Reasons To Love Redheads (Dec. 11')

In September 2011, Cryos International, one of the world's largest sperm banks, announced that it would no longer accept donations from red-haired men due to low demand from women seeking artificial insemination. I shall have to retort with: Many Reasons to Love Redheads.

The most common color of hair is brown, which is nice, but it is quite ordinary. Who really wants ordinary? Genuine beauty is in something unique and truly special. The rarest natural color of human hair in the world is Red. Red hair occurs on approximately 1–2% of the human population. Why settle for ordinary when redheads are extraordinary?

One must wonder what exactly causes red hair? Red hair appears in people with two copies of a recessive gene on chromosome 16 which causes a mutation in the MC1R protein. A  mutation? That's fantastic, this means redheads should be new members of the X Men.

Redheads have been in existence for quite some time. 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. Green eyes are the rarest color of eyes in the world, red hair is the rarest color of hair in the world. This means red hair and green eyes is the rarest combination in the world.

Fair skin with lighter colored eyes, beautiful! A white canvas painted with spots of vibrant colors, accented with freckles, just lovely!

Reactions to this combination weren't always pleasant. During the Middle Ages Montague Summers, in his translation of the Malleus Maleficarum, notes that red hair and green eyes were thought to be the sign of a witch, a werewolf or a vampire;Those whose hair is red, of a certain peculiar shade, are unmistakably vampires. It is significant that in ancient Egypt, as Manetho tells us, human sacrifices were offered at the grave of Osiris, and the victims were red-haired men who were burned, their ashes being scattered far and wide by winnowing-fans. It is held by some authorities that this was done to fertilize the fields and produce a bounteous harvest, red-hair symbolizing the golden wealth of the corn. But these men were called Typhonians, and were representatives not of Osiris but of his evil rival Typhon, whose hair was red.

If that's the case then who wouldn't be happy to have those fangs driven into their neck?

Reactions to redhards have varied from ridicule to admiration; many common stereotypes exist regarding redheads and they are often portrayed as fiery-tempered. Many painters have exhibited a fascination with red hair. The color "titian" takes its name from 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.

Great leaders through history have also been blessed with red hair. This includes one of England's most famous leaders Queen Elizabeth whom built England into one of its greatest periods called The Golden Age. Cleopatra VII's reign is one of the most famous in Egypt's history. Her legend still lives on!

Many mediums have featured redheads including film and television. The 1943 film DuBarry Was a Lady featured red-heads Lucille Ball and Red Skelton in Technicolor. The Red Shoes stars Moira Shearer. Other red-haired actors: Katharine Hepburn, Rhonda Fleming, Julianne Moore, Maureen O'Hara, Debra Messing, Ann Margaret, Arlene Dahl (a beautiful green-eyed redhead who starred in numerous MGM films and TV roles), Billie Burke (best known for her role in the 1939 movie musical "The Wizard of Oz" as the powerful redheaded sorceress "Glinda” the Good Witch of the North), Ron Howard, Bryce Dallas Howard (actress and daughter of director Ron Howard),  Carol Burnett (actress, singer, dancer, writer, comedian), Deborah Kerr (Scottish-born actress with numerous roles in movies, stage, and TV, best known for her portrayal as the governess Anna in the film musical ’The King and I’ with Yul Brynner), and the bad girl Linsay Lohan.

Moira Shearer

Lindsay Lohan 

Lucille Ball

Red haired beauties whom are blessed with angelic voices include: Shirley Manson, Lana Del Ray and Geri Haliwell (she may not be a natural redhead but everyone loves Ginger Spice).

Shirley Manson

Lana Del Rey

Geri Haliwell

The fashion industry has also filled its ranks with porcelain skinned, red haired, freckled beauties; this includes: Cintia Dicker, Angelica Bridges, and Lily Cole.

Cintia Dicker 

Lily Cole

The Adult Entertainment Industry even has its own stars whom are blessed  with red hair. Most of them they are blessed with a burning bush so yes the carpet matches the drapes! These fierce haired beauties are forces to be reckoned with: Tara Monroe, Nikki Rhodes, Pason, Scarlett Keegan, Heather Caroline, Aimee Sweet, Justine Joli (although she's not a natural redhead she wears it like no other).

Aimee Sweet

 Justine Joli

People whom appreciate this beauty so passionately that they celebrate it annually. Redhead day is the name of a Dutch festival that takes place annually on the first weekend of September in the city of Breda, the Netherlands. The two-day festival is a gathering of people with natural red hair, but is also focused on art related to the color red. Activities during the festival include lectures, workshops and demonstrations. Another devotion to redheads is the site redheads.tumblr.com

The greatest thing to posses is a great and wonderful spirit. But the rarity is to possess a great spirit and red hair, a real treasure!

For those angels whom are blessed with red hair I leave you with this: Think about whom you allow to water your garden and allow it to grow. Don't let this angelic beauty go silent into the night, instead let them burn bright! Let future generations see their beauty.

Out of the ash

I rise with my red hair

And I eat men like air.

- Sylvia Plath

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