# Redheads **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 30, 2001, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redheads/84656 "2001-09-30T20:06:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Animalmother](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7cd45c/32.png) [@Animalmother](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Animalmother)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2001, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redheads/84656/1 "2001-09-30T20:06:46Z")
Anybody have any theories or ideas why are the majority of natural redheads are usually pale? ---
**Author:** ![saudade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c0e974/32.png) [@saudade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saudade)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2001, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redheads/84656/2 "2001-09-30T20:11:42Z")
I don’t have any pictures to link too offhand, but there are people with dark skin and reddish hair, Australian Aborigines and some people in India come to mind. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2001, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redheads/84656/3 "2001-09-30T21:32:48Z")
because they’re often of Scottish and/or Irish decent, who were and are pale people? That explains my brother and I, as well as most other redheads I know… ---
**Author:** ![Shera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@Shera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shera)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redheads/84656/4 "2001-10-01T01:09:39Z")
My Neighbor is a redhead and she gets tanner then I do, and I am a brunette of partially Native American decent(i.e. I get really tan). Of course she also looks good in pink so she isn’t your average redhead. I think it probably has the most to do with being of Scottish or Irish decent. The people up there are pretty pasty. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redheads/84656/5 "2001-10-01T01:30:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by elfkin477 \* > **because they’re often of Scottish and/or Irish decent, who were and are pale people? That explains my brother and I** But it doesn’t explain me. My hair is as red as a tomato (yes, ALL my hair:rolleyes: ) but there isn’t a drop of Scott or Mick running through my veins going back to at least 1805. All my ancestors were of straight German stock. Prior to 1805 there **might** have been some British ale mixed into the pipeline, but my family isn’t sure. My paternal Grandmother insisted that some of us had roots to Admiral Horatio Nelson, but that was never proven for sure. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redheads/84656/6 "2001-10-01T02:40:49Z")
There are many redheads of Eastern European descent, too. My background is Russian/Ukrainian/Hungarian. ---
**Author:** ![Gaspode](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@Gaspode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gaspode)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redheads/84656/7 "2001-10-01T05:25:35Z")
In mammals theire are two basic types of melanin, one that is red/yellow, the other brown/black. The amount of each type of melanin produced is regulated by Melanocyte Stimulating Hormone. Dark haired people have basically normal copies of the gene that codes for an ability to detect changes in MSH. The vast majority of redheads on the other hand have various mutations in the gene, preventing their bodies from responding to changes in MSH levels. This has two effects. It prevents the body from laying down the brown/black melanin in the hair, allowing the red pigment that all dark haired people posess naturally to be seen instead of being masked. It also prevents the skin from tanning properly, meaning that majority of redheads will remain pale no matter how much sun exposure they get, or at best freckle rather then tanning. ---
**Author:** ![Gorgon\_Heap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/f475e1/32.png) [@Gorgon\_Heap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgon_Heap)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redheads/84656/8 "2001-10-01T13:36:57Z")
Indeedy. I am what I like to call a “strawberry blond”, with reddish hair that can occassionally appear a brown depending on the season and lighting conditions. I amm also a true American mutt – I have German, English, Polish, PA Dutch and a smattering of American Indian in me. In the summer, my pops gets darker than his Puerto Rican wife, but I take after my mom’s side and scarecly get any tan at all. "Course, it is an improvement, since I can actually go out in the sun now. When I was a little kid I could’t spent an hour on the beach without crispening like bacon. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redheads/84656/9 "2001-10-01T14:05:22Z")
Nothing is sexier than a tan rehead. …unfortunately it’s rare. Damn. ---
**Author:** ![dlb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecb155/32.png) [@dlb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dlb)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redheads/84656/10 "2001-10-01T17:36:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Animalmother \* > Anybody have any theories or ideas why are the majority of natural redheads are usually pale? I think they are aghast at the next act of violence they are going to perpetrate on whoever arouses their temper. _bam_ Ow! I didn’t mean it! ---
**Author:** ![naughty\_wicked\_zoot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@naughty\_wicked\_zoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naughty_wicked_zoot)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redheads/84656/11 "2001-10-01T18:54:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dlb \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Animalmother \* > > Anybody have any theories or ideas why are the majority of natural redheads are usually pale? > > I think they are aghast at the next act of violence they are going to perpetrate on whoever arouses their temper. > > _bam_ Ow! I didn’t mean it! \*\* actually, we aren’t “aghast” at all. haven’t you ever seen someone get pale with anticipation? heeheehee. ---
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redheads/84656/12 "2001-10-01T19:13:59Z")
I have absolutely no information on the questioni n the OP. I just wanted to say that I love redheads. Katie, if you’re out there, you imprinted on my brain, woman. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redheads/84656/13 "2001-10-01T20:12:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Legomancer \* > \*\*Katie, if you’re out there, you imprinted on my brain, woman. \*\* I have a similar deal; her name was Heide. Of course, I’m now married to a woman of Chinese descent, so the redhead thing obviously wasn’t exclusive. 😉 –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![Delta-9](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/3be4f8/32.png) [@Delta-9](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Delta-9)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redheads/84656/14 "2001-10-01T20:47:02Z")
Mmmm. Redheads. My SO is a redhead, and well. . . you know what they say about redheads: Um, it would be un-gentlemanly of me to elaborate. ---
**Author:** ![Phobos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Phobos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phobos)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redheads/84656/15 "2001-10-01T21:07:08Z")
The skin is pale so that it does not distract from the hair. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redheads/84656/16 "2001-10-01T23:57:38Z")
(Another country heard from…) Mmmmmmmmmm…redheaded guys… jayjay (always willing to find out if the red goes all the way down…) ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2001, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redheads/84656/17 "2001-10-02T02:00:25Z")
**Delta-9:** Yes? Just what is it that they say about redheads? [sub]Tell me now, or I’ll rip your lungs out.[/sub] –Persephone, natural redhead, all the way down. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TheLochNessHump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c5a1d2/32.png) [@TheLochNessHump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLochNessHump)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2001, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redheads/84656/18 "2001-10-02T03:15:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by saudade \* > \*\*I don’t have any pictures to link too offhand, but there are people with dark skin and reddish hair, Australian Aborigines and some people in India come to mind. \*\* I thought only the Native Tasmanians had reddish hair? And are THEY all dead? ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2001, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redheads/84656/19 "2001-10-02T03:43:51Z")
Thank you, **Gaspode**. You said it better than I could have. The reason that _I_ am so {see link in sig} pale, however, is that I stay indoors while my worshippers do my bidding. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2001, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redheads/84656/20 "2001-10-02T03:57:53Z")
I remember reading something on this. Its very vague in my mind but I think it was something to the effect of people who have red hair typically also have recessive genes which somehow cuases pale skin. Damn! I’ll try to find the article and come back with more specific info. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/redheads/84656.md?page=2)