Embracing the Social

Maman et Papa Militant are the very epitome of the term "Silver Surfers" - and are very much the early adopters of technology in our family; driving even their own kids to embrace the latest tools in international communication like Skype (albeit, in one case, very reluctantly.)

Yet one area they've yet to engage in is social media - largely because my sister would probably got into cardiac arrest if she woke up one morning to find our parents on Facebook!

That's sad for me, because the more I've moved my career towards becoming an authority on social media, the more certain media tools have served my broadcast needs (to the detriment of other social platforms - like this one.)

As a result, the blog you're reading right now is in dire need to refreshment, and my readers who aren't part of my digital circle miss out on some of my more interesting updates (including, for example, my parents.)

But no longer. It's taken me a while, but I've finally figured out an easy and seamless way to give folks like mes parents an effortless feed of my latest meanderings, while also giving myself the bandwidth to keep that feed updated; largely by tying into the way I use Facebook, Twitter and Instagram already.

The result is my new Tumblr feed - Militant Ginger in the City. It contains the gems of my daily social updates, and is all located in a handy space that doesn't require a password, profile or login to access.

If you're interested, go and check it out - I will be posting there daily with pictures and musings from my world; and I'd be flattered if you'd join me.

Go to Militant Ginger in the City now.

But can gingers play sports?

Even realizing that British journalism is perhaps the basest example of the ignoble profession, one has to ask: Why does this article exist?

Ginger-Haired Football Managers - Is Everton's David Moyes The Only Successful One In England? 

by Dan Coombs Here Is The City 

Let's have a look at the ginger haired managers who have tried their hand in management in England and struggled... Read Full Article.

I wish I could say that this ridiculous article is indicative of everything that's wrong with Britain - but when quarterback Andy Dalton tried out for the NFL, some American wags expressed the same opinion: Are there any ginger quarterbacks?

The irony being that ginger haired Andy Dalton kicked ass this season.

I honestly don't know the answer; not that I've ever really been motivated to ask.

Perhaps the lack of famous ginger footballers comes down to the fact that my redheaded brethren are too busy making up a disproportionally significant percentage of world leaders to kick a ball about.

In any event, if Dan Coombs ever decides to take up real sports journalism I'll be fascinated to read it.

No sperm please, you're ginger...

Danish sperm bank Cryos, the largest depository of donated sperm in the world, is turning down gingers.

"There are too many redheads in relation to demand," admits Ole Schou, Cryos's director. "The only reliable demand for sperm from redheaded donors from Ireland, where it sells like hot cakes."

"I do not think you chose a redhead, unless the partner - for example, the sterile male - has red hair, or because the lone woman has a preference for redheads. And that's perhaps not so many, especially in the latter case."

This is not good news. For a start, it's a fairly blatant demonstration of how redheads continue to be deemed somehow "less desirable" than people with more traditional hair colors. Secondly, and more importantly, it puts a serious dampener on my planned Militant Ginger Mail Order Sperm Company.

Cryos supply bespoke sperm to over 65 countries worldwide. That raises a question I've always had about sperm donation and test tube babies: What does it say about our society when creating test tube babies is a billion dollar industry, yet at any given time there are 120,000 children up for adoption in the United States alone?

And another issue, particular to Britain and other European countries. Given the number of children up for adoption, is it appropriate that fertility treatment is offered by the National Health Service, and other taxpayer funded health care funds?

How do you feel about the issue?

Gingers not NFL material, according to Coach

I was neatly reminded today that gingerism isn't dead, even in the United States.

Proof came in how the biggest question surrounding the drafting of talented freshman quarterback Andy Dalton for the 2011 NFL season hasn't been his speed, strength or endurance on the field - but rather his hair color.

At a recent event in Dalton's home of Fort Worth, a coach was reported to have ignored Dalton's performance record, stats and the fact that the talented kid has had no less than 49 starts at TCU [whatever the hell that means - Editorial Bear] and instead focused on something a little more... subjective:

"Has there ever been a red-headed quarterback in the NFL who's really done well?" the coach quizzed one reporter last week. "Is there any way that could be a factor? We've wondered."

I don't have the stats on ginger quarterbacks to hand, so I can't answer that question. Fortunately, it's not one more informed coaches seem to be asking, anyway.

