Approximately 2% of the world population has red hair. It's a result of 2 copies of a recessive gene on chromosome 16 resulting in a change in the MC1R protein.
I, apparently, am not the only one who is scared of redheads. There is some evidence that red hair and green eyes were thought to be the sign of a witch, werewolf or vampire in the Middle Ages. In the UK, "gingerphobia" or "gingerism" has been compared to racism and a family there was forced to move twice after continually being harassed for being red headed. There's even anti-red head crime as a 20-year-old red head was stabbed in the back for being a redhead. There's an articlefrom BBC News if you're interested (the English are serious about their red head-hating). While I do have an irrational fear of redheads and have since childhood, I did not know that I was being a bigotted bitch and contributing to such a nefarious cult of redhead haters. There is even an anonymous redhead hater group you can join online. I mean, it's become somewhat of a joke among my friends and while we speculate that I must've been beaten up by a red-headed bully as a kid, I really didn't know where it came from. I have my quirks and I figured that my discomfort around redheads was just one of them.
This is not a baby- it's the devil.
But I suddenly remembered something. As a child growing up in Hong Kong, instead of the boogie man, you were sometimes threatened with the "redheaded, green-eyed" monster. Like, "you better eat your dinner (do your homework, practice your piano, etc.) little Jenny, or the redhead, green-eyed monster is coming to take you away." I'm serious.
My first instinct is to say that it must have come from an anti-colonial sentiment based on the presence of European colonizers in China and Hong Kong. Europeans were frequently referred to as "ghosts" and the history of European colonization in Hong Kong and China is certainly long and blood-stained. But... people in Hong Kong kind of loved their colonizers by the time I was around. In terms of popular image, the late 70's and early 80's was a great time for Europeans in Hong Kong. Hong Kong natives took real pride in their cosmopolitanism, their ability to blend European fashion with Chinese aesthetics. They loved French food and soccer. At every turn there was denigration of mainland China and their misguided communist beliefs. Was this hatred a throwback from earlier times? Was it actually racism of the Irish transferred to the Chinese from their British colonizers?
Nonetheless, I am very uncomfortable around certain redheads. Generally, they're one's who are very fair-skinned, have the bright red hair, freckles and yes, green eyes (I am a terrible person). Luckily, my fear of red heads doesn't actually disrupt my daily life nor do I go out of my way to harass them when we come into contact. I don't cross the street so as not to be close to them (frequently, anyway) and I'm sure that if I got to know a redhead, I would happily claim them as my token redheaded friend.
What I came to understand, however, is that I never realized that just like every other racist, sexist asshole I've heard in interviews who say "It's just not right, having a Black man be the President," or "It's just nature, women take care of babies," I didn't take the time to investigate this fear I had. I didn't think about it or consider that my redhead hating could affect other people, or that my decisions could be based on something as artificial as the color of someone's hair.
I guess what I learned is that fear, instilled at an early age sometimes goes beyond reason. And it's our job, as free-thinking adults, to overcome these fears through rational thinking and tolerance. Discomfort isn't always a bad thing, it's actually a sign of growth. I realized that sometimes, you overcome your fear and realize that witches are people too.
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