Tuesday 24 September 2013

My Naughty Thoughts : Are Gingers as Hot as Their Hair

In my brooders or sun-gods post I drooled over the two male archetypes of romance novels. In the same thought, and for the first time, it dawned on me; what about the gingers? Why aren't there any sizzling hot red-haired heroes. Aren't they sexy too? Or have they been relegated to only the pale skinned, freckled face supporting role.

So I did a Google image search for sexy men with red hair and well....let's just say they're as hard to find as a virgin in a contemporary romance. Don't get me wrong, I found plenty of red-haired men, they were easy to find...but those that look like they belong on the cover of a heated romance novel...uh...not so much. Truth be told you don't see that many red-heads as leading men in movies so why would novels be any different right. That's a shame though. Kevin McKidd and Sean McGowan are two specimens that proves the red-heads can not only hold their own, but give Batman and Thor a run for their money. I'm not really sure just how into a red-headed male lead I am, but I'm willing to give them a try. None of my character in my House of Dragons series are red-heads but maybe later down the line.

On the flip side of the same coin, when I paired sexy and red hair together in a Google search there was no shortage of gorgeous women with flame coloured locks of every shade. I guess when we think of sexy red-heads the first thing that comes to mind in a feisty female. I love the looks of Isla Fisher, Amy Adams and Emma Stone. It's like a cross between the fire we expect from a red-head tempered with a bit of cute innocence.

Another trait I've noticed when it comes to red hair characters is that when an author wants to make their heroine a spit fire with a temper to match, she's always a red-head. I've yet to read a novel with a demure, even-tempered, submissive heroines with a mane of fire. Not saying that brunettes or blondes are such, just that a red-head never is. I guess the personality come with the hair. I could be wrong.

I think I'm bios towards heroines with red hair. As soon as their physical appearance is described as such I think, '...huh she's going to give him hell...' and I like heroines who give their male counterpart a bit of trouble.

So I don't need to be told that female red-heads are sexy....my question is....are the men? Tell me your thoughts on whether or not they're leading man material.

And that's my naughty thoughts on fiery gingers.

Later Loveys

P.S. Don't forget to share this post if you liked it

15 comments:

  1. This is so weird - my son is a red headed photographer and he's addressing this exact same issue. He has loads of press coverage and social media interest in his upcoming exhibition in London in December and has the backing of the Anti-bullying Alliance.
    https://www.facebook.com/redhotexhibition

    ReplyDelete
  2. You've inspired me to write a red-headed, calm, female lead. Lol

    ReplyDelete
  3. It may be cliche, but I think a red haired male lead would be wonderful....especially if he were in a kilt.

    Love-N-Stuff,

    CloudHuggers

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When I started thinking about it...I thought to myself any red-head male would probably end up being Scotish

      Delete
  4. My debut novel features a leading man with dark auburn hair as well as a sexy red-haired pirate. I am a red-head, though my hair is an unusual shade of copper. My 13 year old son has the same color hair with a tad darker complexion. I think he's going to be leading man material, especially if he takes after his father :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's about time they took their place among leading men.

      Delete
  5. You have a point. I think the red-heads get played down as being pale, scrawny, freckled, and awkward personalities. Thus, they usually get friend-zoned by authors. I'd be totally down with having a hot red male lead! Especially if it's someone like Prince Harry ;-) Let's see...now you've got me taking you up on your challenge to find sexy gingers. Eddie Redmayne isn't too bad on the eyes. Though lately he's kinda lost the red and gone a little darker. Great post! It's got me thinking now ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When he was younger I didn't think Prince Harry was all that cute of a kid....but I find he's grown into one of the hottest red-heads out there. Perfect leading man material...red hair and a prince.

      Delete
  6. I would love to read or write a character as a ginger hero. In particular, I love the dark auburn hair and emerald green eyes combo.....like looking into a rare jewel, the eyes are especially attractive on a ginger. They twinkle in amusement or darken with passion.....*Sigh* Yes, a hot ginger would be very delectable, indeed! Great post!

    ~Laurie Kozlowski

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I too have always loved the red hair, green eyes combo

      Delete
  7. Liam Nissan is a red head - he's yummy. Spencer Tracy was a red head - not much to look at, but boy what an actor. Sting is a red head, but of course he has shaved his head.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I didn't realize Liam Nissan is a red-head...

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hmmm, looks like you have some more reading/research to do, my dear. As a genuine redhead (no hyphen, and please don't call me a ginger *ugh*) I am perhaps a little more observant of other redheads in novels and on film. What has been the #1 talked about romance novel for the past 2 years? FSOG. And what color hair does Christian Grey have? You might also take a look at Diane Gabaldon's Outlander series. Jamie Fraser is one hot, hunk of burning love redhead - one of my alltime favorite romance heros. On screen, take a look at Kevin McKidd (Rome, Grey's Anatomy). As far as the feisty redhead heroines go, yes, the hair seems to go hand-in-hand with the temperament. But again, as a true, 100% redhead, I can tell you that's a misconception / stereotype that, unfortunately, will never change (like calling blondes dumb). Hot tempers fall under all hair shades. I feel it's more accurate to say that redheads are much more sensitive than others - whether that's conveyed in anger or sadness or any emotion. I just read a very sweet (and steamy) book called Room 1208 with a redheaded heroine and she was not the spitfire type at all. However, one of the characters in my soon to be published book IS a feisty redhead. I'm sure several of my characters through the years will be redheads because I understand them so well. :) Thanks for sharing your post!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Magaret...thanks for the comment it's always welcomed..but my point was that if you take the 50 most recent best selling romance novels (any genre) I doubt that half the male leads are redheads, and I'm wondering why...I think male redhead are hot, and romance cover material, which is why I used Kevin McKidd and Sean McGowan as examples to prove that. And as for the heroine, I'm writing in reference to romance novels, not real life. Most redheaded heroines are temperamental. I never said blondes and brunettes aren't...just that the redheads always seem to be. I don't come across many submissive, demure redhead heroines. I'm not a redhead, but two of my heroines are and I hope I can do them justice. Thanks for your comment...hope to hear from you again.

      Delete