

Facts & Rumors

In Denmark it's an honor to have a redheaded child. 

In Corsica if you pass one on the street, you spit and turn around. 

In Poland it's said if you pass three redheads, you'll win the state lottery. 

In ancient Egypt redheads were sacrificial victims buried alive in homage to the god Osiris. 

The ancient Romans paid a premium for redheaded slaves. Redheads have often been feared as the most potent of witches and sorcerers.

In Holland, redheads are still considered to be agents of misfortune. 

"Redheaded women are either violent or false, and usually are both," holds a French proverb.  The Arizona Republic  


Medical Considerations:
Women with red hair are more likely to suffer from Endometriosis (THIS IS TRUE - I HAVE IT!)

Redheads have a higher risk of getting melanoma than less fair-skinned people. (American Academy of Dermatology).

Redheads are prone to industrial deafness. (Debatable.)

We're more sensitive to pain.
hmmmmm.... this, according to the ADA http://jada.ada.org/cgi/content/abstract/140/7/89

AWARENESS (hate crimes and prejudice (Yes, recent stuff)):

BBC News "Is gingerism as bad as racism?": http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6725653.stm


    9 comments:

    1. I'm a red head, luckily though, I'm not a woman born in Egypt...

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    2. Found you through the Hump Day Blog Hop... interesting post about "gingers." Lots of facts I had no idea about!

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    3. Some odd facts, no? I think they're want you call factoids, though the news about the hate crimes is verifiable, and rather disturbing...

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    4. Red hair is due to elevated levels of pheomelanin, a yellow to red-brown colored polymeric pigment. Also in skin. Fascinating.

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    5. Hi, Jen. The Mythbusters did an experiment in a recent episode comparing the pain tolerance of redheads to non-redheads. They couldn't detect any difference. Maybe the ADA's results were due to some confounding factor. After all, they just took a survey regarding people's anxiety to dental pain. (So maybe redheads display more anxiety, or maybe novocaine doesn't work as well.) The ADA didn't actually measure their subjects' displayed sensitivity to pain, as the Mythbusters did. -TimK

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    6. Mythbusters! Actually, my husband is far more scared of the dentist than I am. I'm pretty good with pain.... so i should've suspected that one as a factoid. I have to find that episode!

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