ginger who?
Sure, everyone is mistaken for someone at some point in time, but I simply do not think this happens to brunettes or blondes as much as it does for redheads.
For many of my black, Latino and Asian friends out there, I am sure that you too can list instance after instance after instance when you have been mistaken for a like-raced person who looks nothing like you. Obviously, redheads aren’t a race in the traditional sense. We don’t all come from the same place, but contrary to what many people assume, we are represented by people with skin colours in every tone known to man.
There may be fewer of us than other hair colours, and our colouring may vary, but we’re all proud redheads. In Ireland, as many as 10% of the population have red, auburn or strawberry blonde hair. It is caused by a variation in the MC1R gene. To prove not all redheads look the same, I came up with the idea of making a ‘Ginger Guess Who’ game. To show this I have photographed the lovely redheads of NCAD and placed them side by side proving there are a variety of different shades within the MC1R gene; ranging from strawberry blonde, ginger, classic red and deep red to auburn and dark auburn. Blue eyes with red hair is the rarest combination on earth. Most natural redheads will have brown eyes, followed by hazel or green shades. The aim of the game is to show that there is in fact a spectrum of characteristics within the redhead community.
