A "fiery" opinion from a ginger

by Sam
(MD)

I am an 18-year-old natural redhead with very long, very heavy, and very straight red hair, and that is the FIRST thing ANYONE will point out when they first meet me. "Oh my, what pretty red hair you have!" Normally, this comment comes from older ladies, so I have to rein in the urge to smirk and say, "Yeah, I know." It's flattering, I suppose, to get that extra attention and I do feel special about my hair; but still, there is actually something going on underneath my ginger locks that people don't generally take the time to get to know. (On the plus side, though, my hair really is a great conversation-starter. ;P)

My all-time favorite thing about it is watching other women trying to dye their hair my color (because, let's face it, red hair is pretty hot and I'd want it too if I didn't have it). But the fact is: I have red hair and those women don't and you can always tell when someone's hair is fake. You've seen it: the women with that God-awful bright red on the tops of their heads that you KNOW they got from a bottle. I've even had women ask me what kind of dye I use on my hair. I have to hide the snicker and smug grin when I tell them I was born this way and watch their faces go from eager to disappointed.

I will admit to being a little high-strung (at times) and temperamental, but I'd also like to think that I'm pretty easy-going in times of stress and even tend to air on the shy side -- especially around guys whose interest I've caught (with my hair, go figure).

I don't actively like the stereotype that I've grown up with and the mould that I've been kind of forced into because of my hair. However, in every stereotype is a grain of truth. It had to have gotten started somewhere.