The Phenomenon of Gingers

It's been a while since either of us blogged, but neither of us have died and we do still have the ability to write despite the fact that my hand is still throbbing as a result of my 12-page History exam that I did today, I apologise if I randomly write something like 'Adolf' or 'atomic bomb' somewhere in this post.
I'm sure you'll be glad to know that my exams are going alright so far! 4 down, 600 more to go! Onwards and upwards.

Anyway, onto what this blog is really about- Gingers.
There was an article in the Daily Telegraph (I'm so intellectual) about the bullying of gingers and how hard gingers have it. I'm not going to lie, I don't get bullied about the colour of my hair (I have red hair in case that hadn't been grasped already); the worst I get is being asked if I have 'Gingeritis' when I'm ill. That's not even funny... I don't actually get it, so I'm not going to talk about the treatment of red-haired people. Instead I'm going to bore everyone and talk about the science of gingers. Amongst other things.
(I may be blogging but I do still have to revise for Biology)

I greatly apologise if you are gingerist or suffer from gingerphobia (swear on my life, those are real things).


Prince Harry

Genes
For those of you that don't know- Genes make you who you are, appearance and other characteristics-wise. Basically, if a gene is recessive then that trait won't be seen in a person, if it is dominant then it will. Capiche?
According to the well known scientist, Wikipedia, the gene for red hair is recessive, so you can only have red hair if you have two recessive genes. For this reason, gingerness often skips a generation; if you're ginger and you want someone to blame- blame your grandparents.
Also because of ginger being a recessive gene, you can carry it but not be red headed; this is also the reason that some men grow ginger beards but are non-gingers themselves.

Dying Breed?
I have often been told that soon us gingers will die out and the world will be ruled by blondes and brunettes. Professor WikiAnswers tells me otherwise, a National Geographic article said:
"While redheads may decline, the potential for red isn't going away." Not sure what that means in English, you're guess is as good as mine.
But what's important to know is that we won't be running out of redheads anytime soon, so there is not need to start inter-breeding now to repopulate them, pervy gingers.

Medical Stuff
I'm just going to put it out there that I have red hair and I still tan. Gasp all you want, but it's true.
However, on that note, it is true that gingers lack 'Melanin' and therefore are less likely to tan and more likely to receive excessive amounts of freckles. Which is wonderful.
There is also more chance of a red headed person getting sunburnt than anyone else... I think that's a good thing, makes it easy for my family to spot me on the beach. (Ignore the pain and the skin cancer thing)

History
Like I said, I've done my History exam already so I won't lecture you about important things. Just ginger history. You may as well call this section "Fun Facts"

• The term "redhead" has been in use since 1510.
• Some old man once said that in order to make gold from copper you need to mix the blood of someone with red hair with the ashes of a Basilisk. Be right back, just off to slay a basilisk and find some copper.
• In September 2011, one of the largest sperm banks said that they would no longer accept donations from red headed men. Not going to divulge on this one.
• The Chinese word 'ang mo' means redhead and is used in Malaysia and Singapore to refer to all English people. HA.
• Red heads have often been thought of as being a little... slutty (sorry, I wasn't going to use Wikipedia's word suggestion for this one). No comment.

Ed Sheeran

Being Ginger is Awesome
There have been many studies into this, everyone wants to know about them gingerz, and apparently people with red hair are less receptive to pain from electrical stimuli (also mechanical and chemical, but I don't know any examples of those). Go for it gingers- go stick your finger in a plug socket while holding a metal conductor and see if the current travels throught the conductor and into your hand and electrocutes you/gives you an electric shock (Physics revision. Check), 'cause it won't! Gingers are indestructible, when it comes to electricity.

However... being Ginger is Lame
This is yet to be completely proven but apparently redheads bruise more easily than those with other hair colours. Lucy often says that she "bruises like a peach", this is clearly because she carries the ginger gene and is going to have lots of ginger babies. LOL.
To make matters worse, apparently pain killers work less well on red headed people (something to do with some sciencey letters and numbers).
Aaand to put a really negative spin on it- people with the ginger gene, whether you are red headed or not, have a higher chance of getting some skin cancers. FML. 

Lily Cole


Bibliography of this post:
Wikipedia
The Daily Mail (they supplied me with all of the negative facts and kept referring to being ginger as a "mutation". Thanks Daily Mail)
My imagination

Oh and also, there is a celebration of redheads in Holland that is called "redheadday". I'll be there if you need me.
There is also a chance that I am a witch, a werewolf, or a vampire seeing as I have red hair and green eyes. I think it's because I'm Irish, but I'll try howling at the moon next time it's a full one and see what happens.

And also, pregnant people (if there are any), if your newborn baby has red hair, check out the window to see if Mars is "rising above the eastern horizon." Because gingers being born triggers that, whatever that is.

Hope you enjoyed this super long post about my peoples and I hope it makes up for our recent silence.

M x