Growing up with a mop of ginger hair, I was intrigued to see that Edinburgh last week hosted an inaugural "Ginger Pride" parade, a protest against ''gingerism'', the perceived prejudice or discrimination against people with natural red, or more likely, ginger hair.
The couple of hundred ''protesters'' _ most of whom seemed to be sporting big ginger grins _ carried posters bearing stirring messages like ''Ginger and Proud'' and ''All Hail! To the Red, Orange and Pale!'' There was even a scruffy-looking ginger dog clad in a ''Justice For Gingers'' jacket.
It was appropriate that the demonstration should be held in Scotland, which has the highest percentage of red-heads in the world, featuring 13% of the population, compared to a 4% average for Europe. To put it another way, there are 650,000 gingers on the loose across the Caledonian border.
Of course red hair can also include strawberry blond, copper red, assorted shades of orange and the somewhat fanciful auburn. Novelist Mark Twain, himself a ginger man, once wrote: ''When red-headed people are above a certain social grade their hair is auburn.''
The curse of Carrot Top
I must admit to hating my ginger hair as a young kid. I wanted to have a ''normal'' mousy brown or black thatch like everyone else, so I could quietly merge into the crowd. But there was no anonymity for us gingers. You tended to get picked on simply because you were different, as in ''Oi you, Ginger!'' Then there were the nicknames like ''Carrot Top'', or ''Ginger Nut''. Even worse was ''Freckle Face''. The most common was ''Ginge'', which is fair enough, or ''Ginger Bonks''. Well, it could have been worse. And now I see Thai teens dyeing their beautiful black hair assorted shades of ginger _ aaagh!
In the States I would have been called simply ''Red''. After writing that there is no option but to mention Mick Hucknall, who with his long curly red locks is lead singer of the English band named after him, Simply Red.
Curiously, in Australia I would have been known as ''Bluey''. You will have to ask an Aussie to explain the reason for that, but I think it has something to do with their ironic (some might say perverse) sense of humour, like calling bald blokes ''Curly''.
Paleface
One other problem most ginger people face is that they tend to have a light complexion and find it impossible to get a tan. Instead of turning brown, the best they can hope for is a blotchy red. Suffice to say, I am not exactly a beach boy. As a kid I actually succeeded in suffering sunstroke in Bournemouth, which is quite an achievement considering it was raining. That's why, on excursions to the beach in Thailand, I'm invariably hidden away amongst the coconut palms, fighting off assorted creepy crawlies which are hunting for some pale person to bite.
Smelling a rat
Being rude to a ginger person can have unexpected outcomes. There was a big fuss in Britain a couple of years ago when the Labour Party's Harriet Harman called a red-haired Scottish political opponent a ''ginger rodent''. Cashing in on the resultant uproar, which sparked quite a few ''rat jokes'', a Scottish brewery promptly introduced a beer called ''Ginger Rodent''. The brew proved so popular it is now being served in the Strangers' Bar at the House of Commons, with Ms Harman even pulling the first celebratory pint.
Certainly, in these days of political correctness times have changed. A couple of years ago the Tesco supermarket chain had to withdraw a Christmas card which featured a kid with ginger hair sitting on Santa's lap with the message ''Santa loves all kids. Even ginger ones.'' It was ruled discriminatory _ all a bit petty really. As a kid, I received cards of a similar nature from aunties and loved it. Admittedly the couple of pound notes attached might have contributed to the appeal.
Hall of Fame
History doesn't look very kindly on red-heads. A noted medieval scholar observed that red hair represented ''a mark of beastly sexual desire and moral degeneration'' _ no wonder I get funny looks sometimes. It was particularly rough for women. Those with the fearful combination of red hair and green eyes were regarded as either a witch, werewolf or vampire. At least they weren't called politicians.
There have been many famous historical red-heads, including Cleopatra, Elizabeth 1 and Florence Nightingale. And in more modern times we must not forget Rupert Grint, the ginger lad called Ron in the Harry Potter series, seemingly the only member of the cast allowed to say ''bloody hell!''
Red alert
There is no doubt that women with red hair create a certain mystique, but they also suffer a stereotype of being a bit ''wild''. Maybe it stems from the 1932 movie Red-Headed Woman starring blonde actress Jean Harlow as ''Red Lil'', wearing a red wig and at times, not much else.
Actress Lucille Ball, sometimes known as ''the Crazy Red-Head'' helped stir things up a bit when she observed: ''Once in his life, every man is entitled to fall in love with a red-head.''
Novelist PG Wodehouse, however, offered a word of caution.
In Very Good, Jeeves!, his esteemed butler advises a love-struck Bertie Wooster: ''Red hair sir, in my opinion, is very dangerous.'' Gentlemen, you have been warned.
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