Despite his red hair, Dalton's been scouted by both the Miami Dolphins and the Dallas Cowboys - and it looks like he'll be starting the 2011 season playing for a pretty high profile team no wonder what his hair color is.

If nothing else, that'll give him the opportunity to answer the boneheaded coach's question.

The next time some ill-informed lug demands: "Has there ever been a red-headed quarterback in the NFL who's really done well?" the correct answer well be: "Well, sure there has! Just look at Andy Dalton!"

Go get 'em, ginger!

Robert Pattinson Goes Ginger!

A few days ago, I blogged about how Britain's most lovable ginger, Rupert Grint, had abandoned his red roots and was threatening to dye his hair, or shave it all off.

At first I was appalled – but then some news came along that made it all better!

Oh, sure, the Ginger Nation is losing Ron Weasely from it's ranks – but we're picking up another Harry Potter alumni: No less than Robert Pattinson himself!

Yep, the sparkly vampire Edward has joined the ranks of Militant Ginger, according to E! Online. At the Golden Globes, he strolled down the red carpet with an undeniably ginger bouffant.

"I thought it was a nice change," he explained.

Okay, so technically he's just another faux-ginger celebrity; but we'll take what we can get.

After all, Robert Pattinson can snap knicker elastic at twenty paces, and that's the kind of firepower we need in the battle to prove that ginger is sexy.

Welcome to our ranks, Rob. Glad to have you with us!

Ron Weasley betrays the Gingers

"I am a proud ginger," boasts Rupert Grint - the 22-year-old actor best known for playing Ron Weasley in the hit Harry Potter films, "and surprisingly don't get much ginger abuse."

Yet apparently, that's not good enough for him now he's hung up his Hogwarts robes.

"I need a change."

So one of Britain's most iconic gingers (second only to the Ginger Bullet Magnet himself, Prince Harry) has pledged to: "shave off my hair - or at least dye it."

I speak from experience, Rupe, when I tell you that this is a terrible idea.

You see, I've gone down that road myself. I shaved my head accidentally (never give the wife buzzcutters after she's had half a bottle of red) and it didn't look tough or sexy. Instead, I looked like I was undergoing chemotherapy.

And dying my hair was even more of a disaster. When I first moved to America, I tried going brunette and the result was... unconvincing.

Badly brunette - New York Harbor, 2001.

Years later, inspired by James Marsters from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I tried to go peroxide blond. Again, it was an unmitigated disaster (made worse by the fact that I was a little tubbier at the time.)

Mummy Militant and friend were unimpressed when I was blond in 2006

Nope, it ain't gonna work. If there's one thing I've learned about being ginger, it's that you're a ginger for life. Your hair might fall out, or go gray, but one thing it'll never do is (convincingly) be anything other than red. You can fake being ginger, but it'll never work the other way around.

So my recommendation to Mr. Grint? Stick with what you've got. You're undoubtedly Britain's most beloved and recognizable redhead - so stay loyal to your ginger brethren and leave the hair alone!

That's what I did - and it turned me from a faux-blond and a wannabe-brunette into the loud, proud, Militant Ginger I am today.

See Rupert? All the ladies luuuurve a ginger!

They call him GINGER!

Historic advertising at it's best...

Support your Ginger Control Group!

via www.failblog.org

Militant Ginger rants - Redheaded Men are Bringing Sexy Back

I was narked a while back to hear somebody (who prided themselves on their tolerance and open-mindedness, no less) declare that they "didn't find redheaded men attractive."

And that's fine - I mean, I don't find superficiality attractive, so I guess our feelings of non-attraction were fortuitously mutual - but it did rub me up the wrong way.

Oh, don't get me wrong. We all have 'types' we find attractive. I can't tell you the number of times my head's been turned by a prim, buttoned-up brunette in a tailored blouse - or, conversely, a compact, curvy little Italian/Jewish girl with her hair in a pony tail.

But attraction goes a lot deeper than that. Judging whether or not somebody is attractive is dependent on so many things - and they can and can't cancel each other out.

