Red hair, also known asginger hair, is ahuman hair color found in 2–6% of people ofNorthern orNorthwestern European ancestry and lesser frequency in other populations. It is most common in individualshomozygous for arecessive allele onchromosome 16 that produces an altered version of theMC1R protein.[1]
Red hair varies in hue from a deepburgundy or brightcopper, orauburn, toburnt orange orred-orange tostrawberry blond. Characterized by high levels of the reddish pigmentpheomelanin and relatively low levels of the dark pigmenteumelanin, it is typically associated withfair skin color, lightereye color,freckles, and sensitivity toultraviolet light.[2]
Cultural reactions to red hair have been varied. The term "redhead" has been in use since at least 1510,[3] while the term "ginger" is sometimes used, especially in Britain and Ireland, to describe a person with red hair.
The origin of red hair can be traced toCentral Asia, caused by a mutation in the MC1R gene.[4][5]
Red hair is most commonly found at thenorthern andwestern fringes of Europe;[6] it is centred around populations in theBritish Isles and is particularly associated with theCeltic nations.[6]
Scotland has the highest number of red-haired people per capita in the world, with the percentage of those with red hair at around 13%, followed byIreland andWales.[7] The highest concentration of red head carriers in the world found inEdinburgh, making it the red head capital of the world.[8] In Scotland, around 6% of the population has red hair.[9][contradictory] In 1907, the largest ever study of hair colour in Scotland, which analysed over 500,000 people, found the percentage of Scots with red hair to be 5.3%.[10] A 1956 study of hair colour amongBritish Army recruits also found high levels of red hair inWales and in theScottish border counties of England.[fn 1][11]
Byzantine writersJordanes andProcopius described theearly Slavic peoples as having ruddy hair and skin tone.[13][14] Later by the 10th century, Southern Slavic populations would have darker hair and skin tone, as the Slavs assimilated the indigenous inhabitants of the Balkans, includingGreek andIllyrian peoples.[15]
In the late 18th century,ethnographers considered theUdmurt people of theVolga Region in Russia to be "the most red-headed men in the world".[16] The Volga region still has one of the highest percentages of red-headed people.[17]
Red hair is also found amongst theAshkenazi Jewish populations.[18] In 1903, 5.6% of Polish Jews had red hair.[19] Other studies have found that 3.69% of Jewish women overall were found to have red hair, but around 10.9% of all Jewish men have redbeards.[20] Thestereotype that red hair is Jewish remains in parts of Eastern Europe and Russia.[21]
In Italy, red hair is found at a frequency of 0.57% of the total population, without variation in frequency across the different regions of the country.[22] In Sardinia, red hair is found at a frequency of 0.24% of the population.[22] In Italy, red hair was associated with Italian Jews, andJudas was traditionally depicted as red-haired in Italian and Spanish art.[23] In European culture, before the 20th century, red hair was often seen as a stereotypically Jewish trait: during theSpanish Inquisition, all those with red hair were identified as Jewish.[24]
TheBerber populations ofMorocco[25] and northernAlgeria have occasional redheads. Red hair frequency is especially significant among theRiffians from Morocco andKabyles from Algeria,[26][27][28] respectively.
In Asia, red hair can be found among some peoples ofAfghan,[29][30]Arab,Iranian,East Indians,Mongolian,Turkic,Miao, andHmong descent.[citation needed]
Several preserved samples of human hair have been obtained from anIron Age cemetery inKhakassia,South Siberia. Many of the hair samples appear red in color, and one skull from the cemetery had a preserved redmoustache.[31]
Ancient human remains described as having red orauburn hair have been discovered in various parts of Asia, including theTarim mummies ofXinjiang, China.[32] In Chinese sources, ancientKyrgyz people were described as fair-skinned, green- or blue-eyed and red-haired people with a mixture of European and East Asian features.[33] In theBook of Wei, Chinese authorWei Shou notes thatLiu Yuan was over 6 feet (1.8 m) tall and had red strands of hair in his long beard.[34] The ethnicMiao people of China are recorded with red hair. According to F.M Savina of the Paris Foreign Missionary Society, the appearance of the Miao was "pale yellow in complexion, almost white, their hair is often light or dark brown, sometimes even red or corn-silk blond, and a few even have pale blue eyes".[35] A phenotype study ofHmong people show they are sometimes born with red hair.[36]
TheKipchak people were aTurkic ethnic group from Central Asia who served in theGolden Horde military forces after being conquered by the Mongols. In the Chinese historical documentKang mu, the Kipchak people are described as red haired and blue-eyed.[37][38]
Reddish-brown (auburn) hair is also found among somePolynesians, and is especially common in some tribes and family groups. In Polynesian culture, reddish hair has traditionally been seen as a sign of descent from high-ranking ancestors and a mark of rulership.[40][41] Emigration from Europe has increased the population of red haired humans in the Americas, Australia, New Zealand andSouth Africa.
