This post is about people with red hair,
who are sometimes called "redheads".
Red hair occurs
naturally on approximately 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 in people with two copies of
a recessive gene on chromosome 16 which causes a mutation in the MC1R protein.
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 (originally redd hede) has been in
use since at least 1510. It is associated with fair skin color, lighter eye
colors (gray, blue, green, and hazel), freckles, and sensitivity to ultraviolet
light.
Cultural
reactions have varied from ridicule to admiration; many common stereotypes
exist regarding redheads and they are often portrayed as fiery-tempered.
Geographic
distribution
Historical
Several accounts
by Greek writers mention redheaded people. A fragment by the poet Xenophanes
describes the Thracians as blue-eyed and red haired. Herodotus described the
Budini people as being predominantly red haired. Dio Cassius described Boudica,
Queen of the Iceni, of the ancient Britons, to be "tall and terrifying in
appearance... a great mass of red hair... over her shoulders."
The Roman
historian Tacitus commented on the "red hair and large limbs of the
inhabitants of Caledonia", which he connected with some red haired Gaulish
tribes of Germanic and Belgic relation.
In Asia, red hair
has been found among the ancient Tocharians, who occupied the Tarim Basin in
what is now the northwesternmost province of China. Caucasian Tarim mummies
have been found with red hair dating to the 2nd millennium BC.
Red hair is also
found amongst Polynesians, and is especially common in some tribes and family
groups. In Polynesian culture red hair has traditionally been seen as a sign of
descent from high ranking ancestors and a mark of rulership.
Modern
Today, red hair
is most commonly found at the northern and western fringes of Europe; it is
associated particularly with the people located in the British Isles (although
Victorian era ethnographers claimed that the Udmurt people of the Volga were
"the most red-headed men in the world"). Redheads are common among
Germanic and Celtic peoples.
Redheads
constitute approximately 4% of the European population. Scotland has the
highest proportion of redheads; 13% of the population has red hair and
approximately 40% carries the recessive redhead gene. Ireland has the second
highest percentage; as many as 10% of the Irish population has red, auburn, or
strawberry blond hair. It is thought that up to 46% of the Irish population
carries the recessive redhead gene. A 1956 study of hair color
amongst British army recruits also found high levels of red hair in Wales and the
English Border counties.
Red hair is also
fairly common amongst the Ashkenazi Jewish populations, possibly because of the
influx of European DNA over a period of centuries. In European culture, prior
to the 20th century, red hair was often seen as a stereotypically Jewish trait:
during the Spanish Inquisition, all those with red hair were identified as
Jewish. In Italy, red hair was associated with Italian Jews, and Judas was
traditionally depicted as red-haired in Italian and Spanish art. Writers from
Shakespeare to Dickens would identify Jewish characters by giving them red
hair. The stereotype that red hair is Jewish remains in parts of Eastern Europe
and Russia.
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| Lalla Salma |
In the United
States, it is estimated that 2–6% of the population has red hair. This would
give the U.S. the largest population of redheads in the world, at 6 to 18
million, compared to approximately 650,000 in Scotland and 420,000 in
Ireland.[citation needed]
The Berber
populations of Morocco and northern Algeria have occasional redheads. Red hair
frequency is especially significant among the Riffians from Morocco and Kabyles
from Algeria, whose frequence reaches 10% and 4%, respectively. The Queen of
Morocco, Lalla Salma wife of king Mohammed VI, has red hair. Abd ar-Rahman I
also had red hair, his mother being a Christian Berber slave.
In Asia, genetic
red hair is rare, but can be found in the Levant (Cyprus, Syria, Lebanon,
Jordan, Israel and Palestine), in Turkey, in Caucasia, in Northern Kazakhstan,
and among Indo-Iranians. The use of henna on hair and skin for various reasons
is common in Asia. When henna is used on hair it dyes the hair to different
shades of red.
Emigration from
Eurasia and North Africa added to the population of red haired humans in the
Americas, Australia, New Zealand and Southern Africa.
Culture
In various times
and cultures, red hair has been prized, feared, and ridiculed.
Beliefs about
temperament
A common belief about redheads is that they
have fiery tempers and sharp tongues. In Anne of Green Gables, a character says
of Anne Shirley, the redheaded heroine, that "her temper matches her
hair", while in The Catcher in the Rye, Holden Caulfield remarks that
"People with red hair are supposed to get mad very easily, but Allie [his
dead brother] never did, and he had very red hair."
During the early
stages of modern medicine, red hair was thought to be a sign of a sanguine
temperament. In the Indian medicinal practice of Ayurveda, redheads are seen as
most likely to have a Pitta temperament.
Another belief is
that redheads are highly sexed; for example, Jonathan Swift satirizes redhead
stereotypes in part four of Gulliver's Travels, "A Voyage to the Country
of the Houyhnhnms," when he writes that: "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." Swift goes on to
write that: "...neither was the hair of this brute [a Yahoo] of a red
colour (which might have been some excuse for an appetite a little irregular)
but black as a sloe..." Such beliefs were given a veneer of scientific
credibility in the 19th century by Cesare Lombroso and Guglielmo Ferrero. They
concluded that red hair was associated with crimes of lust, and claimed that
48% of "criminal women" were redheads.
Fashion and art
Queen Elizabeth I
of England was a redhead, and during the Elizabethan era in England, red hair
was fashionable for women. In modern times, red hair is subject to fashion
trends; celebrities such as Nicole Kidman, Alyson Hannigan, Marcia Cross,
Christina Hendricks, Emma Stone and Geri Halliwell can boost sales of red hair
dye.
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| Lucille Ball |
Sometimes, red
hair darkens as people get older, becoming a more brownish color or losing some
of its vividness. This leads some to associate red hair with youthfulness, a
quality that is generally considered desirable. In several countries such as
India, Iran, Bangladesh and Pakistan, henna and saffron are used on hair to
give it a bright red appearance.
Many painters
have exhibited a fascination with red hair. The hair color "Titian"
takes its name from the artist Titian, who often painted women with red hair.
Early Renaissance artist Sandro Botticelli's famous painting The Birth of Venus
depicts the mythological goddess Venus as a redhead. Other painters notable for
their redheads include the Pre-Raphaelites, Edmund Leighton, Modigliani, and
Gustav Klimt.
Sir Arthur Conan
Doyle's story The Red-Headed League involves a man who is asked to become a
member of a mysterious group of red-headed people. The 1943 film DuBarry Was a
Lady featured red-heads Lucille Ball and Red Skelton in Technicolor.
"Red Red
Wine" is a song written, performed and originally recorded by American
artist Neil Diamond in 1968. The lyrics are sung from the perspective of
someone who finds drinking red wine the only way to forget his woes.
"Red
Rain" is the first track on Peter Gabriel's 1986 solo album So. In the
USA, it was the second single from the album and reached Number 3 on Billboard
magazine's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart in the fall of 1986, receiving strong
radio airplay and MTV rotation; in the rest of the world it was released until
1987 and received minor airplay and poor sales. Stewart Copeland from The
Police played the hi-hat for the rain-like background sound; the rest of the
drumming was handled by Jerry Marotta. A live version also charted in the US
and the UK in 1994.
"Holding
Back the Years" is the 7th track of Simply Red's debut studio album
Picture Book (1985). It remains their most successful single, having reached #1
on the US Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the UK Singles Chart. It is one of two
Simply Red songs (the other being their cover of "If You Don't Know Me by
Now") to reach #1 in the US. "Holding Back the Years" had
initially been released in the UK the year before, reaching #51.
