SMU sophomore Sarah Boucher was destined to be different. In grade school, her strawberry blonde hair, the color of a shiny new penny, never failed to stand out among the rows of blonde and brunette bobs. While her classmates would fight over the brown or yellow Crayola crayons when drawing self-portraits, she was the only one choosing the color red.

“I always thought I was really weird when I was little, because people would come up to me all of the time and ask me about my hair,” says Boucher. “I always felt left out, different.”

Boucher was not only the single redhead in her classroom, but also the lone member with fiery locks in her family.

“No one thought I was a part of my family,” she recalls. “I remember asking my mom where I came from because people would call me FedEx Kid, or Redheaded Stepchild.”

A meager 1 to 2 percent of the planet’s population has red hair (about 2 to 6 percent in the United States), making it the rarest natural hair color in the world. Although today red hair is one of the most sought after colors in professional salons, there is a stigma, an untraceable taboo on the redheaded race.

So who are the redheads, the gingers? And why does society feel they need to ridicule this forgotten minority?

In an e-mail interview, Professor Richard Jones, a genetics professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at SMU shared information from a scientific article about the biology behind redheads. Prof. Jones said red hair in humans is caused by having two mutant copies (or “alleles” in scientific terms) of the extremely recessive melanocortin 1 receptor (MC1R) gene.

If an individual receives a copy of this mutant gene from each parent, he or she will be (blessed or cursed) a redhead.

When asked about the possibility of the gene going “extinct”, as some scientists have speculated could happen by the year 2100, Prof. Jones states that it is, “Almost impossible…because [the gene] can be passed from generation to generation without being detected until two carriers happen to pair up and produce children.”

This may be good news for the future of gingers, but just in case, SMU senior Daniel Bland has an idea to keep red hair alive.

“I want to populate an island entirely of redheads,” said Bland, who not only has red hair, but also has a full bronze beard as well. “My island will prevent redhead death.”

So redheads are different, rare. Perhaps that is why society feels the need to label them. Carrot Top, Big Red, Bozo the Clown, Ginger. Thanks to the creators of “South Park,” Gingers can now be referred to as “Day Walkers.” In addition to the endless labels, there are the stereotypes: hot-tempered, promiscuous, and feisty.

“It is shallow if you are going to stereotype like that…I am proud of my red hair, I definitely believe it is an asset opposed to a liability,” says Spencer Lacey, an SMU junior who’s shaggy auburn hair is rarely hidden by a hat.

Cleopatra, Shakespeare, Christopher Columbus, Napoleon Bonaparte, Queen Elizabeth and Mark Twain were all redheads. The loveable children’s characters: Pippy Longstocking, Madeline, Strawberry Shortcake and Raggedy Anne and Andy are all redheads. And how can one forget that hunk across the pond, Prince Harry?

Every September, The Netherlands hosts Redhead Day in the city of Breda. In 2008, over 2,500 redheads participated in the event. Unfortunately, you do have to be a natural ginger to attend.

Among the thousands of Facebook groups, over 500 have to do with red hair, including: Love a Redhead; Humans Against Redhead Extinction (HARE); Save the Redheads; and Don’t Mess With Me! – I’M A REDHEAD.

There are also the groups: Redheads are the Worst; Redheads are Freaky, and I Could Never Marry a Redhead, Cause if My Kid Had Red Hair I’d Smack Him.

SMU junior Lucy Akin, whose natural hair color is a bright, fiery orange, has experimented with other hair colors, including maroon, brunette, and strawberry blonde.

“Being from California, everyone worried about being tan and blonde and I felt out of place because all of my friends were tan and blonde,” says Akin, who has thrown away the hair dye and embraced her natural ginger roots. “Now, as I am older I have really started to appreciate my hair color, and being different is better than being like everyone else.”