‘My magnificent new [red] hair’
October 27, 2011 9:13 AM   Subscribe

In a daring rejoinder to the kind of anti-ginger prejudice (previously) that can fictionally manifest itself as gingercide, one brave redhead gets his hair did, going from suedehead to fashion plate in “nine long months.”
posted by joeclark (41 comments total) 5 users marked this as a favorite
 
He looks good!
posted by ThePinkSuperhero at 9:18 AM on October 27, 2011 [2 favorites]


I got two foot of hair cut off once. The difference in how I looked (I was fifteen) was pretty astonishing - it was the first haircut I had ever had, because having long hair was default mode for me. I now dye it red.

I don't think I could get a whole article out of it, mind.
posted by mippy at 9:18 AM on October 27, 2011


... gingercide ...

Isn't that a Monsanto product?
posted by ZenMasterThis at 9:20 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]


This is a nice lightweight fluff piece by a handsome man with great hair, so I'm not going to get into the politics of it all... I'm just going to sit in a huff here in the corner and wish I didn't have such ethnic hair.
posted by tumbleweedjack at 9:21 AM on October 27, 2011 [2 favorites]


"God, that is fabulous hair. Is it real?" I nodded poking out her eye with a stray hair
posted by DU at 9:21 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]


how many times can a man say "Don't touch Daddy's hair" and still call himself a man?

My grandma does this all the time; you go in to hug her, bump her hair, and she pulls away saying, "oh, don't mess up my hairdo!" And it's like, dammit, I'm just trying to love you, cut me some slack. If you (male or female) are so obsessed with your hair that you don't even want your close family to touch it during your downtime, you need to reevaluate your priorities.
posted by phunniemee at 9:22 AM on October 27, 2011 [4 favorites]


I learned other things, too. Like everyone looks younger with longer hair.

Not true if you have a receding hairline.
posted by 256 at 9:23 AM on October 27, 2011 [5 favorites]


Top middle photo makes him a dead ringer for Rick Astley.
posted by Inspector.Gadget at 9:24 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]


and I use one product (Kiehl's Malleable Molding Paste)

Hmm. I used this stuff to do the grout in bathroom.
posted by doctor_negative at 9:26 AM on October 27, 2011 [3 favorites]


you (male or female) are so obsessed with your hair that you don't even want your close family to touch it during your downtime, you need to reevaluate your priorities.

Early in my dating life, I realised that one should never date a person who: 1) puts down their exes, or their gender, constantly 2) never reads fiction 3) won't let you touch their hair. All of these are bad signs.
posted by mippy at 9:28 AM on October 27, 2011 [8 favorites]


I only read fiction about people who hate their exes who never let people touch their hair.
posted by kmz at 9:30 AM on October 27, 2011 [3 favorites]


mippy, that's so mean! I don't read fiction cuz I'm too busy saving Gotham City
posted by 200burritos at 9:32 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]


The thrill of dating black women, in my experience: Usually, you can not touch their hair after it's been done. A couple of days before getting done, you can touch it, with greater allowances up to the time she's leaving for the hairdresser.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 9:33 AM on October 27, 2011


Curly hair has to be a lot more hands-off. Curls don't just put themselves back together after somebody handles them; straight hair can be just brushed back into place, but the curl takes work and product to get back. I don't care if somebody touches my hair first thing in the morning before I wash it, or after I get home and I'm not intending to go back out again, but even *I* have to be very careful not to disturb it or I end up just a frizzy mess instead. But I'm willing to make that sacrifice.

I'm not a redhead, but learning to like my own curly hair and treat it right after a lifetime of not... that took some effort. Still does, a lot of days.
posted by gracedissolved at 9:36 AM on October 27, 2011 [5 favorites]


This is a nice lightweight fluff piece

tumbleweedjack, I see what you did there.
posted by IAmBroom at 9:39 AM on October 27, 2011


When I was younger I had long dark hair and bologna curls like Prince Valiant. Oddly, I did not get all the hot princesses... but given that I didn't have to fight any dragons or musketeers or really anything at all, it all comes out in the wash.

I love red hair, anyhow, and I just don't get "gingerbashing." Is it some kind of silly othering thing that's supposed to be more acceptable than racism?
posted by seanmpuckett at 9:40 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]


I think it depends on the product you use; my curly hair always looks better the more it gets messed with for some reason. This makes my girlfriend happy, as she loves to stick her hands/face in it whenever she can.
posted by Lucien Dark at 9:43 AM on October 27, 2011


Seanpuckett, check Joe's previous link. A sad import from the UK.
posted by saucysault at 9:50 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]


I'm allergic to the vast majority of 'product', which makes getting a haircut a pain as I end up scratching my scalp to pieces until I get home again. Which means I have very flat, flaky, dark-rooted hair rather than the Pre-Raphaelite hair of my dreams. And it keeps dropping out so I have to keep it short.
posted by mippy at 9:51 AM on October 27, 2011


Wow he has awesome hair.
posted by 2bucksplus at 9:53 AM on October 27, 2011


Mippy, check Paula Begoun’s really quite badly edited but enormously informative books and Web sites on the ingredients inside hair-care products. Who knows how much research you’d have to do, but, armed with that information, you might be able to find “product” that bothers your scalp less. (Many commonly-used ingredients give a false impression of having a soothing power, like menthol, mint, and citrus.)
posted by joeclark at 9:56 AM on October 27, 2011


This is as much about getting a good haircut as anything, and it's sometimes really, REALLY hard to find a place that will give you a great haircut.

