I'm about to tell you about a phenomenon that you're fully familiar with if you're a natural redhead: the dislike of blonds. For those who aren't natural redheads, let me give you some perspective.
1. When you're growing up as a natural redhead, you get a legion of people who put you down for it. I remember getting downright tormented by male classmates. I also heard from a guy once "I'd think you were pretty if you were a blonde."
I thought I'd been the only one until I read a story in Seventeen magazine as a teenager where the story author was a natural redhead talking about her experience growing up as a redhead. She had a guy tell her the VERY same thing.
So blonde, in a redhead's mind, is = to "society's ideal that I'm not." Hearing it enough really makes you chafe against it. Even some little girls will try to push blonde hair color onto redheads or make you feel like less of a person because you're a redhead.
2. Segments of society insult redheads. Consider the saying "Blonds have more fun." Who came up with that? Or "redheaded stepchild?" It wasn't a redhead, that's for sure. If you'd hung around me in college (oh, hell if you hung around me now), you'd know that was total bullshit. The blonds I knew had to actually put in effort to get guys to talk to them. They had to flirt. I never did. To my knowledge, I'm the only one with that power & I'm sure some people who've seen it would tell you that it's because I'm a redhead. Presumably, redheads have magic guy catching powers.
There are also men who hate redheads & claim we're ugly. One of these men was none other than Psycho Boy, if you can believe it. He said he hated redheads before meeting me. Had no sexual interest in them but when it was me, he was practically a damn stalker!
Is it any wonder I preferred dark haired guys? I'd have been all set if I'd gone to school with Italian guys but sadly, there were none in NC when I lived there. Blond haired guys also never talked to me & typically never viewed me as a romantic prospect.
And is it any wonder I had a lot of friends who weren't white when I was growing up? See, if you're a redhead you're the target of insult. I always spoke to whoever was nice to me & I figure the people who were my friends were dealing with similar garbage from the white kids so we had some common ground + common enemies. This is why if there were a natural redhead takeover, racial minorities would be fine.
Plus, they never looked at me like I was some alien from outer space. You feel like people think that about you, especially if you're around other redheads. Going out with my own family has garnered those looks. I'm more aware of being the only redhead than of being the only white person in a room.
3. Mainstream entertainment puts redheads down on a regular basis. How many natural redheads have actually become famous? Now, how many blonds and brunettes? Who's seen as the "industry type?" Certainly not redheads & I definitely don't think some blond is better looking than me, thank you very much. If anything, that blonde would more likely compliment my hair. I also think redheads are far more special & noticeable.
By the way, I define a natural redhead as someone who's never been any color but red. A real redhead would be murdered for changing her hair color. I've certainly been threatened with it & I get compliments on my hair nearly every time I walk into a hair salon. No decent beautician would ever dye it for me since they'd view it as a crime against nature.
Now I know finding natural redheads is next to impossible. Yes, I know it's only natural for 1% of the world's population. I don't envy anyone having to find a stand in for me if I had a role requiring that. But if you know redheaded actors & you're taking fake ones for parts, it does piss me off. It's the same feeling that I'm sure black people, Asian people, Hispanic people & others had when Hollywood was having white people pretend to be them instead of looking for actors who fit those characteristics.
The Millionaire Matchmaker apparently even had the gall to insult redheads, implying we were inferior and second class. Ha! The bitch hosting that one should see me out someplace, where I totally don't act like someone trying to find a guy & have guys approach me whether I like it or not.
Plus, the experience of being a natural redhead is very different from dyeing your hair the color later in life. You aren't coming into it with the baggage and the hassle a natural redhead had to go through. You're making a choice vs. having it inflicted upon you. You didn't have your mother tell you you couldn't dye your hair until you were 18. Nor did you have to go through life feeling like you had a proverbial spotlight fixed on you at all times.
It's no coincidence or shocker that natural redheads don't wish red hair on their kids, especially if that kid's going to be a boy. Red-haired guys have it even worse. At least women can get jobs as models or be viewed as "exotic."
Not to mention Manswers proclaims red-haired women are the best in bed, more sexually adventurous and get laid more often (vs. both blondes & brunettes). There are also fewer prudes in our ranks. This is WOMEN, though. Not sure whether this is true about men since such stories only go to women.
So, tell me again that blondes have more fun. Sounds like the men who hate redheads need to start listening to Manswers. I'm not going to confirm or deny the truth of those statements but let's just say that stereotypes about anything exist because some people do live up to them. Otherwise, they wouldn't exist.
Hopefully after reading this, you non-redheads out there will show some respect to the natural redheads you know. I find it funny Chelsea Handler says the same thing about red-haired guys that I've been saying for years. Only difference is no one would think she was committing incest if she dated one.
Monday, September 5, 2011
What Did Blonds Ever Do To Us???
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i have to totally agree, being born red is different. those who dye will NEVER understand. i also find that those who dye tend to comment about "being such a redhead" or "redheadedness is in the attitude, not whether you were born with it". B.S. those b*tches have no clue. and usually it is blondes who are dying their hair red. let's see... emma stone - blonde, nicole kidman - blonde, christina hendricks - blonde. yet all these women go around acting as if they were "born" with it. it pisses me off.
ReplyDeletesorry for the rant.
>:)
Red power! I'm redhead btw.
ReplyDelete:P
I'm a natural redhead, light auburn-titian, and I have blonde envy. I don't recall ever being told I'd be prettier blonde, but I was blonde as a child and have always wanted it back. I found this googling whether redheads could go blond or not. Personally I never got picked on for being a firecrotch until college when my friends make jokes the way friends do. My mother has naturally very dark hair and dyes it blonde. It looks great on her and we look very similar. It's interesting to see that I have escaped what seems to be hard young life. I personally don't feel any different about being red--except maybe when I see hair accessories that are intended to blend into your color and they don't sell any shades of red.
ReplyDeleteOh, that pisses me off along with the fact that I can't do a Mii that actually looks accurate on the Nintendo Wii since they don't have my hair shade! I always say that b/c of those facts, redheads don't get to be lumped in with the white people. We're separate & different.
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