I was born with naturally bright red, curly hair (I imagined saying that like Frieda from Charlie Brown), and up until about halfway through high school I absolutely hated it. When I was younger I was the awkward redhead girl with glasses and freckles that didn’t have many friends. Not much of that has changed really, except for the most part I’ve learned how to tame my frizzy Merida-mane, I discovered the magic of eyebrow pencils, and people don’t make fun of me as much now (shout out to all the homies that used to call me Carrot Top!!!). However, in my short 21 years of life, I have heard the same list of comments and questions from people probably millions of times, and I’m sure every other redhead out there has too. Having red hair is mostly a blessing, but sometimes a curse because other people are literally obsessed with your hair as if you came straight from Narnia.
1. “Is that your natural color?”
This is a fair question for people that don’t know me, but people with other hair colors don’t get asked that this often do they? Also, what if it wasn’t my natural color… isn’t it mildly rude to ask if someone’s hair is real or not? I’m gonna start walking around with a sticky note on my forehead that says “yes, in fact, this is my natural hair. I even grew it myself.”
2. *Dyed my hair*
“Your natural red was so much prettier”
“Why would you want to get rid of that natural red???”
This one gets me HEATED. I decided to experiment a little this past summer and bleach my hair to a light strawberry blonde for awhile, and then I dyed it a dark auburn red color. If I had a dollar for every time I heard an unwanted and unnecessary, mildly passive aggressive and offensive comment about my unnatural hair color, I would actually be a millionaire. Fun fact: I didn’t dye my hair because I wanted to see what everyone would think, I dyed it because I got bored and I could do it. Simple as that. Basically the same reason any other human dyes their hair. Just because my hair is naturally red doesn’t mean I don’t get bored of it and don’t want to change it sometimes just like most other girls.
3. “You are so lucky to have red hair”
This one is always borderline awkward because I’m never sure if I should say thank you or not because I didn’t play a part in getting red hair. I also don’t feel any “luck” happening because of my hair color. Soooo uh sorry I don’t know how to respond to this one.
4. “Does the carpet match the drapes?”
I seriously cannot believe that this is a question that real people actually ask other people. Thankfully I’ve only been asked this a few times in my life, mostly when I was younger and didn’t fully understand what was being said to me. But Lord help the person who ever tries to ask me this in the future. This shouldn’t even be a thing, no matter what color hair you have.
5. “I heard redheads were crazy”
Also one that could be potentially rude, depending on what they meant. But in general, I wouldn’t consider myself crazy. What’s crazy though is the fact that you thought that would be a good way to start a conversation with me.
6. “Are you Irish?”
No I am from Atlantica thank you
7. “Do you have a quick temper?”
Such a broad question. Typically, no. For questions about stereotypes like this, definitely.
8. My all time favorite
“Do gingers have souls?”
The answer is no. No we don’t. Careful, I might steal yours.
Having red hair really can be pretty rad if constantly being the center of people’s jokes and fascination is your thing. The older I get the more I learn to appreciate being different from everyone else. For all my fellow gingers, check out this website for a bunch of cool stuff for redheads. Once you find the right shade of red lipstick that doesn’t clash with your hair, you’re unstoppable.