This is my kid with his amazing golden curly hair. I wanted to leave it long, and product it into place, but his father drew the line at product, so we ended up getting it cut. I finally had to settle for some boring typical little-boy haircut, because it was almost impossible to find a place that really understood how to do a good boy's haircut for a boy with curly hair. Most of the reputable (adult) salons wouldn't touch it (although, interestingly, they would have been happy for me to pay $60 for a haircut if he were a girl), and the vast majority of places that took kids just knew four or five haircuts and that was it.

What I wouldn't give for a 'Rodney' for my kid. He looks so much awesomer with long hair.
posted by anastasiav at 10:03 AM on October 27, 2011


joeclark - I'm not American so a lot of that stuff isn't available to me. Hair spray and aerosols tend to drive my skin nuts generally so I avoid those to begin with!
posted by mippy at 10:06 AM on October 27, 2011


If you (male or female) are so obsessed with your hair that you don't even want your close family to touch it during your downtime, you need to reevaluate your priorities.
I don't want close family to touch my hair. Nothing to do with appearance, everything to do with personal space.
posted by mollymayhem at 10:15 AM on October 27, 2011


Man, I would kill for this guy's hair. Gorgeous, gorgeous color, great body. I try to get that color every month when I color my hair; I get one fabulous week, then three weeks of meh. I'm getting closer and closer to the time when I just give up and go 1/2 mousy brown, 1/2 gray.

Don't mind me. I'm just thinking out loud over here. And coming to terms with aging.

I could be a while.
posted by WorkingMyWayHome at 10:21 AM on October 27, 2011


Mippy, products like Pantene are not “American,” and the ingredients in hair-care products are similar across the board. Also, we have the E-commerce now and you can order something you think might work. Begin with Begoun!
posted by joeclark at 10:21 AM on October 27, 2011


What nine months and a ton of gel can do for a man.

Not a whole hell of a lot. IMNSHO.
posted by Splunge at 10:28 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]


mippy: "joeclark - I'm not American"

Neither is joeclark.
posted by Deathalicious at 10:29 AM on October 27, 2011


What the hell is this!? (I also think the before and after aren't much different. Perhaps this post is a litmus test for hair fetishists.)
posted by mrgrimm at 10:30 AM on October 27, 2011


It's interesting to see a man talking about a conscious decision to do beauty work. I'm glad I read it. Also, I wish my hair had that much texture.
posted by immlass at 11:30 AM on October 27, 2011


a mane with some weight and dimension and stank to it

Stank? STANK? What the French, Toast?
posted by codswallop at 11:43 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]


His first photo makes him look freshly deloused. Of course it looks better longer, anything looks better than that did he says, a reddish-headed guy going for another number-one-on-the-clippers trim this weekend.
posted by wenestvedt at 12:52 PM on October 27, 2011


immlass: "It's interesting to see a man talking about a conscious decision to do beauty work. I'm glad I read it. Also, I wish my hair had that much texture."

If you glaze it with shellac, it will.
posted by Splunge at 2:58 PM on October 27, 2011


I'm allergic to the vast majority of 'product', which makes getting a haircut a pain as I end up scratching my scalp to pieces until I get home again

Why don't you simply ask them not to use any 'product' in your hair?
posted by Soupisgoodfood at 3:25 PM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]


Why don't you simply ask them not to use any 'product' in your hair?

Heh, yeah, I think for my $6 haircuts, the only "product" I get is barber spit.
posted by mrgrimm at 3:28 PM on October 27, 2011


There's also a whole world of alternative haircare out there: oils, herbs, honey, vinegar. You can work wonders with stuff from your kitchen cupboards.

Also, you can bring along your own shampoo and conditioner and ask the hairdresser to use those. And decline the use of any styling products. They're not compulsory.
posted by sarahw at 5:37 PM on October 27, 2011


That guy looks hottttttt. Save the Gingers!
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:03 PM on October 27, 2011


The print article is, of course, trimmed in orange.
posted by joeclark at 7:48 PM on October 27, 2011


This whole ginga hate thing started out as a joke, didn't it? Ginga hate = bacon love. It's jumped the shark. Time to put it to bed.

Here's an hilarious clip of a very angry ginga ranging against South Park [think: leave Britney alone – but replace the tears with angry spittle]. Then to make it even funnier, a guy riffs on it in the MST3K style. [2:50 – NSFW LANGUAGE]
posted by uncanny hengeman at 8:21 PM on October 27, 2011


I get the impression that the ginger thing is what happens when Internet(-style) memes and bullying intersect.
posted by mendel at 8:33 PM on October 30, 2011


Why don't you simply ask them not to use any 'product' in your hair?

You've never had your hair cut in central London, it seems. Doesn't work.
posted by mippy at 3:09 AM on November 1, 2011


« Older Abortion Access Worldwide: A Reference   |   We have to pay attention to the stupid stuff right... Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments