Seeing Red

Apparently, "REDHEADS are becoming rarer and could be extinct in 100 years, according to genetic scientists.... Some experts say that redheads could be gone as early as 2060, but others say the gene can be dormant for generations before returning."

According to the story, less than two per cent of the world's population has natural red hair. (HT: Evangelical Outpost.) Natural is the key word there.

In my forays, I had noticed the scarcity of red hair; now my observations have the weight of fact behind them (well, scientific speculation, anyway - is that an oxymoron?). Strangers comment all the time on my hair, though my sense of brutal honesty compels me to confess - to said total strangers - that my color, alas, is fake.

When women decide to color their hair, I think blonde is probably the preferred favorite. I was naturally blonde once. Now I'm naturally gray with a red facade.

John has declared many times that I should lose the red and go au naturel and embrace my gray. My response has consistently been: "I am picking -- years old. I am TOO YOUNG to be gray!!" I don't have kids yet. I just left my 20s. If I had never been a teacher, I think my hair would have remained mousy brown (not a beautiful brown) a bit longer. (I never think it coincidence that the gray began to appear my first year of teaching.)

But one can't remain red forever. I think it would look too obvious when I'm 50 or 60 with great red hair and no gray in sight. (Though my aunt's mother is in her 80s and still retains her natural brown-black color. Unfair!) I've spent a lot of time thinking about how to transition to natural color - in 20 or 30 years. Go to the salon and have them strip the color? Go blonde first as a transitional color and then phase to gray?

I am still not exactly sure how I arrived at red in the fall of 2000. I had never colored my hair before, or even gotten highlights. Then I became friends with Christy S.L., and anyone who knows her knows her strong personality! She wanted to dye or highlight her hair or something and asked me to help her. Somehow, at the store, it turned into picking a color for ME and then - I still don't understand how this happened - I bought a box of Clairol in some "safe" shade of red.

The ironic part is that after we finished, my hair looked like it had a slight red tinge, barely there, like we hadn't just gone to all the trouble. Surprisingly, I was disappointed the change wasn't more dramatic. A quick phone call to Clairol confirmed that while immediately coloring your hair again is not the best thing, it's not absolutely taboo, either. Back to the store for a stronger shade of red, and the second time proved drastically successful. A few months later, after only one more drugstore box, I took the financial plunge and went Salon. (Streaky red/brown/gray at-home dye jobs are not pretty.)

And when John and I got engaged, another sign confirmed this was Twu Luv: He put my hair appointments into our married budget.

But this article on the growing scarcity of redheads prompted some introspection:

(1) I personally don't have to worry about "extinction." At least, until I schedule it myself at the hair salon when I reach middle age.

(2) Perhaps this means I will grow more unique as time passes. Children will stop to stare and ask, "Mommy, what is that?" "Why, that's what we called a Redhead, dear. Stop staring and go ask for her autograph."

Darra, though she started out with lots of black markings, has really grown into her own red coloring (all natural, of course). We have almost the same color. (Really, is that good or bad, to "match" your dog??!)