(From left) Senior Kjersten Lisak, freshmen Annika Bergstrom and Kate Lisak and seniors Bailley Biwer and Julie Snyder show off their red hair in the second floor hallway on April 17. According to lifescience.com, only .05% of people are born with naturally red hair. Photo by Brandon Moe | Explore Superior

Getting To The Root of Being Red

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Urban Legends Do Not Define Red Heads

By Julie Snyder

After being born with fiery red hair, myths and urban legends have plagued my life. Although I’ve been compared to a mythical creature, I along with many other redheads have found peace.

Nowadays, it is much more accepted to have or want red hair. If I had a dollar for every time a random person in my daily life asked if my hair was natural, I would be a millionaire. Hair stylists and cashiers are constantly telling me that my hair color is the shade they strive to get, but I have never seen dyed red hair that looks natural.

(From left) Senior Kjersten Lisak, freshmen Annika Bergstrom and Kate Lisak and seniors Bailley Biwer and Julie Snyder show off their red hair in the second floor hallway on April 17. According to lifescience.com, only .05% of people are born with naturally red hair. Photo by Brandon Moe | Explore Superior

(From left) Senior Kjersten Lisak, freshmen Annika Bergstrom and Kate Lisak and seniors Bailley Biwer and Julie Snyder show off their red hair in the second floor hallway on April 17. According to lifescience.com, only .05% of people are born with naturally red hair. Photo by Brandon Moe

Red heads are extremely rare. Generally both redheads’ parents have to possess the redhead gene.


“The most common faux-pas to being a ginger, is that we don’t have souls.”


According to livescience.com, around .05 percent of the world’s population have red hair. According to a study done by the “Oxford Hair Foundation,” redheads are a rare breed and may not be going extinct, like a study proven wrong initially hyped up in 2007. (A study done by the “Oxford Hair Foundation” released an article saying redheads are going extinct, but later was discovered to be a hair styling gimmick.)

My mom is always convinced that we redheads are in a secret club because I am friends with most of the redheads at our school. It’s weird that there is secretly a connection with our shared rarity.

I have always preferred to be called a redhead as opposed to a ginger. I have always felt that the name ginger went hand-in-hand with some of the myths. The most common faux-pas to being a ginger, is that we don’t have souls.

Why would we not have souls? Another urban legend is that redheads have a lower pain tolerance.

For example, at the dentist we need an extra shot of novocaine to numb the mouth. I believe this to be false because it is not true with me personally, but a fellow redhead Kjersten Lisak, is completely prone to this legend.

So take the time to meet a redhead or enjoy yourself if you are this rare breed. Although it is rare, so if you try to call yourself one and you truly aren’t, just be happy with your hair color. Strawberry blondes, I’m looking in your direction.

Julie Snyder is a graduate of Superior High School, whose column appeared in “The Spartan Spin”.




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