From a totally superficial standpoint, I might claim not to find overweight women attractive. However, there are more than a couple of overweight women I have found very attractive over the years. Maybe it's because they were pretty, smart, funny, compelling - or maybe even beautiful in a way I simply hadn't considered before. It was an inaccurate assumption (and one I was happy to abandon - I even dated a plus-sized model for a year.)

According to her BMI, this woman is overweight. Does that make her unattractive? Um... No.

Similarly, while I have a definite 'thing' for those prim, buttoned-up brunettes I was talking about, I know a couple I'd gladly throttled rather than share an elevator ride with. Personality and attitude can outweigh looks - but, the opposite is NOT true.

So back to my 'superficial somebody', who declared that they didn't find redheaded men attractive. I challenge - wouldn't that depend on the guy?

Below, I present five redheaded men who are, in my limited and heterosexual perspective, smokin' hot. If the woman who declared 'redheaded men aren't attractive' doesn't feel a tingle about at least one of these examples, she might as well buy a pair of sensible shoes and join a softball team right now (if you catch my drift.)

Sexy Redheads of Our Generation

#1: Prince Harry

The youngest son of Princess Diana, Harry is affectionately known by his squad-mates as 'the ginger bullet magnet.' A tank commander, helicopter pilot, front-line officer in Afghanistan and Polo player extraordinaire, he's basically the closest thing us gingers have to James Bond.

And that's ignoring the fact that he's third in line to the throne. All in all, old Harry is 'kind of a big deal.'

Women love him because he's athletic, attractive and has a wicked streak a mile wide. Unlike his staid and proper older brother (who is a 'king in training' and expected to act like it) Harry is a common site in nightclubs and hotspots around the world - boozing, womanizing and raising all kinds of hell.

Plus, he's got the elixir all women fall for - a tragic past hidden beneath all that boyish bravado. He lost his mother in a fateful car accident in Paris, and has lived in the public eye ever since - with many courting rumors that he's really the illegitimate son of Diana's former lover Major James Hewitt (and in all honesty, the resemblance is remarkable.)

2# Rupert Grint

As Harry Potter's best friend Ron, ginger actor Rupert Grint has become nothing less than an international phenomenon. For every bitchy woman who declares 'redheaded men aren't attractive,' there are three dozen teenage girls writing angsty poetry about how much they 'heart' this particular ginger.

Despite living his teenage years in the Warner Brothers spotlight, and currently owning more money than most of us can imagine, Rupert Grint always comes across as genuine, down-to-earth and just downright lovable. During the filming of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, he bought himself an ice-cream truck and entertained himself between takes churning out Mr Whippy for the film crew.

And if there are any further doubts, remember this: He's the one who got to snog Emma Watson in the final Harry Potter film. I rest my case.

#3 Paul Bettany

If you like your redheaded hotties a little closer to the legal age of consent, how about well-seasoned star Paul Bettany. This BAFTA award winning actor is most famous for trudging about in the buff in 2001's A Knight's Tale - which might explain his popularity with the ladies.

There are all sorts of reasons women like Bettany - his easy charm, piercing gaze or even his dulcet tones (which earned him the voice role of Tony Stark's supercomputer J.A.R.V.I.S. in the Iron Man movies.) Some, at the risk of sounding superficial, might have been partial to the impressive six-pack he sported in the supernatural thriller Legion.

Whatever the reason, this redhead's got it going on. Need further proof? How about the fact that he's married to Jennifer Connelly. Yes, Jennifer freakin' Connelly - only one of the most unequivocally attractive women ever to grace the silver screen.

Paul Bettany is married to this smoldering goddess. Case closed.

So for my friend who declared that 'redheaded men aren't attractive?' Jennifer Connelly disagrees with you - and you're no Jennifer Connelly.

#4 Damien Lewis

No, I don't know who he is either - but apparently I'm in the minority.

Yet in what I euphemistically classify as 'the research' I did for this piece, his name kept coming up amongst the girls I talked to. Apparently many of them seemed to have a thing for this British actor, star of HBO's Band of Brothers.

I guess it's not difficult to see why - he's rugged, athletic and has a certain toughness about him that sets him apart from more 'gentlemanly' gingers like Paul Bettany. His most commonly celebrated feature, apparently, are his icy blue eyes - which reportedly make girls 'swoon.'

