I first became aware of my affinity for redheads when I was in the service. A guy who rode with me to a dance observed that I found redhaired women the most attractive after I mentioned an interest in a particularly (to me) attractive girl at the dance. He’d noticed a pattern in the girls I found attractive. I didn’t know this about myself even though my first real girlfriend was most definitely a redhead as was a girl I almost dated because she was fleetingly attracted to me my senior year of high school. So, it’s no wonder the protagonist I created wears her red hair proudly.

A quick search on Facebook for redheads shows that I’m far from alone in appreciating ginger beauty. Several sites and even organizations are devoted to people, with an emphasis on women, with any shade of that hair color. I even found links to scientific articles debunking or verifying several legends regarding redheads. One that readers may find especially enlightening. To summarize, Hamburg, Germany sex researcher Dr. Werner Habermehl looked at the sex lives of hundreds of German women and compared them with their hair color. He found, “The sex lives of women with red hair were clearly more active than those with other hair colour, with more partners and having sex more often than the average. The research shows that the fiery redhead certainly lives up to her reputation.” More partners and more often are easily quantified but rely on truthful and accurate responses from respondents. Not mentioned is whether the women’s body counts were higher due to promiscuity, poor choices of men, her fiery temperament, or failed relationships. The latter three could account for having higher numbers of sex partners in this time of serial monogamy.

Studies I’d like to see Dr. Habermehl conduct would be of Scottish, Irish, and American gingers. Women in cultures where red-haired women are less unusual might give different results than he found with German redheads.