[LMB] the red gene, was: female heroes

[quietann]

On Mon, Sep 1, 2008 at 11:06 AM,  <alayne at twobikes.ottawa.on.ca> wrote:

>> The red gene is commonest among Scandinavians and Irish; I would guess
>> that it's rare in the Balkans.
>
> You have forgotten the Scots; we may forgive you eventually.
>

Don't forget Northern Italy, and the area in France it borders.  Lots
of redheads there!

I have red on both sides of my family, the Scottish/Welsh/French side
and the Ashkenazic Jewish side.  The latter is not often mentioned as
a group that often has red hair, but I know a lot of red-headed Jews,
ranging from reddish brown to sheer flaming red to carrot-top, whose
ancestry is more or less purely Ashkenazic within the past few
generations.

On my mother's side, one of my aunts and several cousins have red
hair, and I think my grandfather did too.  On my father's side, my
grandmother did.  Because there's so much red hair in my family, I can
"pass" fairly well as a natural redhead if I use red henna.  I have
the pale skin with freckles and the blue eyes, which is classic
redhead coloring.

-- 
quietann at gmail.com

aka "The Accidental Jewess"