Several accounts by Greek writers mention redheaded people. A fragment by the poetXenophanes describes theThracians as blue-eyed and red-haired.[42] The ancientBudini andSarmatians are also reported by some classical Greek authors to be blue-eyed and red-haired.[43][44] It was once believed that Sarmatians owed their name to their red hair,[44] but this claim was later debunked.[45]
In Asia, red or auburn hair has been found among the ancientTocharians, who occupied theTarim Basin in what is now the northwesternmost province of China.Tarim mummies have been found with red hair dating to the2nd millennium BC.[46]
In certain Biblical accounts,Hebrew andIsraelite individuals were described as having ruddy hair. For example,Esau andDavid (Gen. 25:25; 1 Sam. 16:12, 17:42.), are described as "admoni", meaning red or ruddy.[47]
The pigmentpheomelanin gives red hair its distinctive color. Red hair has far more of the pigment pheomelanin than it has of the dark pigment eumelanin.
Thegenetics of red hair appear to be associated with themelanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R), which is found onchromosome 16. In 1995, Valverde, et al. identifiedalleles on MC1R associated with red hair. The number of alleles linked to red hair has since been expanded by other authors, and these variants are now identified as the RHC (red hair colour) alleles. Eighty percent of redheads have an MC1R gene variant within the RHC.[48][2] Red hair is also associated with fair skin color because the MC1R mutation also results in low concentrations of eumelanin throughout the body. The lower melanin concentration in skin confers the advantage that a sufficient concentration of importantvitamin D can be produced under low light conditions. However, when UV-radiation is strong (as in regions close to the equator) the lower concentration of melanin leads to several medical disadvantages, such as a higher risk of skin cancer. The MC1R variant gene that gives people red hair generally results in skin that is difficult or impossible totan. Because of the natural tanning reaction to the sun's ultraviolet light and high amounts of pheomelanin in the skin,freckles are a common, but not universal, feature of red-haired people.
Red hair can originate from several changes on the MC1R-gene. If one of these changes is present on both chromosomes, then the respective individual is likely to have red hair. This type of inheritance is described as an autosomalrecessive. Even if both parents do not have red hair themselves, both can becarriers for the gene and have a redheaded child.
Genetic studies ofdizygotic (fraternal) twins indicate that the MC1R gene is not solely responsible for the red hair phenotype; unidentified modifier genes exist, making variance in the MC1R gene necessary, but not sufficient, for red hair production.[49]
The alleles Arg151Cys, Arg160Trp,Asp294His, and Arg142His onMC1R are shown to be recessives for the red hair phenotype.[50] The geneHCL2 onchromosome 4 may also be related to red hair.[51][52] There are at least 8 genetic differences associated with red hair color.[53][54]
In species other than primates, red hair has different genetic origins and mechanisms.
