I’d like to start by saying that I am not a stalker.
Okay, now that that’s out of the way…
I love photography and have recently renewed my passion for it with the purchase of a freakin’ amazing camera. (It’s a Canon – see its gloriousness here.)
Unfortunately, my new obsession with photography has confused some mothers in the greater Dallas area. Were it not for my business card and a brief explanation of The Ginger Baby given in a sweet, grandmotherly way, I may have been writing this from a Texas jail cell.
What I hope to achieve with this section is not to create Ginger Stalkers, but showcase Gingers photographically. And you’re invited to join me. Be creative! Have a cute Ginger Baby in your son’s playgroup? Ask politely if you can have a photo to post on our site. Are you a Ginger? Send a shot of yourself as a child. And they don’t have to be pictures of babies … we love Gingers of all ages.
Who knows where things may lead? I may start having Ginger Baby photography contests … or … I may forget my business cards one day and end up on parole.
Tagged as:
Photography
Here are some of our favorite resources relating to little gingers. We (as parents) want to make sure that our kids have the best start in life possible and sometimes that start can be a bit different for a sensitive skinned red head.
We’ve found some great sites for organic, natural sun screens as well as articles on how to help your child cope when he comes home crying, “they call me carrot top!”
We’ve got links to other sites for redheads – most are for the grown-up readheads in our midst, but all are great starting points for further research. (Trust me, both Gillian and I are research fanatics, so we know of what we’re talking about.)
We’d love your input if you’ve found a site or article that would be good information for other P.O.G.s (Producers of Gingers), just send it to us and we’ll check it out.
Enjoy,
Jeanine and Gillian
LINKS TO HELP WITH SENSITIVE SKIN:
We can’t say it enough – PLEASE PROTECT YOUR GINGER BABIES FROM THE SUN!
http://www.supersunprotection.com/ - Good site with lots of information about sun protection and sunscreens. Check out the tips specifically for kids and babies. Great info.! They also offer products for sun protection.
http://www.skincancer.org/For-Parents/ – Another great site for sun protection advice.
http://www.dermadoctor.com/category_Kids_109.html – Dermadoctor feature articles and newsletters where Dr. Kunin shares the most current developments in skin care technology and research. Lots of good medical information about skin care.
LINKS TO HELP WITH EMOTIONAL ISSUES:
When your ginger feels teased, this article offers some practical advice on helping to overcome the “I don’t fit in” feelings.
GENERAL REDHEAD LINKS:
http://www.realmofredheads.com – The original redhead site. Membership based and offers lots of stuff for the ginger adult.
www.JustForRedheads.com - Beauty products created by a redhead for redheads! And no animal testing! Yay!
I went to the Dallas World Aquarium (which is amazingly cool, btw) with my daughter-in-law, Amber a couple of weeks ago.
Amber at the Aquarium
Amber got to witness my Ninja-like stealth photography moves first hand.
Amber will likely never go anywhere with me again.
The point is that I saw some very cute redheads during my trip and I took the opportunity to use my Stealth Ginger Ninja method of discreetly taking photos of people. Sometimes it works, and sometimes you get busted. (More on that in a minute)
Cute Ginger Boy
I realize this is blurry, but I love the total gingery-ness of it
Since I have a non-discreet camera the size of a Chrysler stuck to my face, I pretend to be casually aiming at something interesting very near the subject. Then, when the opportunity arises, I quickly move the camera over, take the shot and move it right back up to the interesting thing very near the subject.
Cute Ginger Girl
This is the crucial moment where I realize that I’ve not yet reached the true rank of Ninja and get the scary “Did you just take a picture of my child??!!” look from the protective POG. (And where a daughter-in- law saunters away pretending to be a passerby.)
About 2 seconds before I got “the look.”
At this point I have my business card and my “elevator pitch” ready.
I wonder if real Ninjas carry business cards for “off” days?
Tagged as:
Photography
As I was sorting through photos I’ve taken over the past year, I started noticing a trend. Not only do I tend to find red heads great subjects for photos, I tend to take a lot of shots of other gingers. “Nature’s gingers,” if you will. Looking at these other forms of gingers, made me wonder: Is there discrimination against gingers of other species like there is against human gingers in some parts of the world? Are they looked down upon or thought of as inferior in some way purely based on the color of their hair/fur/plumage? In an effort to get to the bottom of this question, here is a quick and completely unscientific look at red heads in nature.
