Are these kids harder to love?

It ain’t easy being a redhead. You’re pale, you’re freckly, your hair is a weird colour and people make fun of it.

So it fills my heart with joy when I see photos of Roodharigendag, a yearly festival in the Netherlands for people with naturally red hair. Held last weekend in Breda, more than 5000 redheads from 80 countries attended, with the latest gathering breaking its own Guinness Book of Records entry for the photo featuring the most redheads in one spot – 1,672 people.

I have no idea why I was so thrilled when my daughter was born with red fuzz on her head. I didn’t think, poor little thing, you’ll blister in the sun, you’ll be called a ranga, you’ll curse your tresses. I was totally besotted with my little mini-me.

(NB If you’re wondering what’s smeared all over her mouth in the photo above, it’s sand. Sand was her favourite food as a baby.)

My eldest’s red hair grew like grass, straight up in the air. It was quite the talking point. When gravity finally took hold, it fell into a perfect, silky bob (with a little help from the hairdresser). It never needed combing, it was streaked with gold and glorious.

She has never mentioned any ranga teasing in the playground. It probably helps that she has honeyed skin, not ghostly white; she’s generally freckle free, aside from a cute little sprinkle on her nose; and she has dark lashes and brows, not invisible ones.

My childhood wasn’t quite so asthetically pleasing. You couldn’t put a pin between my freckles (well, except for the big white spot in the middle of my nose that got so badly burnt once, all the melanin was seared out). Many years were spent in the shadows during my teens, studious fading those bloody freckles. Then I went on a school ski trip and recoiled in horror when I looked in the mirror at lunchtime. Every damn one was back and I wanted to weep. Fortunately, in my 20s, I grew into my hair and out of my freckles. And I discovered there were men who fancy redheads, like my husband.

But being a redhead still presents challenges. I burn in bright sun in 15 minutes flat, even when slathered in 30+ suncream. Going on Asian holidays often feels like I’m the bearded lady in sideshow alley. I remember walking into a suburban park in Bangkok once and a hush falling over the crowd. Everyone stopping what they were doing and turned to stare. In Singapore, they call caucasians “ang-mo”, which means “red-haired” or “red devils”. They’re not the only ones – in the Middle Ages, red hair and green eyes were thought to be signs of a witch. And redheads require higher levels of anaesthetic, which makes the dentist lots of fun at needle time.

Wikipedia includes such cheering facts as: “In November 2008 social networking website Facebook received criticism after a ‘Kick a Ginger’ group, which aimed to establish a “National Kick a Ginger Day” on November 20, acquired almost 5000 members. A 14-year-old boy from Vancouver who ran the Facebook group was subjected to an investigation by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for possible hate crimes.” And “In December 2009 British supermarket chain Tesco was forced to withdraw a Christmas card which had the image of a child with red hair sitting on the lap of Santa Claus, and the words: “Santa loves all kids. Even ginger ones” after customers complained the card was offensive.”

Then there’s that awful human headline, Katie Hopkins, who sent out this lovely tweet recently:

I was discussing the downsides to being a redhead with a fellow tawny mum over drinks the other night. And we agreed that whatever the disadvantages, being a redheaded woman was better than being a redheaded man. Or worse, dating one. Redheaded women are generally repelled by redheaded men. And vice versa. Perhaps it’s a biological imperative to stop albinism or something. There are exceptions. I was completely ga-ga over a ginger boy called Gavin at my Sunday School. And I once shared a flat with a divine rust-haired surfer (though his habit of louding blowing his nose into his hand in the shower cooled the heat in my loins somewhat).

Think I’m being a bit harsh in my ginger aversion? Watch this clip of a movie called “Being Ginger” about a redheaded bloke’s quest for love …

On the upside, all the brunettes at drinks that night opposed my aversion to ginger men. They insisted Damian Lewis from Homeland was totally HOT. Can’t see it myself. He’ll always be icky Soames from The Forsythe Saga in my eyes. But good on him for waving the sexy redhead flag.

Is there a redhead in your family? Have they faced ginger discrimination?

Here’s a gallery of photos from the Redhead Days Facebook page from the Roodharigendag event. Is there an adorable redhead in your family? Send us a pic at [email protected] and we’ll add it to our gallery.

We’ve had some great photos coming in from iVillage readers:

From left to right we have:

1. Alex and Sophie, submitted by mum  Jeni, who writes: "Many gingers at my house - sadly I am not one."

2. A photo from blogger Empress Nasi Goreng, who writes: "I am the sister of a man with glorious red curly hair (the only redhead in our family). It used to really gall me when we were little as people would always stop mum when we were out to comment on my brother’s beautiful hair. For his part, he thought it terribly unjust that he had both an unusual name (not by today’s standard) and red hair. he is still quite sensitive about it even now that he doesn’t have a lot of hair left and the vibrancy has faded a great deal. He has just told us that he is about to become a father so we all have our fingers crossed for another bluey in the family."

3. A photo from Anna Garlick

4. 5-year-old Isabella, who loves her red hair. Her mum Alison writes:  "She has never been teased about it. In fact, her friends at school say they love the colour of her hair and wish they had red hair too. We hate the word 'ranga' in our house and would never, ever use it!"

Alana House is the editor of iVillage Australia. This article originally appeared on her blog, housegoeshome.com. You can also find her on Twitter.