#5 Eric Stoltz

Star of SyFy's show Caprica, the venerable Eric Stoltz looks pretty well preserved considering he's approaching his forth generation of acting. The original Marty McFly (until he was replaced by Micheal J. Fox) he's also stared in Memphis Belle, Pulp Fiction, Jerry Maguire and a litany of other movies. He's almost as much of a Hollywood fixture as the Walk of Stars.

He's also considered something of a hottie.

Oh, maybe not in the Brad Pitt or George Clooney category, but he's got more than his share of fans. My Internet investigation turned up comments like: "Eric Stoltz is KILLER SEXY' and "How cute is he? Seriously?"

Maybe it's something to do with the careful balance he's achieved; stuck somewhere between 'boyish' and 'worn in.' Maybe it's the passion he injects into his work - he plays a fantastic mad scientist in Caprica. Perhaps it's just the fact that he looks damn good in a suit.

Of course, there are plenty of other redheaded hotties - and just how hot they are is the subject of much discussion.

Runners up for this article included Conan O'Brien, who has more than his share of female fans. CSI Miami star David Caruso was also considered - he was once the quintessential ginger heartthrob - but is now more likely to be mocked for his overly dramatic turn as detective Horatio Caine (nevertheless, a lot of ladies get a bit squirmy at the thought of him.)

Nevertheless, I think I've made my point: Red hair is only as unattractive as the guy it's attached to.

A superficial statement like 'redheaded men aren't attractive' is utterly laudable given the fact that there are plenty of highly attractive redheaded men out there - and the redheads who are unattractive would arguably still be so if their hair magically turned blond or black.

My attitude towards the woman who declares that she doesn't find redheaded men attractive? It's your loss, baby. You have no idea what you're missing out on.

Fakers: How many celebrity gingers are secretly blond (or brunette) bombshells?

The New York Times recently declared red hair to be in – partly because so many popular celebrities are rockin’ the ginger look these days.

It’s true – from Mad Men’s smoldering sexpot Christina Hendricks, to Ron Weasley and his ginger brethren in the latest Harry Potter, red hair has never been hipper and more in the public eye.

Which is why it pains me to do this – out the fakers.

Because it has recently come to Militant Ginger’s attention that some of this generation's most iconic redheads are, in fact, frauds. They’re about as ginger as Geri Halliwell (the former Ginger Spice – who was straight out of a bottle.)

The Bernie Madoff of this scarlet-haired scandal? None other than Mad Men star Christina Hendricks herself. The curvaceous star recently admitted that she’s a natural blond, and has been dying her hair that signature scarlet since she was just 10-years old!

“There was something that spoke to me about that color,” she confessed to LA Times,” So my Mum said, “Let’s just dye it.” My hair was very blond at the time, but it went to carrot red – and I was over the moon! I went to school the next day and just felt like myself.”

Although obviously gutted, I’ll acquit Hendricks because she’s truly taken being redheaded to heart, and stayed loyal to the hair color for almost twenty years.

Next on my hit list are James and Oliver Phelps, who play ginger mischief-makers Fred and George Weasley in the Harry Potter saga. The whole Weasley clan are celebrated gingers; but it turns out that the twins who play Fred and George are actually fakers.

Fred and George Weasley - not really ginger

“The twins are both natural brunettes,” Kris Bigalk revealed on BellaOnline, “and dye their hair a "ginger" color for the Harry Potter films. Both have expressed a preference for their natural hair color, but must wait for studio clearance to dye it back to its original shade.”

C’mon! Are you telling me there weren’t real ginger twins available to play the Weasley brothers? For shame, Warner Brothers!

The gorgeous Amy Adams has always been one of my favorite redheads – she looked stunning in Talledega Nights and was cute and bubbly in Enchanted.

However, she’s not a natural redhead either! Amy is really a natural blond! But like Christina Hendricks, I’m almost willing to let her go on this one.

In an interview with People, she admitted it:

“I was a terrible blonde. When I dyed my hair true red for the first time, I felt as if it was what nature intended. I’ve always been a bit of a spitfire, so I absolutely live up to the stereotype about redheaded women.”

If she hadn't have come clean, I'd have never known. She's an utterly convincing (and utterly gorgeous) ginger.