The genes responsible for red hair can express themselves to different extents in different people. One consequence of this is that a number of people[quantify] have both dark hair and red beards. This may reflect the presence of a single copy of the MC1R gene, leading to differential expression in the beard versus the scalp hair. However, some red-bearded people lack MC1R genes.[55][56]
Red hair is the rarest natural hair color in humans. The non-tanning skin associated with red hair may have been advantageous in far-northern climates where sunlight is scarce. Studies byBodmer andCavalli-Sforza (1976) hypothesized that lighter skin pigmentation preventsrickets in colder climates by encouraging higher levels ofvitamin D production and also allows the individual to retain heat better than someone with darker skin.[57] In 2000, Hardinget al. concluded that red hair is not the result of positive selection but of a lack of negative selection. In Africa, for example, red hair is selected against because high levels of sun harm pale skin. However, in Northern Europe this does not happen, so redheads can become more common throughgenetic drift.[50]
Estimates on the original occurrence of the currently active gene for red hair vary from 20,000 to 100,000 years ago.[58][59]
A DNA study has concluded that someNeanderthals also had red hair, although the mutation responsible for this differs from that which causes red hair in modern humans.[60]
A 2007 report inThe Courier-Mail, which cited theNational Geographic magazine and unnamed "geneticists", said that red hair is likely to die out in the near future.[61] Other blogs and news sources ran similar stories that attributed the research to the magazine or the "Oxford Hair Foundation". However, aHowStuffWorks article says that the foundation was funded byhair-dye makerProcter & Gamble, and that other experts had dismissed the research as either lacking in evidence or simply bogus. TheNational Geographic article in fact states, "while redheads may decline, the potential for red isn't going away".[62]
Red hair is caused by a relatively rare recessiveallele, the expression of which can skip generations. It is not likely to disappear at any time in the foreseeable future.[62]
Melanin in the skin aids UV tolerance throughsun tanning, but fair-skinned persons lack the levels of melanin needed to preventUV-induced DNA-damage. Studies have shown that red hair alleles in MC1R increasefreckling and decrease tanning ability.[63] It has been found that Europeans who areheterozygous for red hair exhibit increased sensitivity to UV radiation.[64]
Red hair and its relationship to UV sensitivity are of interest to manymelanoma researchers. Sunshine can both be good and bad for a person's health and the different alleles on MC1R represent these adaptations. It also has been shown that individuals with pale skin are highly susceptible to a variety ofskin cancers such asmelanoma,basal cell carcinoma, andsquamous cell carcinoma.[65][66]
Two studies have demonstrated that people with red hair have different sensitivity to pain to people with other hair colors. One study found that women with red hair are slightly more sensitive to thermal pain (associated with naturally occurring lowvitamin K levels) and thatlidocaine was significantly less effective in reducing pain.[67] Another study concluded that redheads are less sensitive to pain from multiple modalities, includingnoxious stimuli such as electrically induced pain.[68][69][70]
Researchers have found that people with red hair require greater amounts ofanesthetic.[71] Another study showed women with gene variants associated with red hair had a greateranalgesic response to the painkillerpentazocine than do either women of other hair colors or men of any hair color.[72] A follow-up study by the same group showed that men and women with red hair had a greater analgesic response tomorphine-6-glucuronide.[70] However, a later study of 468 healthy adult patients found no significant difference in recovery times, pain scores, or quality of recovery in those with red hair compared with dark hair in either men or women.[73]
The unexpected relationship of hair color to pain tolerance appears to exist because redheads have a mutation in a hormone receptor that can apparently respond to at least two types of hormones: the pigmentation-drivingmelanocyte-stimulating hormone (MSH), and the pain-relievingendorphins (both derive from the same precursor molecule,POMC, and are structurally similar). Specifically, redheads have a mutatedmelanocortin-1 receptor (MC1R) gene that produces an altered receptor for MSH.[74] Melanocytes, the cells that produce pigment in skin and hair, use the MC1R to recognize and respond to MSH from theanterior pituitary gland. Melanocyte-stimulating hormones normally stimulates melanocytes to make blackeumelanin, but if the melanocytes have a mutated receptor, they will make reddishpheomelanin instead. MC1R also occurs in the brain, where it is one of a large set of POMC-related receptors that are apparently involved not only in responding to MSH, but also in responses toendorphins and possibly other POMC-derived hormones.[74] Though the details are not clearly understood, it appears that there is somecrosstalk between the POMC hormones that may explain the link between red hair and pain tolerance.
There is little or no evidence to support the belief that people with red hair have a higher chance than people with other hair colors tohemorrhage or suffer other bleeding complications.[75][76] One study, however, reports a link between red hair and a higher rate ofbruising.[76]
Most red hair is caused by the MC1R gene and is non-pathological. However, in rare cases red hair can be associated with disease or genetic disorders:
There have also been rare reports of scalp or beard hair spontaneously turning partially red, with no identified pathological cause.[79]
In various times and cultures, red hair has been prized, feared, and ridiculed.
