How much of Pippi Longstocking's success depends on her being a redheaded protag

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   Storytellersrusposted 8 years ago

   How much of Pippi Longstocking's success depends on her being a redheaded protagonist and why?
   
   Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren depicts the quirky trials and tribulations of a redheaded, freckle-faced girl. Is the success of Pippi related to stereotypes surrounding the mystique of red hair or did Pippi help define what it means to be a redheaded girl? Would she have had a similar popularity had her hair been blind or brunette or black? What evidence backs up your statement?

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2. 68

   Michaela Osieckiposted 8 years ago

   I think her success definitely has something to do with her being a redheaded and freckled child - two things that have long been considered undesirable or unattractive to many people, so having these things superficially set her apart from conventional beauty and allowed other children/people who may not fit the "mold" to identify with her.
   
   It also helps to play up her unconventional character - Pippi didn't look like other girls her age and she also didn't act like them.
   
   On a final note, it has long been believed that red hair is uncommon (scientific findings are now concluding that that's not true anymore) and therefore special, something noteworthy, so no I don't fully believe her character would have been as successful without the signature ginger braids.

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   1. 67

      Storytellersrusposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Love this answer!  Sorry, I did not receive notification that anyone answered me.  As a childhood carrot top, it gave me a pang to read "two things that have long been considered undesirable or unattractive to many people" but I know this to be true!

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