ED104 asks: I have red hair and really want a boyfriend, but no guys like me. I sometimes get bullied about my hair colour, and everyone is so judgmental. I’m thinking of dying my hair darker for a change, but also to get a boyfriend. But I don’t know if I should or not.
Hi ED104 –
Although we dogs aren’t nearly as interested in looks as we are in smells and sounds, I understand your desire to look more beautiful. It’s clear to me that when I’m dirty and covered in burrs and smells, most people don’t want to pet me, and even Handsome just does enough that it’s clear he’s just letting me know he still likes me. But when I’m clean and brushed and not so smelly, so many more people want to hug and pet me, and kiss my nose and all. You just want to be more attractive, and that makes total sense.
But you bring up a really important other issue . It sounds like you’re saying that your red hair means you’re not beautiful. This of course isn’t your fault at all, but I have to say, if I’m reading this right, I HATE HEARING THINGS LIKE THIS! There are beautiful people of every skin color, and every hair color! And anyone who tells you that your red hair is a problem is… well, they may not be racist exactly, but they’re coming from a similar mindset. It’s just about the saddest, most ridiculous thing about the human race.
This “ginger-ism” is probably the silliest prejudice or bullying concept in history, though. It never used to happen. It appears that it all started because the TV show “South Park” did a very clever episode about prejudice and bullying, and as a joke, came up with the idea of prejudice against redheads, or “gingers.” And a bunch of really dumb kids saw this and decided to copy it and bully redheads! Truly, I’m the one with the smaller brain here, but you humans can be total morons at times, you know?!!! So anyone who bullies you for your hair is absolutely, totally pathetic. Realize that, no matter what, okay?
The fact is, redheads have been popular beauties always! Just to name a few from the ‘golden age,’ Lucille Ball, Greer Garson, Katherine Hepburn, Maureen O’Hara, Deborah Kerr – and if you’ve ever seen the old TV show “Gilligan’s Island,” the gorgeous sex symbol wasn’t just a redhead, she was named Ginger! Hey Mark Twain and Thomas Jefferson were redheads too (even if they’re not remembered for their looks), as well as so many Brits and Irish that you can’t even count them. And in the present day… Ginger Spice, Cristina Hendricks, Amy Adams, Fergie, Julianne Moore, Evan Rachel Wood… hello, is there a girl who doesn’t want to look like Emma Stone?! In fact, red has been so trendy these last few years, we see all sorts of non-redheads dyeing their hair red.
Oh and by the way, I’m leaving out the greatest redhead beauty of all time. The most beautiful, gorgeous, lovely girl ever, who everyone wants to pet and scratch the ears of and kiss the nose of and get licked by… But hey I don’t want to get TOO vain here!!!
Now we do live in a day when, as you point out, changing hair color is very common and accepted. And when you ask me if changing yours is okay, I think “absolutely.” You should check with your parents first, but I don’t see anything wrong with it at all. The delicate part is that, as a redhead, you’re going to have a very particular color of skin, and you want to make sure that the color you choose goes well with it. But once you do that, I think you can have lots of fun with color. Going a sultry darker auburn could be gorgeous. And hey, if it’s okay with your family, maybe throwing in a streak of green or purple could be cool too!
But I want you to do it for you. Not to get a boyfriend. Why? Because maybe no boy will rush up to you and ask you out the day you first dye your hair, and I don’t want you to feel disappointed about that if it happens. Boys work on boys’ schedules, and getting a boyfriend can be a tough game, no matter what. But of course, changing your hair color is a fantastic way to get noticed. So maybe, just maybe, doing that could speed the process up a bit!
But first, and most important, I want you to do me a favor. I want you to look in the mirror and say to yourself “You are beautiful. Your hair is beautiful, your eyes are beautiful, your skin is beautiful. Everyone thinks so.” Say it about a hundred times a day. Because the only reason for you to feel otherwise is that you’ve heard the opposite said thousands of times. And it was a lie every time.
I love being orange and white. But I see Labrador Retrievers and German Shepherds and Chows and Newfoundlands and Golden Retrievers and Samoyeds and Portuguese Water Dogs, and they all have different hair colors than mine, and they’re as beautiful as I am – especially in the eyes of one who loves them. And if anyone tried to tell them that being a different color kept them from being beautiful, I’d gladly join them in chasing that person down and turning a good part of him dark. As in black and blue!
And always remember, ED104, it’s the beauty inside you that people are most attracted to anyway. Even if you’re lucky enough to be a redhead like Nicole Kidman and Ron Weasley and Lindsey Lohan and that Simply Red guy and Kate Winslet and…!
Be Strong!
Shirelle