_detail.jpg)
.jpg)
Queen Elizabeth I of England was a redhead, and during theElizabethan era in England, red hair was fashionable for women. In modern times, red hair is subject to fashion trends; celebrities such asNicole Kidman,Alyson Hannigan,Marcia Cross,Christina Hendricks,Emma Stone andGeri Halliwell can boost sales of red hair dye.[citation needed]
Sometimes, red hair darkens as people get older, becoming a more brownish color or losing some of its vividness. This leads some to associate red hair with youthfulness, a quality that is generally considered desirable. In several countries such as India, Iran, Bangladesh and Pakistan,henna andsaffron are used on hair to give it a bright red appearance.[82]
Many painters have exhibited a fascination with red hair. The hair color "Titian" takes its name from the artistTitian, who often painted women with red hair. Early Renaissance artistSandro Botticelli's famous paintingThe Birth of Venus depicts the mythological goddessVenus as a redhead. Other painters notable for their redheads include thePre-Raphaelites,Edmund Leighton,Modigliani,[83] andGustav Klimt.[84]
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle'sSherlock Holmes story "The Red-Headed League" (1891) involves a man who is asked to become a member of a mysterious group of red-headed people. The 1943 filmDuBarry Was a Lady featured red-headsLucille Ball andRed Skelton inTechnicolor.
Notable comic book characters with red hair includeJean Grey,Red Sonja,Mystique, andPoison Ivy.[85]
A book of photographs of red haired people was published in 2020,Gingers by Kieran Dodds (2020).[86]
There has been an annualRedhead Day festival in the Netherlands that attracts red-haired participants from around the world. The festival was held inBreda, a city in the south east of the Netherlands, prior to 2019, when it moved toTilburg.[87] It attracts participants from over 80 countries. The international event began in 2005, when Dutch painter Bart Rouwenhorst decided he wanted to paint 15 redheads.
The Irish Redhead Convention, held in late August inCounty Cork since 2011, claims to be a global celebration and attracts people from several continents. The celebrations include crowning the ginger King and Queen, competitions for the best red eyebrows and most freckles per square inch, orchestral concerts and carrot throwing competitions.[88]
A smaller red-hair day festival is held since 2013 by the UK'sAnti-Bullying Alliance in London, with the aim of instilling pride in having red-hair.[89]
Since 2014, a red-hair event is held in Israel, atKibbutz Gezer (Carrot), for the local Israeli red hair community,[90] including both Ashkenazi andMizrahi red-heads.[91] However, the number of attendees has to be restricted due to the risk of rocket attacks, leading to anger in the red-hair community.[92] The organizers state; "The event is a good thing for many redheads, who had been embarrassed about being redheads before."[92]
The first and only festival for red heads in the United States was launched in 2015. Held inHighwood, Illinois, Redhead Days draws participants from across the United States.[93]
A festival to celebrate the red-haired people is held annually inIzhevsk (Russia), the capital ofUdmurtia, since 2004.[94]
MC1R Magazine is a publication for red-haired people worldwide, based inHamburg, Germany.[95]
Inancient Egypt, red hair was associated with the deitySet, as well asRamesses II.[96][97]
In theIliad,Achilles' hair is described asxanthēs (ξανθῆς[98]), usually translated as blonde, or golden[99] but sometimes as red or tawny.[100][101] His sonNeoptolemus also bears the name Pyrrhus, a possible reference to his own red hair.[102]
TheNorse godThor is usually described as having red hair.[103]
The Hebrew word usually translated "ruddy" or "reddish-brown" (admoniאדמוני, from the rootADMאדם, see alsoAdam andEdom)[104][105][106] was used to describe bothEsau andDavid.
Judas Iscariot is also represented with red hair inSpanish culture[107][108] and in the works ofWilliam Shakespeare,[109] reinforcing the negative stereotype.
The mainly masculine given nameRory – a name ofGoidelic origin, which is an anglicisation of theIrish:Ruairí/Ruaidhrí/Ruaidhrígh/Raidhrígh,Scottish Gaelic:Ruairidh andManx:Rauree[110] which is common to theIrish,Highland Scots and their diasporas[111] – means "red-haired king", fromruadh ("red-haired" or "rusty") andrígh ("king"). However, present bearers of the name are by no means all red-haired themselves.
