1.

“If you’re too young to remember Gilligan’s Island, Ginger was the movie star—cast as a Marilyn Monroe type. Mary Ann was the quintessential girl next door—the farm girl from Kansas. While Ginger oozed sexuality, Mary Ann was much more subdued—but she was rockin’ Daisy Dukes before Daisy Duke….Oh, my preference is and always will be Mary Ann.”

2.

“While watching Gilligan’s Island, I found that while growing up a Mary Ann guy, I must have at some point swayed to a Ginger guy. I think being a redhead myself, by default I must have never paid much attention. It is still pretty close, but will have to say I am leaning more towards the Ginger side.”

3.

“Dawn Wells (Mary Ann) was a former Miss Nevada whose aging and personality has held up very well over the years. Tina Louise (Ginger) was a notorious prima donna whom everybody reputedly hated working with. She was also the only original cast member who didn’t return for the reunion shows. I vote for Mary Ann.”

4.

“Ginger was way, way sexier. She beats Mary Ann by a mile.”

5.

“In Mary Ann, perhaps the island’s most important walking metaphor, we find a manifestation, a veritable bodily and spiritual awakening of America’s love affair with the landscape. If America wants to lay the land, then in Mary Ann we find the perfect medium for such a metaphorical transaction. To fall for Mary Ann is to fall in love with America’s farming culture, which is the most central of American themes. I say give me liberty, give me freedom, give me rolling fields of wheat and spacious skies, give me the shapely and virginal Mary Ann.”

6.

“For all of Mary Ann’s fun-loving attributes, it was Ginger who tipped the scales ever so slightly with her knowledge of the benefits of a mud bath while being stranded (spoiler alert!) indefinitely on a deserted island. She was the ultimate Survivor. And I’m sure that once she ran out of the make-up she brought she would eventually (with the help of the Professor) figure out how to manufacture facial scrub and moisturizer from the indigenous habitat. Perhaps she would grind up oyster shells for highlighter and squeeze out some concentrated berry juice for lip stain and blush. Her eyeliner might be a concoction of plant oils and charcoal from the campfire. Meanwhile, poor Mary-Ann would be relegated to a corner of the island fashioning little gingham romper sets and aprons out of old picnic tablecloths for herself while sewing lavish gowns for Ginger from Mrs. Howell’s satin drapes. Her perky spirit slowly fading with each passing sunset as her eyes strain while she struggles to reattach some errant sequins on Ginger’s best dress. No, this will not be my destiny. I choose the life of Ginger, the movie star!”

7.

“Mary Ann. Something about the dark hair, wholesome appearance, and curves that say, I can catch, clean, cook and feed you the fish. Besides, Ginger proved in numerous episodes that she was the devil in a woman’s dress by the manner that she could FAKE just about everything.”

8.

“I gotta go with Ginger, cuz she’s, uh, ginger.”

9.

“I can’t stand high maintenance. I’m not much for super-sweet country girls either, but I’d definitely choose one over a high maintenance girl. Mary Ann it is.”

10.

“Tina Louise (Ginger) got me through puberty!”

11.

“Well Mary Ann is smart and resourceful but Ginger is a movie star so she can get you in to all the Hollywood premieres, so I’d shallowly go with her.”

12.

“Ginger is clearly more glamorous than Mary Ann. So the basic guy says, ‘Give me Ginger.’ OTOH there are guys who like the understated woman. They look at Ginger and figure first chance she gets she will leave me for someone better looking and making more money. They look at Mary Ann and think, ‘Whoa. Ginger may be hot but she clearly spends so much time to look hot. But look at this Mary Ann! She looks great and she looks great with hardly even trying! Give me Mary Ann!’”

13.

“Don’t remember too much of either’s personality, but I prefer Mary Ann’s looks. (As a redhead, I’m firmly committed to the extinction of gingers through cross-breeding.)”

14.

“Ginger. It’s all about the passion.”

15.

“Mary Ann was the hottest, without a doubt. That show always puzzled me, the professor could make a radio out of coconuts, but couldn’t fix a hole in the boat, and something else, if I had been stranded on an island with ginger and Mary ann, being rescued would have been the last thing I would have been thinking about…HA, HA!”

16.

“Mary Ann…hands down. The ‘statuesque beauty’ archetype I find unappealing on various levels. Mainly in that the root word ‘statue’ implies a coldness and heavy lifting in terms of emotional investment. Attitudes that Tina Louise thinly veiled on set and displayed more prominently with her disdain once the show ended bares this out. Dawn Wells on the other hand; displays a warmth and approachable quality, both in character and in real life. Arrogance is not an attractive trait in anyone. Mary Ann…no contest.”

