Pomgirl: I hope if we ever have a ginger child, we have an attractive one.The Boy: So you're hoping for a Nicole Kidman, rather than a Mick Hucknall?
Pomgirl: Exactly!
Does this make me a terribly shallow individual? I suspect it does. I do love the colour of my boy's hair, and it does have the advantage of making him very easy to find in a crowd, that and him being 6"2, but if I'm honest, I had never previously found ginger men attractive. Shocking, I know. I'm fairly certain though, that when we come to have children, I will love them whatever colour hair they have.
According to 'statistics' if one parent has red hair then there is a 50% chance of the gene being passed to the children. However, a recent report by National Geographic claims it is now harder for redheads to meet and spawn redheaded children due to 'global mingling' and they could face extinction by 2060! Oh noes, save the ginger!
I would hope for a ginger daughter rather than a ginger son. Life has never been easy for redheaded/ginger males. According to a BBC article on gingerphobia:
"the ancient Egyptians would also, it is said, ritually bury redheaded men alive. The ancient Greeks would consider that their characters were unbalanced, with their humours in the wrong proportions."
Oh dear. The same hair colour on a woman is considered desirable - subject to envy and imitation. In my early twenties, I dyed my hair a very vivid shade of red and adored it. A study (by Hamburg Sex Researcher - Professor Dr Werner Habermehl!) claims women with red hair have more sex than blondes and brunettes, and if a woman dyes her hair red then her partner should be concerned, stating:
"women who dyed their hair red from another colour were signalling they were looking for a partner, and added: "Even women in a fixed relationship are letting their partners know they are unhappy if they dye their hair red. They are saying that they are looking for something better."
I reckon this sounds like a right load of bollocks, but highlights a continuing fascination with red hair due to it being so rare. The highest percentage of natural redheads in the world is in Scotland (13%), followed by Ireland with 10%. In the US, about 2% of the population are natural redheads.
What seems strange to me is that one day my boy's hair will no longer be red but a rather lovely white, which is already starting to happen. By the time he is no longer a redhead, I hope to be able to tease our children or grandchildren instead.
A previous version of this post originally appeared here.
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