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Original poster

Why the fuck are some English people so nasty about ginger hair?

288 replies

QuentininQuarantino · 02/01/2023 22:16

My beautiful DH is ginger. When we first got together, he was attacked from
behind and had his jaw broken, had a McDonald’s throws at him out of a car window, had a bloke push him into
a pond at university. My own “friends” asked me when I was pregnant what I would do if my baby came out ginger. He tells me heartbreaking stuff about being bullied at school.

We emigrated 10 years ago and people say nothing, or nice things.

We’ve been back in the UK for Xmas for 3 weeks and we’ve already had people (older people) shouting “Oi Ed Sheeran” across the street about four times, one young woman in a pub asking to see his pubes FFS.

Why is it still okay, and common(!) to bully strange men in front of their small children purely based on a psychical characteristic!!??

OP posts:
jollygoose · 03/01/2023 10:29

I am sorry you have to deal with this shit but as an aside I think red or ginger hair is glorious I always look at red heads and think how lovely.

Remainiac · 03/01/2023 10:31

MilkshakesBringAllTheCoosToTheYard · 02/01/2023 22:43

I follow a (very random) TikTok account of a red-headed male model with pale eyelashes who is apparently killing it in Japan and China.

Show quote history

DS has that colouring - his eyelashes and eyebrows are almost invisible and his eyes are very very pale watery blue. Set against a startlingly orange beard it’s quite a look! Apparently that combination it the most rare of the MC1R variations (bit like being an albino unicorn 🦄🤣)

Ladyofthelake53 · 03/01/2023 10:32

Lighting not good but here...

Why the fuck are some English people so nasty about ginger hair?
beachcomber70 · 03/01/2023 10:33

I know Welsh and Irish people who have a problem with ginger hair [for some reason] so I don't know why you are singling out English people. That's discriminating in itself.
BTW people get the mick taken out of them for all sorts of reasons, myself included. For me it's age related [been other things in the past believe me] and very hurtful so I understand you being upset by your particular problem.

HunterHearstHelmsley · 03/01/2023 10:39

Ugh, I'm a ginge and I've had this my whole life.

Some prick at work used to make comments all the time but ran off to HR when I said "I don't think you should be commenting on how anyone looks" with a look of pure disgust on my face.

Generally I just tell anyone to go fuck themselves.

Lovetotravel123 · 03/01/2023 10:39

Quirrelsotherface · 02/01/2023 22:42

Because some English people lack class and intelligence and it's getting worse!

Exactly this.

LittleCrackers · 03/01/2023 10:46

ditalini · 02/01/2023 23:55

Being called ginge, ginger, "a ginger" was such a negative feature of my childhood and teenage years that I still feel a visceral reaction when I hear it.

You do you, but it was always said negatively and I wish you wouldn't use it. Other red haired people can reclaim it if they like but I never will.

Quite a lot of sexual harassment around the speculation of my pubic hair and how "fiery" I might or not be. From puberty onwards.

And people who tell you that you must be worried / glad your children didn't get it - wtaf?

This was Scotland, although the anti red haired child thing came from a variety of nationalities (the fact that there could be more than one person so utterly lacking in social awareness really surprised me).

Apologies @ditalini I wrongly used that word all the way through my post without thinking about the offence it might cause Flowers

jollygoose · 03/01/2023 10:50

ladyofthelake I would kill for that hair quite beautiful.

Original poster
QuentininQuarantino · 03/01/2023 10:55

i think it’s beautiful, DH is absolutely gorgeous, and lots of people say the same so it isn’t just me! He never looks washed out, or tired, and always stands out. It’s a beautiful colour in nature, autumnal like burnt ochre.

Interesting the comment about there being lots at Oxbridge, DH went to Cambridge!

OP posts:
sqirrelfriends · 03/01/2023 10:57

I don’t get it either.

Personally, I love ginger hair but even if I didn’t it wouldn’t cross my mind to make comments about it.

DownNative · 03/01/2023 11:15

Interesting article from a ginger journalist:

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jan/15/gingerism-prejudice-bullying

Tereo · 03/01/2023 11:37

Im kind of shocked people, (red heads among them) keep casually saying "ginger".. In Ireland where i grew up (me and 50% my family are red head) it was considered an insult, it was always red haired or auburn. Didn't realise it was used so much elsewhere

Backthetruckup · 03/01/2023 11:42

@mathanxiety I have a Palestinian friend (born and bred) with gorgeous red hair, do you suppose he has some Irish ancestry??

Tereo · 03/01/2023 11:44

For those saying its appearance based its like admitting they think its actually not desirable.

MilkshakesBringAllTheCoosToTheYard · 03/01/2023 11:51

Ladyofthelake53 · 03/01/2023 10:32

Lighting not good but here...

Wow, what beautiful hair. As the saying goes 'TikTok made me do it' - if he fancies some modelling work he needs to get over to Japan apparently!

Backthetruckup · 03/01/2023 11:52

IrmaGord · 03/01/2023 10:25

I sometimes wonder when people talk about the 'British' not being racist, then other people come on who disagree & talk about their experiences in the UK, if it's actually the English who are more likely to be racist & the more tolerant people in this country are more likely to be from Irish, Scottish or Welsh families

Yeah, try being English in Glasgow. Then you'll find out how tolerant the Scottish are. My friend being spat at and told to 'fuck off you English bitch' when she tried to help a young woman who'd fallen over is just one of the examples. Although having said that, there were plenty of Glaswegians who were lovely, it's just more a case of there are arseholes everywhere, and there aren't any less in any of the other countries in the U.K. (or probably around the world for that matter).