A common belief about redheads is that they have fiery tempers and sharp tongues. InAnne of Green Gables, a character says ofAnne Shirley, the redheaded heroine, that "her temper matches her hair", while inThe Catcher in the Rye,Holden Caulfield remarks that "People with red hair are supposed to get mad very easily, but Allie [his dead brother] never did, and he had very red hair."
During the early stages of modern medicine, red hair was thought to be a sign of asanguinetemperament.[112] In the Indian medicinal practice ofAyurveda, redheads are seen as most likely to have aPitta temperament.
Another belief is that redheads are highly sexed; for example,Jonathan Swift satirizes redhead stereotypes in part four ofGulliver's Travels, "A Voyage to the Country of theHouyhnhnms," when he writes that: "It is observed that the red-haired of both sexes are more libidinous and mischievous than the rest, whom yet they much exceed in strength and activity." Swift goes on to write that "neither was the hair of this brute [aYahoo] of a red colour (which might have been some excuse for an appetite a little irregular) but black as a sloe".[113] Such beliefs were given a veneer of scientific credibility in the 19th century byCesare Lombroso andGuglielmo Ferrero. They concluded that red hair was associated with crimes of lust, and claimed that 48% of "criminal women" were redheads.[114]
Theophilus Presbyter describes how the blood of a red-haired young man is necessary to creategold fromcopper, in a mixture with the ashes of abasilisk.[115]
According toMontague Summers, red hair and green eyes were thought to be the sign of awitch,werewolf orvampire during the Middle Ages:
Those whose hair is red, of a certain peculiar shade, are unmistakably vampires. It is significant that in ancient Egypt, asManetho tells us, human sacrifices were offered at the grave of Osiris, and the victims were red-haired men who were burned, their ashes being scattered far and wide by winnowing-fans. It is held by some authorities that this was done to fertilize the fields and produce a bounteous harvest, red-hair symbolizing the golden wealth of the corn. But these men were called Typhonians, and were representatives not of Osiris but of his evil rivalTyphon, whose hair was red.
During theSpanish Inquisition, people of red hair were identified as Jewish and isolated for persecution.[24] In medieval Italy and Spain, red hair was associated with the heretical nature of Jews and their rejection ofJesus, and thusJudas Iscariot was commonly depicted as red-haired in Italian and Spanish art.[23] Writers from Shakespeare to Dickens would identify Jewish characters by giving them red hair, such as the villainous Jewish charactersShylock andFagin.[116] The antisemitic association persisted into modern times in Soviet Russia.[21] The medieval prejudice against red-hair may have derived from the ancient biblical tradition, in relation to biblical figures such asEsau andKing David. The ancient historianJosephus would mistranslate the Hebrew Torah to describe the more positive figure ofKing David as 'golden haired', in contrast to the negative figure ofEsau, even though the original Hebrew Torah implies that both King David and Esau had 'fiery red hair'.[117]
In his 1885 bookI Say No,Wilkie Collins wrote "The prejudice against habitual silence, among the lower order of the people, is almost as inveterate as the prejudice against red hair."
