#marion roach

[blackswaneuroparedux]

“All the action adventure girls have red hair," he said. "Whenever it is an independent girl, not a sidekick person, when she has her own mind or does as good as the guys, she has red hair.”

- Marion Roach, The Roots of Desire: The Myth, Meaning, and Sexual Power of Red Hair    

[bookswithyouranime]

Snow White With the Red Hair

From the Funimation website:

“In the kingdom of Tanbarun lives Shirayuki, an independent and strong-willed young woman. Her resourceful intelligence has led her become a skilled pharmacist, but her most defining trait is her shock of beautiful apple-red hair. Her dazzling mane gets her noticed by the prince of the kingdom, but instead of romancing her, he demands she be his concubine. Shirayuki refuses, chops off her lovely locks, and runs away to the neighboring kingdom of Clarines. There, she befriends a young man named Zen, who, SURPRISE, is also a prince, although with a much better temperament than the previous one. Watch as Shirayuki finds her place in the new kingdom, and in Zen’s heart.”

The culture (and a sprinkling of science) surrounding red hair has been studied in at least two books, both of which I found at my local library.

The Roots of Desire: The Myth, Meaning, and Power of Red Hair by Marion Roach

Red: A History of the Redhead by Jacky Collins Harvey

Though the subject of red hair in Snow White With the Red Hair is ascribed meaning via its rarity, both authors go into why red hair is so rare, and the different symbols culture has assigned it.

[morriganshandmaiden]

The Fall and the Expulsion - St. Paul’s Cathedral, London

“Three choir spandrels in the wall before me tell the story of the Fall and the Redemption. In the center spandrel is ‘Adam in the Garden.’ his look suggesting he sees what’s about to happen. To his right an angel is attempting to thwart Satan, who, in ‘The Temptation,’ the right-hand spandrel, is shown in mosaic as a handsome but frightening winged figure. He points to the forbidden fruit with his right hand while gesturing with his left to someone to be silent. It’s Eve, naked but for adornment in her golden hair, a gold so preciously metallic that I wonder at its karat - it’s so exquisite as to be the envy of any blonde beholding it. Toward the nave is ‘The Expulsion,’ in which the archangel with his sword of light is driving the first couple out of the garden. Adam, a fig leaf now firmly in place, loops his arm over the bent neck of Eve. But the fallen Eve is changed - she’s cowering, now, under the weight of her long, red hair. ...in any accounting for how the problems of evil came to fall on the heads of humanity forever after, there would need to be a traceable source, a scapegoat, which is how Eve is portrayed in the mosaics. She is seen carrying the stain of sin - the original sin - much as the red hair of her son Cain will later mark his own fall from grace.” ~ Marion Roach, The Roots of Desire, p165-66.

[morriganshandmaiden]

on the sexual fascination with redheads

“...I interviewed people I know who have what we popularly consider a ‘weakness’ for redheads, the foremost among them being a male friend whose dating career establishes him as a serial monogamist of the red-haired...’What is it?’ I had asked. Delighted to offer a synopsis of his knowledge, he replied, ‘they are the only women in the world whose orgasm you can actually see,’ he said. ‘The pale skin, the blood flushing the chest, rising up the throat, and rushing into the face. There is nothing like it in the world.’“ ~ Marion Roach, The Roots of Desire, p144-45.

[littleredone]

"All the action adventure girls have red hair… Whenever it is an independent girl, not a sidekick person, when she has her own mind or does as good as the guys, she has red hair.”

-Marion Roach 

Action adventure girl for life!

[r0ckinredhead-blog]

“All the action adventure girls have red hair. Whenever it is an independent girl, not a sidekick person, when she has her own mind or does as good as the guys, she has red hair.”

Marion Roach

[tumblr-redheadpride]

bunniesdontspeakenglish asked tumblr-redheadpride:

Have you heard of the book The Roots of Desire by Marion Roach? It's a history of society's views on redheads and it's pretty interesting!

Thank you for the rec, this book is on my list to read!

Goodreads link Interview with Marion Roach