Back on topic, my DH is ginger and grew up in England and never experienced any of the abuse outlined in the OP.

Same, only I'm English and lived in the Republic of Ireland for a while. Was with a group of Irish and Scottish folks who were slagging us all off in front of me - only polite thing I heard was "I work with one...he's not too bad actually". 😳

MilkshakesBringAllTheCoosToTheYard · 03/01/2023 11:56

Tereo · 03/01/2023 11:44

For those saying its appearance based its like admitting they think its actually not desirable.

I'm also interested in why people think it's 'just' appearance based. It's become a trope, one of the few last 'acceptable' bullying behaviours, but it's based on something. Sectarianism in Scotland is a real thing, it's not at all a stretch from where I'm sitting to believe it's based in part on anti-Catholic bias.

I'm not saying that people actively make those connections (and indeed bullying of red heads was alive and well in my catholic school, so that would be some piece of internalised hatred) but I think that's where it started, in my corner of the world. Which is not England.

LeccyBillShill · 03/01/2023 12:14

beachcomber70 · 03/01/2023 10:33

I know Welsh and Irish people who have a problem with ginger hair [for some reason] so I don't know why you are singling out English people. That's discriminating in itself.
BTW people get the mick taken out of them for all sorts of reasons, myself included. For me it's age related [been other things in the past believe me] and very hurtful so I understand you being upset by your particular problem.

FYI re your comment about “people get the mick taken out of them”

www.theboltonnews.co.uk/comment/8119427.amp/

Now replace “mick” with any other ethnic slur and see how you feel about that expression.

LeccyBillShill · 03/01/2023 12:16

QuentininQuarantino · 03/01/2023 10:55

i think it’s beautiful, DH is absolutely gorgeous, and lots of people say the same so it isn’t just me! He never looks washed out, or tired, and always stands out. It’s a beautiful colour in nature, autumnal like burnt ochre.

Interesting the comment about there being lots at Oxbridge, DH went to Cambridge!

Yes - I think there must be a link with IQ. Gingers at Oxbridge are positively common!

Shnowfairy · 03/01/2023 12:25

I’m so sorry that your DH went through this, I’m shocked! My best friend is ginger and she had the usual ‘gingers are creepy’ ‘gingers have no souls’ shouted at her a few times in school and was often asked if her pubes were ginger but nothing on this level. That’s disgusting.

DownNative · 03/01/2023 12:35

Tereo · 03/01/2023 11:44

For those saying its appearance based its like admitting they think its actually not desirable.

Not so and a logical fallacy.

On the contrary, it's a point made to demonstrate that exaggerated claims of anti-Irish racism and anti-Catholic sentiment doesn't stand on its own two feet. It's a shoogly peg.

The prejudice is clearly appearance based rather than race ir ethnicity based. Much like other appearance based forms of prejudice, e.g. dumb blondes.

DownNative · 03/01/2023 12:43

Tereo · 03/01/2023 11:37

Im kind of shocked people, (red heads among them) keep casually saying "ginger".. In Ireland where i grew up (me and 50% my family are red head) it was considered an insult, it was always red haired or auburn. Didn't realise it was used so much elsewhere

No, "ginger" itself is not an insult. I have a work colleague who calls himself "Ginger Prince" which is used positively by all, actually.

It would only be an insult if paired with a clearly derogatory term such as "cunt" and so on.

But ginger prejudice is not rare in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland either.

ImnotanumberIAMAFREEMAN · 03/01/2023 12:57

It's not just people with red hair who get stick through; morons everywhere like to pick on anything that makes someone stand out. Anyone very tall, short, fat, thin, with acne, wearing glasses, curly hair, large nose, big ears, large boobs, small boobs etc. is often subjected to bullying. God help you in school if you have more than one of these features!

Mercurial123 · 03/01/2023 14:07

Backthetruckup · 03/01/2023 11:42

@mathanxiety I have a Palestinian friend (born and bred) with gorgeous red hair, do you suppose he has some Irish ancestry??

I knew several people with red hair when I lived in Lebanon and also a Jordanian friend. Levantine countries are associated with it. Red hair did not originate in Scotland/Ireland.

From the Washington Post

Contrary to what many people assume, redheads did not originate in Scandinavia, Scotland or Ireland, but in central Asia. Their coloring is due to a mutation in the MC1R gene that fails to produce sun-protective, skin-darkening eumelanin and instead causes pale skin, freckles and red hair. As our distant ancestors migrated to settle the cool, gray climes of Northern Europe, redheads had a signal advantage over their darker peers: Their pale skin produced vitamin D more efficiently from the wan sunlight, strengthening their bones and making women more likely to survive pregnancy and childbirth. But the gene is recessive and thrives mainly in remote regions and closed communities such as Ireland, Scotland and coastal regions of Scandinavia. Its rarity and vulnerability have, over the years, given rise to a host of stereotypes and myths, from fears of witchcraft to the modern canard that red hair is on the verge of extinction.

blubberball · 03/01/2023 14:45

I have red hair. I love it and own it now, but I was badly bullied for it growing up. I wanted to dye it black, or shave it off. I had nasty comments from kids, teachers, elderly people...

A girl at school said to me that if she was pregnant and found out the baby was ginger, she'd have an abortion. And she was a mate!

As an adult, it is a kind of fetish for some people.

I'll now happily be a witch. People say I have no soul, but I show them my collection and they just run away.