In his 1895 memoir and historyThe Gurneys of Earlham,Augustus John Cuthbert Hare described an incident of harassment:"The second son, John, was born in 1750. As a boy he had bright red hair, and it is amusingly recorded that one day in the streets of Norwich a number of boys followed him, pointing to his red locks and saying, "Look at that boy; he's got a bonfire on the top of his head," and that John Gurney was so disgusted that he went to a barber's, had his head shaved, and went home in a wig. He grew up, however, a remarkably attractive-looking young man."[118]
.jpg)
InBritish English, the word "ginger" is sometimes used to describe red-headed people (at times in an insulting manner),[119] with terms such as "gingerphobia"[120] and "gingerism"[121] used by the British media. It is roughly the color of dried, powderedginger root.[122] In Britain, redheads are also sometimes referred to disparagingly as "carrot tops" and "carrot heads" (the comedian "Carrot Top" uses thisstage name). "Gingerism" has been compared toracism, although this is widely disputed, and bodies such as the UKCommission for Racial Equality do not monitor cases of discrimination andhate crimes against redheads.[121]
Nonetheless, individuals and families in Britain are targeted for harassment and violence because of their hair colour. In 2003, a 20-year-old was stabbed in the back for "being ginger".[123] In 2007, a UK woman won an award from a tribunal after being sexually harassed and receiving abuse because of her red hair;[124] in the same year, a family inNewcastle upon Tyne, was forced to move twice after being targeted for abuse and hate crimes on account of their red hair.[125] In May 2009, a schoolboy committed suicide after being bullied for having red hair.[126] In 2013, a fourteen-year-old boy inLincoln had his right arm broken and his head stamped on by three men who attacked him "just because he had red hair"; the three men were subsequently jailed for a combined total of ten years and one month for the attack.[127] This prejudice has been satirised on a number of TV shows. English comedianCatherine Tate (herself a redhead) appeared as a red-haired character in a running sketch of her seriesThe Catherine Tate Show. The sketch saw fictional characterSandra Kemp, who was forced to seek solace in a refuge for ginger people because she had been ostracised from society.[128] The British comedyBo' Selecta! (starring redheadLeigh Francis) featured a spoof documentary which involved a caricature ofMick Hucknall presenting a show in which celebrities (played by themselves) dyed their hair red for a day and went about daily life being insulted by people; Hucknall, who says that he has repeatedly faced prejudice or been described as ugly on account of his hair colour, argues that Gingerism should be described as a form of racism.[129] ComedianTim Minchin, himself a redhead, also covered the topic in his song "Prejudice".[130]
The pejorative use of the word "ginger" and related discrimination was used to illustrate a point about racism and prejudice in the "Ginger Kids", "Le Petit Tourette", "It's a Jersey Thing" and "Fatbeard" episodes ofSouth Park.
Film and television programmes often portray schoolbullies as having red hair.[131] However, children with red hair are often themselves targeted by bullies; "Somebody with ginger hair will stand out from the crowd," says anti-bullying expertLouise Burfitt-Dons.[132]
InAustralian slang, redheads are often nicknamed "Blue" or "Bluey".[133] More recently, they have been referred to as "rangas" (a word derived from the red-haired ape, theorangutan), sometimes with derogatory connotations.[134] The word "rufus" (a variant ofrufous, a reddish-brown color) has been used in both Australian and British slang to refer to red-headed people.[135]
In November 2008, social networking websiteFacebook received criticism after a "Kick a Ginger" group, which aimed to establish a "National Kick a Ginger Day" on 20 November, acquired almost 5,000 members. A 14-year-old boy from Vancouver who ran the Facebook group was subjected to an investigation by theRoyal Canadian Mounted Police for possible hate crimes.[136]
In December 2009 British supermarket chainTesco withdrew aChristmas card which had the image of a child with red hair sitting on the lap ofFather Christmas, and the words: "Santa loves all kids. Even ginger ones" after customers complained the card was offensive.[137]
In October 2010,Harriet Harman, the former Equality Minister in the British government under Labour, faced accusations of prejudice after she described the red-haired Treasury secretaryDanny Alexander as a "ginger rodent".[138] Alexander responded to the insult by stating that he was "proud to be ginger".[139] Harman was subsequently forced to apologise for the comment, after facing criticism for prejudice against a minority group.[140]
In September 2011,Cryos International, one of the world's largestsperm banks, announced that it would no longer accept donations from red-haired men due to low demand from women seekingartificial insemination.[141]
The termang mo (Chinese:红毛;pinyin:hóng máo;Pe̍h-ōe-jī:âng-mo͘) inHokkien (Min Nan) Chinese, meaning "red-haired",[142] is used inMalaysia andSingapore, although it refers to all white people, never exclusively people with red hair. The epithet is sometimes rendered asang mo kui (红毛鬼) meaning "red-haired devil", similar to theCantonese termgweilo ("foreign devil"). Thus it is viewed as racist and derogatory by some people.[143] Others, however, maintain it is acceptable.[144] Despite this ambiguity, it is a widely used term. It appears, for instance, in Singaporean newspapers such asThe Straits Times,[145] and in television programmes and films.