The final fraud isn’t an A-lister any more, but back in the mid-nineties, she was the iconic redhead of her generation. When X-Files was rocking our TV screens for the first time, the gorgeous Gillian Anderson was the highest profile redhead on both sides of the Atlantic.

Gillian Anderson - out of this world as the redhead FBI agent Dana Scully

But Dan Scully, it turns out, had a secret almost as dark as the alien/hybrid/conspiracy thing at the heart of the unintelligible plot of the X-Files saga.

[That’s a bit hyperbolic, wouldn’t you admit? Editorial Bear]

She’d never been ginger to begin with – it was all out of a bottle! Several bottles, as it happens. If you want to see a season-by-season time line of her hair evolution (I kid you not) visit this article on Hair Boutique.

But while we’re out exposing fake redheads, it would be remiss not to tackle an equally scandalous situation: Britain’s closeted gingers. Yes, there are stars out there who are natural redheads, but will do anything to keep that truth hidden.

Can you blame them? I’m a prime example that it ain’t easy growing up in Britain with red hair. But ultimately, I say redhead celebrities have a duty to be loud and proud about their ‘ginger roots’ and stop pretending to be something they’re not.

A case in point? Comedy sensation Simon Pegg – the genius behind Shaun of the Dead and Spaced. Despite his clearly ginger beard and scruff, the cheeky rogue recently told More! magazine: “I'm not actually a redhead! When we did Shaun of the Dead I dyed my hair before filming and it kind of went red.”

Bold-faced lies! Countless red-carpet shots and publicity stills how Pegg rockin’ the ginger look, (or, at least, unsuccessfully covering it up with trop de peroxide.) Why can’t he just admit what he is and give countless kids growing in ginger-hating Britain an icon they can look up to?

I hate to get all Perez Hilton and ‘out’ unwilling redheads, but this is a duty that needs to be done. No more lies, Mr Pegg! Militant Ginger loves your work, but I wag a stern finger at your continued ginger denial. Own it, fellow redhead!

After all, if Christina Hendricks, the Phelps Twins and Amy Adams have shown us anything, it’s that being ginger is hip, hot and here to stay. They weren't ginger, and they wanted to be. What's your issue?

When I was growing up, I got constant abuse for having red hair. Now it looks like everybody in the world wants to join the clan instead - and if the likes of Hendricks and Adams are amongst them, I’m more than happy to extend an open invitation!

Tolerant Britain? Fraser Nelson's Insipid Editorial

I’ve read a lot of shitty editorial over the years (and penned a fair whack of it myself) but it’s difficult to top the insipid, self-contratulatory tripe that Fraser Nelson posted on The Spectator this Sunday.

“What it is to be British” was ostensibly a celebration of The Proms; but rapidly deteriorated into something else entirely – a kind of disjointed tribute to a utopian Britain that bears very little resemblance to what the UK’s actually like.

“[The] British are, and always have been, more at ease with foreigners [than Americans],” he writes, which is utterly laughable to anybody who’s ever lived here, or to my American pals who've watched the adorably xenophobic banter on Top Gear.

“There is something inherently understated about being British,” he adds; which immediately makes me think back to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, when England fans burned a German flag in Leicester Square and trashed a Haagen Daz restaurant. Hardly very understated ways to support your national team.

But the statement that really got my goat was this one:

“Brits are, I firmly believe, the most tolerant people on earth.”

At this point, you have to start wondering which Britain this so-called journalist actually lives in, because it sure as hell doesn’t sound much like the Britain I know.

Here’s the land in which people get stabbed or driven out of town for having ginger hair, and in which British religious extremists blow themselves up in the Underground.

He writes “we're the only country in Europe to manage mass immigration without a far-right party in parliament or with any sizeable share of the vote” while blithely ignoring the fact that we’re also one of the only Western countries that has mainstream white supremacist party on the polls (or did he miss the British Nationalist Party’s delightful party political broadcasts this May?)

We British are masterful at being politically correct – and at vilifying anybody who refuses to be similarly so – but Fraser Nelson seems to have mistaken that rather repressive form of social fascism for ‘tolerance’, when it is actually very far from.

Tolerance is an open minded, inclusive attitude towards those who are different from the norm. Political correctness, on the other hand, is merely social conditioning and behavioral policing, enforced by the threat of polite society ostracizing you.

