Genetic Discrimination: In defence of red hair
Less than 1 per cent of the human population has red hair but Scotland boasts a 13 per cent incidence. Red hair is regulated by a gene called the Melanocortin Receptor 1 or MCR1. 40 per cent of the Scottish population carry the recessive ‘red’ gene followed by Ireland at 35 per cent.
Redheads are also to be found in Wales, the USA, in North and West European countries – and Russia. The Berber and Kabylie populations of northern Algeria and Morocco have redheads, as do Northern India and Pakistan. Red hair is found commonly among the Pushtuns of Iran.
MCR1 was first described by the Edinburgh University dermatologist Jonathan Rees. As hair and skin colour work in tandem, Rees established that MCR1 is associated with a lightly pigmented skin – that is sometimes freckled – and red hair. The gene produces more pheomelanin chemicals, of the yellow and red variety.
Red hair is also referred to as auburn, ginger or titian, the latter derived from the painter Titian who often painted women with red hair. Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus depicts the goddess as a redhead. Other painters known to paint their redheads include the Pre-Raphaelites, Modigliana, Leighton and Klimt.
There are some interesting beliefs about redheads, a common stereotype being that they have fiery temperaments. During the Middle Ages, red was seen as the devil’s colour marking exaggerated sexual desire and moral turpitude. The myth was that redheads were conceived during the forbidden period of menstruation.
There is some indication that a high level of pheomelanin goes hand in hand with more abundant hormones and what are known as neuropeptides, including adrenaline and dopamine. Adrenaline is needed for high-energy flight or flight responses and redheads may have elevated levels of these.
Scientists are interested in the connections between red hair, lightly pigmented skins, pigment-bereft albinism and cancers. The health issues are serious because redheads’ burn very easily as their skins cannot tan. There is also evidence that individuals with red hair respond differently to anaesthetics.
In fact, it seems as if redheads experience certain categories of pain more powerfully, thermally induced pain in particular. Their particular version of the MC1R gene (called an allele) releases more of the hormone that stimulates Histonal cells as well as stimulating a brain receptor linked to pain sensitivity.
MCR1 is dated as an old gene – 100,000 years for humans – and is found in many species, located in the same genome place, such as wolves for example. Studies suggest that it was kept in the human gene pool because it is a by-product of a lighter skin which gave its owners an advantage in environments where sunlight was scarce.
Vitamin D production requires a certain band of ultra-violet (UV) radiation to penetrate our skin. In UV poor areas, like northern Europe, a light skin lets in enough of the good sun. Scientific studies have shown that having a lighter skin prevents rickets in cold climates and allows for better heat retention too (Jonathan Rees, ‘Genetics of Hair and Skin Colour’, Annual Review of Genetics, December 2003).
Redheads have a hard time in tropical climates, therefore. They should stay away from the sun and are vulnerable to skin cancer. Indeed, there is evidence that red hair is kept out of African gene pools (‘selected against’ is the jargon) precisely because it not only confers no advantage but is positively harmful.
There are some linked secondary diseases also. Kwashiorkor can, for example, turn dark into red or blond hair. One of the many varieties of albinism found among African and New Guinea populations result in red hair and skin. Like so much else, human characteristics can be a blessing and a curse.
There is a phenomenon called ‘gingerism’ (prejudices against red headed people) and ‘gingerphobia’ (fear of red headedness) in Scotland today. Redheads are sometimes referred to as ‘carrot-tops’, insult intended. The UK Commission for Racial Equality does not monitor cases of discrimination against redheads.
Still, there is a sentiment that red-headedness and being working class is a double disadvantage in Scotland. A woman received a tribunal award for being sexually harassed because of her red hair; a family was forced to move twice after being targeted for hate crimes because of the mother’s red-hair; and a young man was recently stabbed in the back for being ‘ginger’.
How absurd and perverse the human world sometimes can be. We should not be surprised. We had apartheid.