There is little in this world as disappointing as having a great idea, but finding out that it isn’t an original idea. Well, you can’t be robbed of something that was never yours, but nonetheless, I feel robbed.
Being a redhead is part of my identity. There are few of us out there in the world, depending on where you hang your hat. In the United States, we make up somewhere between one and two percent of the population. Globally, about the same. There are places where you can find a higher concentration of redheads, though. Ireland, about eleven percent. Scotland, roughly thirteen. However, the long and the short of it is, redheads are rare, and sometimes when you are a redhead, you feel like the only one.
I was being encouraged by some of the faculty at my university to write a book. I was interested in the way redheads are characterized in literature and pop culture, and I wondered if you could even say marginalized. I was doing some research, reading novels, and looking for quotes from great redheads past. Unfortunately, in my research I discovered that someone else was out there. A professor of English, and a redhead, was out there with the same thoughts in mind, and she put it in writing first.
*sigh* Somewhere out there is a woman who shares my fury, but who has stolen my thunder.
***Update: Aformentioned English professor and I have exchanged some emails. There may be a place for me yet. Stay tuned. ;-)
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