Let’s start with the bird world. Surely, there’s some discrimination against red heads there.
Here’s the Cardinal.
Cardinal
Nope. One of the most beloved birds in North America. BECAUSE of it’s gorgeous red plumage.
The Woodpecker perhaps?
Red headed woodpecker
They did make a cartoon about this bird. Woody Woodpecker. But he was one of the most popular cartoon characters in history. Woody’s even got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
The Redhead duck?
Redhead duck
Nope. There is a brand of highly trusted, top quality sports gear named after this one. The founders wouldn’t have bet their image on a mascot that was inferior and loathed.
Surely the parrot?
by Stoichiometry
Wait… Isn’t Jimmy Buffett’s entire empire built on his beloved and proud “Parrot Heads?” Aren’t these beautiful Macaws one of the most intelligent and most valuable birds in the world?
Ah, but humans are mammals, so this must be a mammal issue.
This is a Golden Lion Tamarin.
Ginger Snap Photography
(Gosh, I wish this hair color came in a bottle!) They are originally from Brazil and an endangered species. According to Wikipedia, there are several conservation programs attempting to save this species. Hmmm. Wonder what the ginger-haters think of that?
Another ginger primate is this guy.
Ginger Snap Photography
I’m not sure what breed he is, but frankly – red hair or not – he can do whatever he wants.
The Irish Setter?
Irish Setter
Considered to be one of the most beautiful dogs ever bred (because of his gorgeous GINGER coat, I might add.) Did you see the Disney movie, “Big Red?” Don’t see any ginger hatred here, do you?
Okay, let’s go to the infamous red fox.
Red Fox
They were hunted and hated, right? Um… but once killed, didn’t women drape themselves in the fox’s beautiful GINGER fur? So it was because they liked to eat the Lord’s pheasants that they were hated, not because they were red.
There you have the totally unscientific results of my red heads in nature query. My conclusion? People who hate or discriminate against red headed people simply because of their hair color are insane.
Obviously, more testing is needed before I publish my report in the Journal Scientific.
Tagged as:
Discrimination,
Gingerism,
Photography
by j9pers on August 23, 2009
Blame it on this guy. He’s the one who started the Ginger worship. Even though my mom and older brother had beautiful auburn hair, it wasn’t until my first son was born that I really became aware of the fascination that red hair elicits. And like it or not, my son’s gorgeous red hair has become his trademark.
When he was a child, I don’t remember an outing that his hair didn’t get commented on or pointed at or smiled upon. When he was two, his father and I took a trip to Mexico. As we walked down the street, I began noticing the stares, points, whispers and comments. A block later, I picked him up. People were starting to crowd us and it made me very uncomfortable. I managed to hear a word I recognized, “rojo.”
“Oh, Jeez, it’s the hair!” I thought. A few minutes later, a woman reached out and touched his hair. I clutched my son tighter. She smiled and told me in broken English, “Beautiful. Red. Good luck to touch!” On another block, a woman crossed the street to touch his head.
When my son was a few years old, I heard that Princess Di had had a baby boy. Reports were that Prince Charles looked at little Prince Harry and said disappointedly, “Oh. He has ginger hair.” I’ve had no respect for Prince Charles since then. What a loser.
And look at his gorgeous young son now. Yeah… ginger-licious! So what is it with the British looking down on red heads, anyway? They have had great Kings, Queens and Prime Ministers with red hair. Anyone reading this who has some insight on the issue, I’d love to hear it.
But I digress. My ginger son and his wife have recently had their first baby – a boy. This blog has grown from that experience. My daughter-in-law, Gillian, and I would talk about whether his chances were good for being a red head, wouldn’t it be cool to have a shirt that said …, or we’d discuss how I wish I’d had the organic/natural choices she had when I had my baby. His sensitive, freckled skin would have appreciated the products that are out there now.
There aren’t many resources for those of us who have gingers. And sometimes red heads are different. They do usually have paler, more sensitive skin and they do have issues with name calling and feeling “different.”
We truly hope this blog will help you. Or, if nothing else – enlighten and amuse you.
Oh, here’s my son now with his own ginger baby. (Well… the Jury’s still out. What hair he has looks red in the sun. We can only hope.)
