I recently went to get my hair cut. 'Just a cut?' my hairdresser asked me. I nodded. 'Good,' she said, 'I would never want to colour that hair.'
As a redhead, these kinds of comments aren't new to me. In fact, my mum has her own story of a hairdresser refusing to cut 'hair as beautiful' as hers. In Red: A History of the the Redhead, author Jacky Colliss Harvey points out that this is a common redhead experience. When a redhead cuts or dyes their hair, it's 'as if the thing you changed was everyone else's property, which you have damaged, willfully'.
Throughout history, people have had a lot of opinions about red hair. A third century work called Physiognomonica, often attributed to Aristotle, said redheads are 'of bad character; witness the foxes'. Since medieval times, redheads have been associated with witchcraft and vampirism. In pop culture, depictions of redheads often perpetuate stereotypes about redheads, ranging from temperamental (think Merida and fiery tempers), lustful (Jessica Rabbit) or freakish (South Park).
There's even a gender divide in how red hair is perceived. Redheaded men are often seen as less masculine than their blond or brunette counterparts. There are many redheaded actresses in Hollywood, but there are far fewer redheaded men. To dispel this misconception, Thomas Knights created a photo exhibition of attractive ginger men. 'We have been conditioned to think that ginger men are ugly and weak,' he said, 'I wanted to flip this on its head.'
Conversely, redheaded women are eroticised. The idea of the redheaded woman as an object of fascination can be found in Renaiassance and pre-Raphalite artistic tradition by the likes of Titian, Rosetti and Botticelli, among others. In modern society, this translates into redheaded women, including myself, getting questions like whether the 'carpet matches the drapes'. Even the word 'redheads' is always said with lascivious meaning by male characters in TV shows and films. In her book, Harvey has a phrase for this: 'Man with a Thing for Redheads'.
Growing up as one of the few redheads in any classroom, I was often in the firing line for the newest redhead insult. First it was bloodnut or rednut. Then I was a 'ranga'. During high school I would regularly be tagged in Facebook memes saying that redheads were soulless, courtesy of South Park.
I was (and sometimes still am) someone's 'redheaded friend'. Often, in a shopping centre, someone would come up to my mother to comment on my hair. 'I would kill for that colour,' they'd say to her. 'I have a niece/friend/daughter with hair just like it.' By the time I was a teenager, I was sick of it. I wanted to dye my hair brown at the earliest opportunity.
"There's power in reclaiming an identity that was used to box you in. Repurposing dominant ideas so they become yours, on your own terms."
Most of our cultural myths surrounding red hair and the people who grow it have been dominated by people who aren't redheads. In recent years, there have been movements to correct this. For the past two years Melbourne has hosted a Ginger Pride rally which aims to combat bullying and celebrate red hair.
In response to Kick a Ginger day, there's now a Kiss a Ginger day. There's power in reclaiming and being proud of an identity that was used to box you in. Repurposing dominant ideas so they become yours, on your own terms.
In perspective, my hair colour really isn't that big of a deal. I don't face institutional discrimination because I'm a redhead. But because of the cultural fascination with red hair, people will always try to project their own ideas about redheadedness onto me. So as I've grown older, I decided to claim this part of my identity for myself.
I feel no shame in my gingerness. I'll tell people that my hair is red, occasionally strawberry blonde and that my favourite childhood book was Anne of Green Gables. I buy 50 SPF sunscreen and when it's a sunny day I'll definitely cross the street for some shade.
But mostly, my red hair is part of me. I keep its natural colour not because I couldn't get a hairdresser to dye it (though that might be an issue) but because it's my inheritance. It is the colour of my sister's and my mother's hair, and her mother's and her mother's before that. No matter where I go and what I do, I'll always be a redhead. It's in my roots.
Neve Mahoney is a student at RMIT university. She has also contributed to Australian Catholics and The Big Issue. Red hair image: Derek Gavey via Flickr.
Main image: Eric Cartman in the South Park episode 'Ginger Kids'.