If you want a demonstration of Britain’s true character, just take away that expectation of political correctness and you’ll see quite how mean-spirited and vicious we can be.

A case in point? The fact that I spent four years living in the UK and was guaranteed at least one cat-call of “Ginger” from across the street every single day, and was accosted and confronted in pubs, restaurants, cinemas and shops for having red hair on a regular basis.

That’s only my experience, and I’ll admit I’ve got a big ol’ chip on my shoulder as a result of it. However, there’s ample proof to support the theory that Brits just aren’t in the running for a ‘most tolerant people on Earth’ award any time soon.

For all our politically-correct pretentions, most Brits will admit that there’s a judgmental streak in our character that simply doesn’t exist in other places.

For instance, it’s only in Britain that George Bernard Shaw’s famous quote rings true: “It is impossible for an Englishman to open his mouth without making some other Englishman hate or despise him.”

As soon as a Brit reveals his accent, he’s immediately pigeonholed by his audience (For instance, I’ve always lived with the mantle of ‘posh public school boy’ despite attending a comprehensive in Devonshire.)

Here in America – a land so many Brits are keen to dismiss as intolerant – there are far fewer social barriers than you might imagine. For example, there isn’t the insipid obsession with class that there is in the UK. Joe the Plumber can mingle with a Kennedy without either feeling insecure; as the measure of pride is a hard day’s work; not necessarily how much you get paid for it.

In Britain, you’re expected to know your place in the social hierarchy (a concept Prince Charles himself inopportunely admitted supporting) and never rise above it. Brits cling to some deluded sense of class identity even though such concepts have lost all relevance in British society.

(Working in radio, I never had to look far to find some presenter with a northern accent celebrating his ‘working class’ roots despite the fact he read the traffic and travel on a regional FM station - which is not exactly a working class occupation.)

No, Britain is not the most tolerant nation on earth.

In fact, scratch the surface and a large proportion of the country is revealed to be stunningly intolerant.

We don’t like anything different and are quick to hammer down any nail that stands taller than the others. In Britain, we’re only oh-so-fucking tolerant as long as you abide by our expectations.

This probably explains a number of things in my life – why the majority of my British friends tend to be the types who fall outside popular, polite society – gays, eccentrics, expatriates and entrepreneurs. Like me, with my ginger hair, they’ve tended to be the butt of British intolerance and are considerably more open-minded to other’s oddities as a result.

It’s also probably the reason why I’m so happy here in America.

For all of America’s faults – and open intolerance towards gays and immigrants are two of the biggest – the average American judges somebody by what they do and say, and not what accent they have or what color their hair is.

I can be deliciously, deliriously eccentric here in the states and the worst I get is an amused, accepting smile. I’m able to be myself in the ‘land of the free’ to an extent I never could back in Britain.

To my mind, that’s powerful evidence that Fraser Nelson didn’t know what he was talking about when he wrote “Brits are, I firmly believe, the most tolerant people on earth.”

But then again, if his impression of what British society is like matches what he wrote, perhaps there's an awful lot Mr. Nelson doesn't know about.

Don't Wii On Me! Gingerism from Nintendo?

A family member's on vacation - and in addition to looking after his dog for a few days, we've taken temporary ownership of his Wii as well.

Despite being a big kid at heart, I've managed to avoid getting a gaming console since coming to America - and if you want to know how I occupied my time without one, the fact that I have a baby should answer that question!

However, despite finding other ways to occupy my time, I'd always secretly fancied a Wii. It's the only gaming console that uses kinetic controllers - as in, you wave and waggle them about to control your on-screen avatar. So much more fun than sore thumbs!

Finally, club your family members in the face with a plastic controller - all in the comfort of your own home!

So yesterday, I finally got to try the Wii out for myself - and it's AWESOME.

I played Wii Sports - where you use the controllers to play on-screen sports like tennis and baseball. The tennis game is great. Waving your controller gives you surprisingly deft control of your character's backhand and it's alarmingly addictive to play!

Without exaggeration, this You Tube clip probably sold more Wii units than any amount of Nintendo advertising!

But one thing angered - nay infuriated - me.

When you play on the Wii, you play as 'Mii' - a little onscreen character you can design to look just like you (if you were related to a Weeble.)

