Rhesus Negative - So What Now?

I finally took a test to find out what blood group I am. I'm A negative. Rhesus negative.

I've always wondered about this, ever since I started coming across articles online linking it to red hair. "Am I rhesus negative?" I would wonder. Now I know.

I don't think there is any link to red hair in actuality (though I remain open to the idea), other than the general fact that RH negative is more common in Europeans, where red hair is also more common.

A decade ago now I wrote the following in Chapter Seven of my book, where I catalogued some of the weirder things out there on the internet about red hair.

Another variety of blood associated with redheads on-line is the rhesus negative blood type. Rhesus negative blood is linked to all sorts of weird and wonderful stuff on-line - aliens, magical abilities, grail bloodlines, pretty much everything. It's also often claimed that redheads are much more likely to possess rhesus negative blood than others.

Since then there hasn't really been too much progression of the topic. It's the same type of woo-woo stuff, but not really anything concrete. (Unless it's out there and I just haven't seen it yet.)

My Personal Feelings on the Test

[What now follows are my personal feelings on the topic. So it's anecdotal, and should be taken as such.]

I always felt that I would be rhesus negative. Obviously, this could just be bias - I had red hair, so I no doubt saw the online articles and thought, "Yes, I must be rhesus negative, too." Or, I saw the "special" personality traits associated with it and found the thought of being special appealing. So that can't be ignored, and it could just be a lucky, biased guess. However, nevertheless, I did have a good instinctive feeling based on the general information that was out there.

In fact, I actually guessed my entire blood group and not just the rhesus factor before I took the test. Though this was largely an estimated guess based on looking at the distribution of blood groups across world populations. A- seemed about right.

Another thing that was interesting was that I found out my father is A positive (I only found this out yesterday - me taking the test inspired the conversation). This is another thing that I felt I already knew anyway before the confirmation. I say this because my father doesn't have the personality associated with rhesus negative online. He's very practical. He definitely doesn't have a romantic soul.

For instance, to give a quick illustration, this image would mean nothing to him (and not just because it's red-haired).

He's just not the arty, poetic type. My mother, on the other hand, loves this sort of stuff. And, unlike him, she's red-haired as well (though there's red hair on both sides of the family), and I suspect she too would be rhesus negative, though we don't know her blood type (maybe something worth checking).

My father is practical and good with maths. He never reads books, ever. My mother loves art and books (but is hopeless with anything science or maths related). I always feel very lucky that I inherited both sides through the lottery of genetics, even if it did come with the curse of red hair. (Though people may argue my maths and science is failing me here, given I'm putting so much credence in what could be coincidence and anecdote.)

These honest feelings and observations interest me though. It's so interesting that people, even related people, can be so different. The contrast I see in my parents seems hardwired in their personalities (or biology). I don't think any amount of nurture could've made my mother a no-nonsense realist or my father a lover of flowery art. Likewise, the personality differences between me and my father, though I look very much like him, are all too apparent. I'm not saying this is down to a rhesus blood antigen - I'm sure there are plenty of rhesus positive people that look at the above image and find it as rich, beautiful and thought-provoking as I do. It's just curious to me, and worth noting.

It's also worth noting that tests can be wrong too, of course. Maybe the test I took yesterday was wrong and I'm sitting here with rhesus positive blood after all. (It was just a test I ordered off Amazon.) Plus, these things are never as simple in reality. As we've seen with the "red-haired gene," things are always much more complex and nuanced when you start digging down. These things are rarely a simple yes or no.

As I said at the end of the last blog post, more digging is needed. However, between the generic AI "official" science and the online woo it can be hard to get beyond what we already know.

Gingers Are Black TikTok Trend

A few months ago there was a trend on TikTok stating 'Gingers Are Black.' It was part joking, part serious (I think), and there was a fair bit of sentimentality from some redheads in response.

The following YouTuber gives a fairly good overview. She sees the silliness, but is also genuinely sympathetic.

Apparently Redheads Are Black Now? - Amala Ekpunobi

I mention it here as, obviously, it's redhead related, but also because it somewhat leans towards the theory that gingerness is a product of cultural melting pots. Where dark and light skin/hair tones end up in the gene pool. Though the various people making these gingers are black TikTok videos don't touch upon this idea. At least as far as I'm aware.

They do note the thickness of ginger hair though - the ginger-fro. So there's this sense that people are picking up on something that they can't quite put their finger on.

I've mentioned before the relatively high pheomelanin that redheads have, and how dark-haired people likewise possess this high pheomelanin - it's just masked by the high eumelanin that redheads lack. And that a good illustration of this comes when dark-haired people try to bleach their hair blonde only to end up with hair of an orangey-amber shade. As the bleach destroys the eumelanin more readily than it destroys the pheomelanin.

Anyway, the mention of the ginger-fro reminded me of the oft-repeated claim that redheads have fewer hair follicles on the head.

According to the Google search AI overview (yes, we're in the age of AI now), blondes have around 150,000 hair follicles; brunettes 110,000; black-haired 100,000; and redheads 90,000.

