Last week, as I mindlessly read the latest Maroon-News commentary section, I was confronted with an article written by self-proclaimed redhead Molly O’Brien that stopped me in my mental tracks. The headline read “Colgate University Has a Ginger Problem” and I was, to put it simply, intrigued.
While many others and I irrevocably agree that there is, indeed, a problem with the amount of redheaded misfits that roam the Village of Hamilton, there lies a larger issue within the article’s existence in the first place. If we don’t want a disproportionate amount of gingers at Colgate, why are we enabling them to write for the college paper?
We must first acknowledge that gingers rarely contribute to society productively. When was the last time you met a ginger who had done something to make the world a better place? I can assure you the answer is never. While prominent gingers do exist within pop culture, it is strenuous to argue that carrot-topped musician Ed Sheeran has changed the world. With numerous album titles named after symbols on a calculator, it is safe to say his creativity screams mediocrity and simple-mindedness.
Next, there is the issue of the overrepresentation of gingers in the media. In 2014, 11% of all actors shown in Primetime TV ads were redheaded, according to The Atlantic. This is a stark contrast to the rate of natural gingers in the U.S., which is estimated to be around 2 to 6%. Therefore, the issue of ginger saturation is not only present on Colgate’s campus, as last week’s article pointed out, but it has also intertwined itself within the web of general media.
Over-representation leads to replication. In recent years, numerous celebrities, including Kendall Jenner, Zoey Deutch and Maude Apatow, have chosen to dye their locks red with no explanation. While it is not clear what motivated these individuals to make such rash and unforgiving decisions, it is apparent that being or pretending to be a redhead is becoming a niche societal fixation. Could this sudden ginger-fication be tied to a subculture movement?
To answer the original inquiry on the realities of having such a high rate of gingers hidden among the ranks of the Colgate Maroon-News, it is evident that there is an underlying agenda being perpetuated by gingers in the media. While writers like O’Brien and I can write all we want, complaining about the number of redheads waltzing onto campus each fall, we have been given a platform, and there is no such thing as bad press.
Come every evening when my roommate and I scroll through the day’s most popular Yik Yaks, there is no shortage of discussion on redheaded campus celebrities, the possibilities of a ginger run (a communal organization of gingers who form a spectacle running together for others’ entertainment) or even just general discussions on the sheer amount of Ed Sheeran lookalikes here at Colgate. The people are talking, and it is fan behavior.
Perhaps the “ginger problem” at Colgate is not a problem at all. Perhaps there is indeed a subculture movement pushing gingers to be heard, and most importantly, be seen. By enabling gingers to write for the Maroon-News, this movement has been nudged to the forefront of all students’ minds subconsciously, allotting for an era in the Colgate media where nearly all discussion either revolves around gingers or is being discussed by a ginger.
At this point in time, gingers are unavoidable. They have already infiltrated the ranks of the press, your friendships and classes and they might have convinced you that having red hair is mere normalcy at Colgate. They could even be writing their own satirical articles, convincing you that being ginger is the new status quo.
I must admit to all those reading that I, too, am part of the copper-headed, vitamin D-deficient and disproportionately represented group at Colgate. In addition to this admission, I must note that red hair dye can be purchased at Kinney Pharmacy, Price Chopper and numerous other drugstores in the Hamilton area. So go forth, become a carrot and join the club.
