Ginger vs Redhead
The difference between ginger and redhead lies in the tone of the hair color. If you live in either Asia or Africa where hair color and eye color is black or brown mostly, you probably cannot appreciate what it means to be a redhead or worse, a ginger. Redheads are people with red hair, and so are gingers. People with red hair are common in European Union. Especially, if you happen to be in UK or Ireland, you are sure to encounter many such people. On an average, 1-2% of world population has red hair and is often a victim of derogatory remarks. However, many people remain confused between redheads and gingers when they hear or see such remarks in print. This article attempts to clarify the doubts between redhead and ginger.
As far as science is concerned, redheads are people with high levels of red pigment and low levels of dark pigments at the same time. These people are mostly found in North Western Europe though, because of migration and cross-cultural marriages, red hair can be found in many more ethnicities today.
What is Redhead?
Redhead is a name used to refer to a person with reddish hair. In general, people with red hair have fair skin, though these days many skin tones are found associated with the red hair. Red hair, these days, can be acquired by using a hair color. Since red hair and pale skin seems to have a nice attraction, you will see people dying their hair red.
If you look closely, you will see that redheads have a hair color that is not exactly red, and it could range from deep burgundy to the shade of champagne.
What is Ginger?
Ginger is also a variety of red hair. However, it is closer to orange color than to red. Gingers are redheads with only fair skin and a pale skin full of freckles. These characteristics make gingers ugly in the eyes of many and thus, when ginger is used as a term to describe a person, he or she feels discriminated as ginger being a derogatory term. However, one cannot get the characteristics of a ginger as they are natural and cannot be acquired.
If you look closely at the hair color of gingers, you will see that gingers have an orange color that is slightly different from redheads. Their hair color looks as if red has been sun dried for long hours. It is possible to refer to anyone having red hair as a redhead, but calling someone a ginger is fraught with connotations that are mostly negative. So be careful when you are using the term ginger to address someone.
What is the difference between Ginger and Redhead?
• Hair Color:
• Redheads are people born with red hair or colored red using colors available in the market.
• Gingers are those who have an orangish hair color.
• Skin Tone:
• Redheads can have many different skin tones.
• Gingers have red, rather orange tone hair and have fair skin that is often pale and full of freckles.
• Usage:
• The redhead is a term that has neutral connotations. Some say redhead is used for those with red hair and are considered sexy.
• Ginger is a term used as a derogatory remark as people believe that gingers are not very attractive.
• Location:
• Redheads and gingers are found mostly in North Western Europe.
• Beliefs about Temperament:
• It is believed that people with red hair, this include gingers too as that is red hair too technically, get angry very easily.
• Some believe that they are highly sexed too.
• During the medieval era, red hair was believed to show moral degeneration and beastly sexual desire.
These are the differences between ginger and redhead. However, remember that though, the terms ginger and redhead apply to different tones of red hair color, most of the time, the attitudes towards people with both hair colors have been the same. Red was not a favored color in the early Christian times. Now that the society is more open-minded things have changed. However, there still are people who do not like hair that is ginger or red.
Images Courtesy:
- Karen Gillan by Gage (CC BY-SA 3.0)
- Ginger by fotologic (CC BY 2.0)