(My lazy AI search result)

That difference between blondes and redheads is really quite staggering, if accurate, and worthy of more investigation. Especially given how fair-skinned both groups are. Though blond hair does seem to be an outlier in general when compared to all groups.

I also (again, lazily) tried to find out how many hair follicles people of African descent have. The answer was 50,000 to 100,000.

Note that this AI overview gives a slightly lower figure of 86,000 for redheads. It also flips the figures for brunette and black hair around. Showing how unreliable these quick AI overviews can be.

I need to do a bit more digging.

Red hair in Latin

There are many references to red hair in Latin. Some of them are proverbs (probably from the Middle Ages) and for that reason they don’t have an original source. Others come from literary works.

 

- Si ruber est fidelis, diabolus est in coelis 

If the redhead is faithful/loyal, the devil is in heaven

This proverb is only mentioned by Italian folklorist Giuseppe Pitrè in the 1st volume of his collection Proverbi siciliani. He writes it is a Medieval proverb, but doesn’t cite the source where he found it (if it is a Medieval proverb, I guess he found it in a Medieval text). 

 

- Martial (between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD), Epigram LIV, Book XII – To Zoilus

Crine ruber, niger ore, brevis pede, lumine laesus, rem magnam praestas, Zoile, si bonus es. (source) 

With red hair, a black face, a cloven foot, and blear eyes, you show the world a prodigy, Zoilus, if you are an honest man. (source) 

 

Ruodlieb is a fragmentary romance in Latin verse written by an unknown southern German poet who flourished about 1030. He was almost certainly a monk of the Bavarian Tegernsee Abbey. The poem is one of the earliest German romances of knightly adventure, and its vivid picture of feudal manners gives it a certain value as a historical document.

At one point, the main character Ruodlieb meets a man with red hair, arrogant and violent, who ends up killing another man. In the Latin text he is called Rufus, while in the English translation he is called “the red-head”. The stanza below is one of the twelve teachings the king gives Ruodlieb before letting him go.

From Fragment V, stanza 450 (here Latin and English)

Non tibi sit rufus umquam specialis amicus.

Si fit is iratus, non est fidei memoratus;

Nam vehemens dira sibi stat durabilis ira.

Tam bonus haut fuerit, aliqua fraus quin in eo sit,

Quam vitare nequis, quin ex hac commaculeris;

Nam tangendo picem vix expurgaris ad unguem.

 

Never let a red-headed man be your special friend!

When such a one becomes angry, he is not mindful of good faith,

for his wrath is vehement and terrible, and will last.

He will not be so good that there will be no guile in him,

and you will be unable to avoid it or keep from soiling yourself by it.

For after touching pitch, you will scarcely get clean down to your nails.

 

The proverbs below come from the book The Dialogue of Salomon and Saturnus, that we have seen here.

-  Raro breves humiles, longos vidi sapientes.

Albos audaces, rufos sine prodicione.

Cum fusco stabis, cum nigro tela parabis.

Rarely I saw an humble short man, a wise tall man,

a brave white-haired man, a faithful red-haired man.

With the brown-haired man you can stay, with the black-haired man prepare your weapons.

 

- In rufa pelle vix est animus sine felle.

In a red skin there is hardly a soul without poison/hate.

 

- Raro breves humiles uidi, longos sapientes,

albos audaces, nigros rufosque fideles.

Rarely I saw short humble men, wise tall men,

brave white-haired men, faithful black- and red-haired men.

 

- Per rubram barbam debes cognoscere nequam,

Multi non rubram sed habent cum crimine nigram.

By the red beard you must know the wicked,

many criminals are not red-haired, but black-haired

 

- Rufus habet speciem post Sathanae faciem.

Xts plasmauit rufum Sathanamque vocauit,

Sic laus hic dixit seruus per secula sic sit.

The redhead looks like Satan.

Christ shaped the redhead and called him Satan,

Thus the servant said, let it be praised for ever.

 

- Quia rufus esset, quae species malignam naturam designaret,

iuxta hunc versum,

Raro breues humiles uidi, rufos que fideles.

Because he was red-haired, which appearance denotes a malignant nature,

according to this verse,

seldom have I seen a humble short man, or a faithful red-haired man

 

The proverbs below come from the collection in 6 volumes Proverbia sententiæque latinitatis Medii Aevi,gesammelt und herausgegeben (by Hans Walther, Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1963-1969)

-  In rubea pelle non est animus sine felle / si tibi dicat avevelut ab hoste cave

Under the skin of a redhead there is no soul which is not bilious; if he says hello to you, beware of him as an enemy. 

 

- Intus et exterius ruffus est felle repletus, idcirco socium numquam quaeras tibi ruffum!

The red-haired man is full of bile, inside and outside; for that reason, beware of making friends with a redhead. 

 

- Sub rossa barba latet fiducia parva / in domo rufi numquam sumas tibi pausam

Under a red beard hides a very poor reliability / never rest in the house of a redhead

 

And these are proverbs without a source. 

- Rufus homo raro bonus, sed si bonus, valde bonus

A red-haired man is rarely good, but when it is, he is very good. 

 

- Rufum et barbatam a longe saluta. 

Say hello from a distance to redheards and bearded men