The Roots of Desire The Myth, Meaning, and Sexual Power of Red Hair

by Roach, Marion

• ISBN13: 9781582345901
• ISBN10: 1582345902
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-07-11
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA

Summary

"A unique blend of personal and cultural history."--Harper's Bazaar Already in its sixth HARDCOVER printing,The Roots of Desireis a witty and entertaining investigation into the power, myth and meaning of red hair. Redheads have been worshipped, idealized, fetishized, feared, and condemned, leaving their mark on us and our culture. Such is the power of what is actually a genetic mutation, and inThe Roots of Desire, Marion Roach takes a fascinating look at the science behind hair color and the roles redheads have played over time. A redhead herself, Roach brings candor and brilliant insight to the complicated and revealing history of redheads, making this a stand-out narrative and an essential tool in understanding the mechanics and phenomenon of red hair. A must-have for every redhead.

Author Biography

Marion Roach is the coauthor of Dead Reckoning: The New Science of Catching Killers, which has recently been sold to HBO films, and Another Name for Madness, a memoir of coping with her mother’s Alzheimer’s. A commentator on National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, she has published in the New York Times Magazine, Prevention, Vogue, Newsday, Good Housekeeping, Discover, and American Health.

Table of Contents

Prologue: A Lurid Tale	p. 1
Sinners
Wild, Oversexed Heathens, Banshees, and Queens: Redheaded Women and How They Make Us Feel The Way We Do	p. 9
The Old Poker and the Inhabitants of Pandemonium: It Is in His Kiss-and in Our Blood-to Fear the Red-Haired Man	p. 37
The Blood That Scares the Hell into US: Superstition, Taboo, and the Blood That Divides Us	p. 55
Science
Digestif: Recipe for an Identity	p. 91
A Monk, Two Very Different Victorians, and the Knockout Mouse: How We Were Delivered the Genetics of Hair Color	p. 96
Digestif: Recipe for a Heritage	p. 120
The Itch of Genetics/The Genetics of Itch: Science Has Done Little to Extinguish the Fire of the Tale	p. 125
Digestif: Recipe for One Redhead	p. 153
Sex
The Palette of the Succubus: On Satan the Color Red Is One Thing; on Women, It Is Altogether Another	p. 157
You May Be Many Things, Young Lady, but You Are No Redhead: The Tangle of Sex and Science Are but Two Strands of the Braid	p. 182
Bibliography	p. 220
A Recipe	p. 231
Acknowledgments	p. 232
Index	p. 237
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