Red hair, don't care

I am blessed with red hair, a trait that occurs in only 1 to 2 percent of the United States population. This accounts for about 6 to 18 million people. Our ranks are shrinking even more, due in no small part to the fact that those who posses the gene suffer ridicule, stereotypes and hazing.

As a child, I went through many experiences and made many memories, some so striking they have stayed with me into adulthood. I have countless memories of feeling slightly different because of my hair.

I didn't fit in my family full of blonds and brunettes. As a child, that bothered me. I wanted to be just like everyone else and would constantly tell my mother I wanted to be blonde like her and my younger sister. I was tired of feeling bullied and singled out.

Immature kids who didn't understand my hair color made fun of me in elementary school for having "orange hair." I was often referred to as Pippi Longstocking and other strange cartoon characters from ‘90s Nickelodeon shows, such as Eliza Thornberry from ‘The Wild Thornberrys.' This caused me to come to a conclusion befitting the logic of a child: I hated my red hair.

Although there were one or two others in my class who shared the mutated MC1R gene that causes red hair, I often felt I was all alone, part of a group no one fit into but me. I didn't understand why my hair color caused so much discussion among my classmates. It was just hair, who cared?

In various times and in different cultures, red hair has been prized, feared and ridiculed. Red hair stereotypes are seen throughout history in literature and art. One stereotype is that redheads have "fiery" and aggressive personalities. The main character of ‘Anne of Green Gables,' Anne Shirley, is a redhead said to have "a temper that matches her hair."

People often assume that I have an aggressive temperament because of my hair color. In reality, this couldn't be farther from the truth. I personally have tried to be as likeable as possible to avoid worsening the ridicule. It is sad that stereotypes are more often believed to be truths than the actual facts behind them.

The facts: Red hair is the genetic product of two mutated MC1R genes coming together in a child's DNA. To get a red-headed child, each parent must be a carrier. If both parents, red headed themselves or not, carry the mutation, the child has a one in four chance of inheriting it, as well. It takes a pair mutations, found on chromosome 16, which is far removed from the dominant brown and recessive blonde genes on chromosomes 15 and 19, to become a redhead.

Because somewhere in their bloodlines someone had the MC1R mutation and passed it to them, my parents had me, a red head. My sister got blonde hair like my mother, but it is likely that she inherited the mutation and could have redheaded children.

Some some projections say that by 2050, there will be no more people born with the mutated gene. While these rumors are a bit too wild to be true, it is true that the MC1R gene in its mutated form will become more and more rare as it is phased out of the gene pool. It is not true, however, that this mutation will cease altogether.

Since it is possible to carry the mutation and not personally have red hair, the recessive trait can be passed on through multiple generations without appearing in children. Because of the nature of recessive genes, it would not be possible for the gene to simply not be passed down and be "lost," resulting in redhead extinction.

Because carriers are not meeting and mating with one another as often, we aren't helping our cause, and the trait becomes more and more rare. Since there are so few carriers in the first place, the numbers keep dropping, and we are seeing fewer redheads than ever before.

Adding to the problem, sperm banks across the world are no longer accepting the sperm of redheaded men. The Cryobank in Sweden started this trend, saying that the rejection isn't due to prejudice against redheads but a lack of demand for the gene.

So what does this mean for redheads today? Because we are rarer, will we have to endure more criticism? I hope not.

There are those who admire my trait. I hope this trend will continue.

Strangers at the grocery store or the mall complimented me often, saying, "Oh wow! You have such pretty red hair! Is it natural?! Who did you get it from?"

I used to smile back and tell them it's from my mother's side of the family. I realize now, it had to come from both sides of my family, or I wouldn't be redheaded at all.

Looking back, I realize I didn't hate my red hair. I now see that it wasn't my hair color, but that I was letting myself be defined by it. I still feel resentful that people remember me not for my personality or my intelligence, but simply my red hair.

There is much more to me, and all redheads, than hair color. Unfortunately, there isn't anything I can do to change society's stereotypes. Because of this, I have learned to appreciate my red hair for its uniqueness and beauty, despite the unknown future of the rare trait.

Although I would love to perpetuate the gene and ensure its survival myself, I don't follow my own advice, seeking a redhead for a husband. I suppose I plan to let nature run its course, even if that means my hair will be put in a museum in the future.

For now, I hope people think twice before they make fun of someone for a simple physical characteristic, like red hair.