The Chinese characters forang mo are the same as those in the historical Japanese termKōmō (紅毛), which was used during theEdo period (1603–1868) as an epithet for Dutch or Northern European people. It primarily referred toDutch traders who were the only Europeans allowed to trade with Japan duringSakoku, its 200-year period of isolation.[146]
The historic fortressFort Santo Domingo inTamsui,Taiwan was nicknamed inTaiwaneseHokkienChinese:紅毛城;Pe̍h-ōe-jī:Âng-mn̂g-siâⁿ;lit. 'Red-hair (ang mo) fort'.[147]
When someone has both of their MC1R genes mutated, this conversion doesn't happen anymore and you get a buildup of pheomelanin, which results in red hair
northeast of Kabul, however, the local population includes many people with blond or red hair and blue or...
They are generally of medium, slender physique, with dark, sometimes red, hair
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)As he argued in his mind and heart, he slid his huge sword part way from its sheath. At that moment, Athena came down from heaven. White-armed Hera sent her. She cherished both men, cared for them equally. Athena stood behind Achilles, grabbed him by his golden hair, invisible to all except Achilles.
As these thoughts went through his mind, and he began to draw the great sword from the sheath, Athena came down from heaven: Queen Hera sent her, loving and anxious at once. She stood behind him and held him back by his long red hair. No other man saw her but Achilles alone.
The child subsequently born to her was called Pyrrhus ('red-haired'), either because he had red hair or because the disguised Achilles had been known at Lycomedes' court as Pyrrha.
He had a mass of red hair and a red beard and, when roused, a fearsome voice and a penetrating gaze under beetling red eyebrows.
Anglicised form of the Irish Gaelic names Ruaidhri, Ruari, and the Scottish Gaelic Ruairidh and Ruaraidh
紅毛âng mô, red haired, generally applied to the English people.
[M]any of my Singaporean friends felt the term 'ang moh' was definitely racist. Said one, with surprising finality: 'The original term was "ang moh gui" which means "red hair devil" in Hokkien. That's definitely racist.' However, the 'gui' bit has long been dropped from the term, defanging it considerably. … Both 'ang moh gui' and 'gwailo' – Cantonese for 'ghost (white) guy' – originated from the initial Chinese suspicion of foreigners way back in those days when the country saw itself as the Middle Kingdom.;Ashley, Sean (5 November 2004). "Stop calling me ang moh [letter]".The Straits Times. Singapore. p. 5.
As an 'ang moh' who has lived here for over six years, I hope more people will realise just how offensive the term is.
To have my Chinese Singaporean friends call me 'ang moh' is more humorous than anything else. As no insult is intended, none is taken.
The culture which entered Japan through the Dutch language was called Kōmō culture – Kōmō means red hair.;Winkel, Margarita (1999)."Academic Traditions, Urban Dynamics and Colonial Threat: The Rise of Ethnography in Early Modern Japan". In van Bremen, Jan; Akitoshi Shimizu (eds.).Anthropology and Colonialism in Asia and Oceania. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon. pp. 40–64 at 53.ISBN 978-0-7007-0604-4.
His [Morishima Chūryō's] book on the Dutch, 'Red-hair miscellany' (Kōmō zatsuwa), also appeared in 1787. … 'Red-hair miscellany' is the first book which contains a relatively extensive description of the daily life of the Dutch residents in the confinements of Deshima, the man made island allotted to them in the Bay of Nagasaki.;Veldman, Jan E. (2002). "A Historical Vignette: Red-Hair Medicine".ORL.64 (2):157–165.doi:10.1159/000057797.PMID 12021510.S2CID 7541789.;Thomas M. van Gulik; Yuji Nimura (January 2005). "Dutch Surgery in Japan".World Journal of Surgery.29 (1): 10–17 at 10.doi:10.1007/s00268-004-7549-3.PMID 15599736.S2CID 25659653.
Several Dutch surgical schools were founded through which Dutch surgery, known in Japan as 'surgery of the red-haired' was propagated.;Michael Dunn (20 November 2008)."Japanning for southern barbarians: Some of the first items traded with the West were decorated with maki-e lacquer".Japan Times. Archived fromthe original on 24 June 2010.
Dutch taste dictated a new style of export lacquer known as 'komo shikki' ('red hair' – a common term for Northern Europeans), in which elaborate gold-lacquer decoration replaced the complex inlays of Nanban ware.