17.

“Ginger for me, I am not looking to please my parents, just me.”

18.

“It has always been Ginger for me. After all she was a movie star. Glam, glam, glam. It must be a gay thing. Gay men like Ginger, and straight men liked Mary Ann.”

19.

“I would much rather get stuck on a desert island with a ‘girl next door’ type…I live in Manhattan. Ginger is the girl next door.”

20.

“I have been in the logistics field for 16 years so I would have to go with Mary Ann. Ginger is a high-maintenance item with low cost-to-benefit ratio.”

21.

“Mary Ann, in briefs, eating the inside of an Oreo, and drinking a Pepsi.”

22.

“On a strict basis of attractiveness, I think Ginger is more attractive, even though I’m usually not one for glamour. Mary Ann’s forehead kind of creeps me out.”

23.

“So maybe she was a little high maintenance. And not exactly a rocket scientist. And slightly manipulative. But Ginger was always ready for her red carpet moment—unlike someone who was just a little too old to be wearing pigtails and short shorts (even if it was a desert island). Relive those breathless moments of redheaded Tina Louise-dom with a fiery-sweet cocktail that’ll leave you as blinky-eyed as Miss Ginger.”

24.

“Redheads own…Ginger all the way.”

25.

“I can never say no to a redhead.”

26.

“Oh, c’mon. It’s time to rid ourselves of the era of disdain for the beautiful for the wholesomeness of what we ought to want. Give in to what you know is right and what you really want. It’s Ginger, all the way. She’s what they’ve been selling and we’ve been buying for years and it’s all good. She is the American dream. You can get Mary Anne at any County Fair or roadside stand. Ginger is…Ginger. Don’t be else just because you think it makes you cool.”

27.

“Mary Ann is the sort of girl one could settle down with. There can be little doubt that if one could get Mary Ann to the altar, then she would remain with him for the rest of her life. On the other hand, it seems to me that Ginger isn’t going to be the sort to settle down. I cannot escape the feeling that any guy who gets into a relationship with her is simply going to be another in a long line of fellows with whom Ginger has dallied.”

28.

“I would make the argument that Ginger is the sort of glamorous and sexually confident woman that Camille Paglia would feel exemplifies her theory of ‘pro-sex feminism,’ a woman who doesn’t feel she has to forgo her sex appeal in order to make an impact in the world. It’s one of the reasons why Ginger has always intrigued me more than the complacent and compliant Mary Ann.”

29.

“I prefer redheads with very pale skin myself. Freckles are nice, too. Matter of fact, tans on white girls in general don’t do much for me.”

30.

“Without a doubt Ginger (Tina Louise) was the prettiest and sexiest!!!!”

31.

“Both are very attractive women, but in terms of personality, it’s Mary Ann all the way! Ginger was more of a manipulator—she would always flirt with the men when she wanted something from them. Mary Ann was a much more honest and caring person. In every ‘Ginger vs. Mary Ann’ poll ever conducted, Mary Ann always win by a margin of about 5 to 1. Here’s why: Men want to date Ginger, but they want to marry Mary Ann.”

32.

“Well when I used to see the show as a young girl, I loved Ginger. She was so glamorous. So I choose her.”

33.

“Mary Ann!!! She’s more natural and wouldn’t be as much of a head case like Ginger!!”

34.

“Ginger! I have an obsession with Gingers. No soul? No problem. She can have mine!”

35.

“I watched Gilligan as a kid and even then I knew it was absurd. I just waited for the scenes with Ginger. Mary Ann was cute but no match for Tina Louise.”

36.

“Ohhhh…Mary Ann all the way!! Gimme a good ol’ country gal any time. I’ll take the hay barn over the satin sheets.”

37.

“Ginger = nothing special. Without the coiffure and the war paint, meh. Probably high maintenance, very superficial. All about her. Drama Queen. MaryAnn OTOH would know instinctively how to keep a man warm at night. Probably can cook and clean, and not whine about not having the help to do it. She looks adorable, too. Cuter than a sack full of kittens. I got to go with Mary Ann.”

38.

“I used to think Mary-Ann when I was a younger, more naïve, inexperienced man. Now that I am wise in the ways of the world and have a successful career, it would be Ginger, without question.”

39.

“Ginger for a weekend. Mary Ann for a wife. How’s that?”

40.

“Gilligan was the hottest.”