Creating the Militant Ginger 'Mii' - although something's not quite right...

You can pick your character's height, width, skin-tone and facial features and even pick their hair style...

...unless you're ginger.

Notably NOT ginger!

Yep, using the on-screen options available your 'Mii' could resemble pretty much any demographic. African, Asian, Indian or Aryan. But there was a conspicuous lack of 'ginger' in the hair options.

Even Rob Zombie has a 'Mii.' But of course, he's just a talented, sociopathic filmmaker - not ginger!

You could go for 'brown' or you could go for a sandy 'yellow' but there was nothing in the middle. My 'Mii' looked nothing like 'me' because his hair color was resolutely not-red.

Hair color options - NONE OF THEM GINGER! Not even a LITTLE BIT!

I'm horrified! Disgusted! Appalled and enraged! Nintendo, what kind of gratuitous gingerism is this? Shame on you!

I am forthwith writing to Nintendo USA to demand something be done about this. As a so-called Militant Ginger, I can't let this slight pass unpunished!

An Open Letter to Nintendo, USA

Nintendo of America, Inc.
Redmond, WA

Dear Sir, Madam,

Recently, I was fortunate enough to finally get to play Wii – and I absolutely loved it.

For years I’d been looking for a way to suck at tennis, bowling and golf in the comfort of my own home and now, thanks to Wii Sports, I can finally do that.

But despite my initial enthusiasm for waving my arms around in my living room - knocking furniture over, scaring the dog and making my 14-month-old son stare at me like I was a lunatic – I have encountered a very serious and offensive oversight built-in to the very fabric of the Wii.

Enthused by my first experiences with Wii, I attempted to use your ‘Mii’ editor to create an avatar who looked like me. Although I was able to approximate my imposing height, athletic build and rugged, yet sensitive good looks, when it came to mimicking my striking red hair the Mii editor completely failed me!

There was no ‘red’ option available in the hair color box! Just a choice between some crappy chocolate brown and a muddy yellow color that’s suspiciously similar to the paint-job on my ’89 Lincoln Town Car. Neither one does the job. I’m a proud redhead – in possession of flaming ginger hair that’s as unequivocally orange as Paris Hilton’s fake tan.

I find this oversight disgusting and racist!

Mii conspicuously makes almost any possible variation of skin-tone and facial feature available to users – meaning anybody from an albino to an African-American can perfectly reproduce their Mii-likeness on Nintendo. Almost anybody, I should say – because we redheads are insultingly excluded from this so-called ‘all-inclusive’ editor!

What if you’d left out options for Asian people to make realistic-looking Miis?

Okay, that’s a really bad example, since Nintendo is Japanese, but you get my point!

My red hair is a result of my proud Anglo-Scots heritage. My ancestors – and their Scandinavian forebears – proudly roamed the northern seas raping and pillaging in order to perpetuate our proud ginger race (and possibly make up for some deep seated insecurity issues – I’m still researching that.)

Between 2% and 6% of Americans are redheaded, so it’s disgusting that Nintendo would so purposefully exclude us from creating our own Mii likenesses to enjoy your games with.

Frankly, the pleasure of sucking at Wii Tennis, or being completely crap at Wii bowling, or even the delight I take in remaining resolutely hopeless at Wii Golf, is diluted by the fact that whatever Mii I choose to represent me onscreen is a pale (well, paler) imitation of my glorious ginger self.

I am affronted, antagonized, bitter, chafed, choleric, convulsed and all sorts of other words I found on www.thesaurus.com.

I demand satisfaction!

Therefore, it is essential that you amend the Mii editor immediately to include an option for red hair. If you fail to do that (or fail to buy me off with, perhaps, a free Wii, wink wink) I will not rest until your offensive oversight and callous attitude is publicized across the nation!

Redheads of the world unite! (Bring sunscreen)

Roland Hulme, a.k.a. Militant Ginger

www.militantginger.com

Rowling sees Red: Gingerism in the Harry Potter books...

J.K. Rowling has been identified (by me at least) as a redhead. I think her usual media appearance, as a blond, is assisted by peroxide.

Perhaps her natural hair colour explains why the Harry Potter books are filled with gingers. The main family in the Potter saga (featured far more than Potter's relatives) are the Weasleys; and every single one of them is ginger.

