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Well hello kitties…it’s been a while. Mama’s back. Scooch in here, put your feet up and have some tea with me while we talk about this whole “Ginger” phenomenon. I don’t know about you, but this discrimination against us redheads has got to stop! Never mind this Chick Fil A nonsense goin’ on. This is SERIOUS.

I remember growing up and being the only redhead in a family of brunettes. I didn’t know what to make of “milkman” jokes that I constantly heard as a youngster or the tauntings of “I’d rather be dead than red on the head” and “come here and let me beat you like a redheaded stepchild”…not to mention the lovely comparisons to Ronald McDonald, Pippy Longstocking and any other horrible creature that had red hair.  I used to feel different and as I got older, my red hair began to feel more like a curse than a blessing. I subscribed to Teen Magazine and Seventeen Magazine. I would pour thru those every month looking for someone who actually looked like me to no avail. Everyone had blonde or brunette hair. That WAS it, I was a freak. At least in the eyes of the public and models everywhere.

So I did what I could, I carried on and sucked it up. I would “lay out” in the summer with my friends putting a towel over my face hoping my freckles would stay away. While they put lemon juice in their hair for highlights, I smeared it on my face at night to fade those awful brown spots. It was a neverending battle and I was not winning. Then, something magical happened….Molly Ringwald appeared from out of NOWHERE!

 The Angels sang and all was well in the world! Finally someone who looked like me, with red hair, freckles and a sarcastic temperment appeared in a MOVIE. It was okay to have red hair and freckles! She was cool~! At that moment, I decided I would embrace my redhead status and go with it.

Suddenly men were staring at me, telling me I was gorgeous, my HAIR was gorgeous. That my freckles were angel kisses! I was being told I looked like Nicole Kidman, Ann Margaret and Reba! This was too good to be true after listening to all the clown comparisons growing up. It was so freeing! I felt good about myself! I didn’t comb thru magazines looking for someone that looked like me anymore because I was unique!

So, I’ve traveled thru my 40 something years being me, loving and embracing my hair and freckles…I’ve done research to find out all the people in history with red hair http://listverse.com/2008/10/12/top-25-famous-redheads/ and found a lot of wonderful redhead quotes about us http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/redheads as well.  I maintain my copper tresses every 4 weeks now, but even if I had the opportunity to change my hair color, I wouldn’t. It’s simply ME.

However, suddenly, out of NOWHERE (and not glorious like my Molly Ringwald experience) comes this Anti-Ginger movement. I blame SouthPark (even though I actually love SouthPark) and Carrot Top…for the whole Ginger debaucle. And yes, I know the term originated in Great Britain first. I see Ginger insults hurled everywhere in the media! Of course some are hilariously funny and I can’t help laughing about them…..

but come on people! Look where this is going! How long before gingercide occurs based on panic and fear? Look at history and the myths about us! http://www.purgatory.net/kornelia/1603/red_hair_facts.htm  Look at Ron Weasley! We must stop the panic and go back to embracing the redhead before it’s too late! We must embrace our new redheaded children and make them feel superior and special! Not like second class citizens! I vow to fight this discrimination by being the best redhead I can be! To uphold the redhead code and act accordingly!!! Redheads unite!

and just to show I am in this for the long haul….I have a very retro red wig for when I’m 90 and I am so going to rock that with my support hose and walker with the pink tennis balls on the ends….

So what about it kitties…..are you in?