Less than 2% of the world’s population has red hair and I’m one of them.

At first, being a redhead meant really nothing to me. I would get compliments while my mom pushed me around the grocery store while sitting in a shopping cart, but most of those comments went right over my head. It wasn’t until about middle school when I realized, I am one of the gingers.

There are plenty of other redheads in my grade that I’ve gone to school with for years. Since middle school, we have taken redhead photos at school events, social events and just about anywhere we were all together; we even have our own redhead handshake. But despite us all having red hair, we have another thing in common: hearing all of the redhead jokes.

It’s no secret that humorous redhead slander is a thing and to be honest, it’s my favorite thing about being a redhead. It doesn’t help that I also have a peanut allergy; the red hair and peanut allergy combination call for the best of the best ginger jokes. I am literally at the bottom of the food chain.

Despite all the positives of being a redhead, I find myself standing in front of the mirror, fingers running through my hair, wondering how I could make my hair look more appealing. Sticking out like a sore thumb isn’t always the best when I constantly have to listen to the blondes or brunettes debate. I get down on myself knowing that in reality, most redheads are overlooked.

My whole life I have been told to never change my hair, however, this year I made the decision that I wanted to make a small change. I decided to go for an ombre look and have the bottom of my hair a little lighter. Eventually, that turned into me getting full blonde highlights in my hair.

While I do love my natural hair, it frustrates me that I let the small comments get to me and allow me to make even the smallest change to my hair.

Having red hair is like having a bad outfit at school. At first, you like your outfit, you try it on in the mirror and decide to wear it; then, you get to school and you absolutely hate it. You want to change it so badly, but you can’t, you can cover it up with a sweatshirt but it’s still there.

I feel like my hair used to not bother me at all, it was never talked about or pointed out. While it’s never been pointed out or made fun of, a lot of my confidence was lost because of my hair color. I couldn’t understand why because I didn’t hate my hair, I thought it just made me less than others.

After getting blonde highlights I realized something, who even cares about hair color. My hair is what makes me unique and I should love it.

It’s rare to even have red hair, let alone red hair and green eyes. It makes me who I am, and I love it.

Every time I get called Ed Sheeran, it makes my day. I love my red hair and being a ginger is so cool. I can’t imagine myself with any other hair color.

Red hair is beautiful and it makes me unique and by the way, gingers do have souls.