Ron Weasley is relegated to second place (or third, behind brainy Hermione) in the Potter triumvirate. Although he seems to be an excellent chess player (as seen in The Philosopher's Stone) and a fairly good Quidditch keeper (as you can read about in The Half Blood Prince,) he is generally portrayed by Rowling as something of a coward and a mummy's boy. He's certainly viewed as less intelligent than Harry (who got better scores than him in their OWL exams.)

Although he comes through in the end, throughout the entire Harry Potter saga it's clearly suggested that Weasley is the weakest link in Harry's chain.

For that reason, I suspect the colour of Ron's hair was a deliberate choice by Rowling to illustrate his sidekick status. Ginger hair is typically used in fiction to identify characters who are weaker or more awkward than their more socially acceptable blond or brunette peers.

Likewise, the Weasley family (note how close the word Weasley is to Weasel) are poor and socially inferior wizards, coming from pure blood stock but generally at the receiving end of other Wizard's scorn (Mr Weasley, for example, seems to be the only poor employee of the Ministry of Magic.) What better way to instantly illustrate this than make the entire family ginger?

I don't think Rowling intends to portray any 'ginger' character in a negative light because of the colour of their hair (although treacherous Mundungus Fletcher is described as having red hair.) I think she simply took an accepted social stereotype (the nerdy ginger) and borrowed it for the occasion.

Rowling more than makes up for it, though. In the books, the Weasleys are portrayed as brave and loyal friends to Harry. The Weasley family pretty much adopts him and makes Potter feel one of their own. Ginny Weasley, Harry's love interest, is obviously ginger haired, but she's still portrayed as beautiful and attractive in the later books. (Sadly not the films, so far.)

In many ways, Rowling has done a world of good by portraying redheaded people in such a positive light. It's certainly done great things for the actor who portrays Ron Weasley on screen. Rupert Grint is now a bona fide ginger sex symbol.

In addition to that, J.K. Rowling acknowledged what ginger people go through living in England in her latest book. One scene in The Deathly Hallows particularly grabbed me. Ron, Harry and Hermione escape a team of Death Eaters (the baddies) and arrive in the middle of London late at night. While looking for a place to hide, a bunch of drunk muggles yell out to Hermione: "Oi! Ditch ginger and have a pint with us!"

Something I've experienced many times!

In fact, 'Ginger' is also used as derogatory term for Ron and his family throughout the books, both by muggles and members of the wizarding community (the evil ones, anyway.)

Considering that the Harry Potter series is so popular and important, it's really nice to see an issue that I feel passionately about brought to the attention of millions of readers. Whether it'll make much difference or not, I couldn't tell you. One thing's for sure, though. Ron Weasley and his family have really done their bit to finally make ginger cool.

Okay. Maybe not cool. But at least a little cooler.

Militant Ginger

Now I'm living in civilisation, I'd almost forgotten one of the major driving forces behind this blog - my intense annoyance at the ridiculous prejudice British people have about redheads.

But word of this prejudice seems to have followed me across the Atlantic. On Yahoo this morning, the Americans were reporting on what they dubbed 'Ginger Phobia.'

You can see the ABC news story about it here.

One of their most amazing claims was that Prince Harry got bullied at school for his red hair. His comrades in the army apparently call him The Ginger Bullet Magnet and his girlfriend refers to him affectionately as: The Big Ginger.

I mean, this is the guy who's forth in line for the throne! Show some bloody respect!

The American reporters on this item seem incredulous. I can't blame them. Picking on somebody for the colour of their hair is crazy enough - but for the Brits to do it?

But the British reporter, who actually narrates the piece, has that same, snide, snotty lilt to his voice that we've all heard when exploring this particular issue. As Dan Wright, presenter of F*** Off, I'm Ginger, told me: We don't want to make it too serious.

That's why all reports about ginger prejudice are littered with puns, jokes and references to 'ginger nuts.' It's a serious issue that nobody in Britain is willing to take seriously. Why? Most likely because it reveals a nasty streak about British culture that loves to pick on people who are different.

As Charlotte Rushton says in the news item: A redhead stands out; and a nail that stands out gets hammered down.

Growing Up Ginger