To think that expressing anti-red hair views is still seen as okay

[GnomeDePlume]

but is very, very wrong

DD(14) came home absolutely fuming having witnessed a red-headed girl of around 8 being verbally abused by a boy of around 10 while the mum of the boy told the girl to 'take the joke' even though the girl was very distressed. Fortunately the girl's brother rescued her.

DH is red-headed and believes that anti-red hair sentiment has become more common in recent years. Possibly because abusing somebody about the colour of their skin can get them arrested. Abusing somebody about the colour of their hair is seen as a fair target.

I dont get it. I have witnessed someone absolutely rip into a colleague, abusing him and his children (all red-headed) and this man could not see that what he was doing was wrong.

[VirkeligRodet]

I#d love red hair. Mine is the colour known as 'mouse' I think. Every time I go to the hair dressers to get my hair cut they can't resist suggesting I go lighter. Darker? highlights?

There was an hilarious programme on tv3 about red heads a while ago Burren, did you see it. They had some really funny people on it. ACtually all the funny red head males were hilarious characters and all the red head females were beautiful, so, what's seen as positive for a female is still just beauty and what's seen as positive PR for a red head male is personality and humour and being comfortable in own (freckly) skin. And that's another thread I guess.

I think the real ism is uglyism. Good looking red heads are admired. Ugly ones are called ginge. Ugly people that are short are called short arse. Ugly kids with glasses are called spekky (or what ever). it's all a fuss about, well, not nothing but having red hair is a red herring. So long as you're not ugly, you're OK. and if you're ugly well god bless you.

[TheWickerWoman]

I've always had a thing for ginger men. My dp is ginger but shaves his hair now because he's receding.. That's no good to me!

[VirkeligRodet]

I like red head men if they are attractive same as for every other hair colour.

[ouryve]

The hair on DH's head is only very subtly ginger, WickerWoman.

The rest of it, though....

[gotnotimeforthat]

Sort of off topic but i was watching strawberry shortcake with ds earlier and i noticed that every characters hair colour matched their name so strawberry had pink hair, lemon yellow, blueberry blue etc. you would expect orange to have orange hair right? nope its brown. I find it really strange.

[iklboo]

I love red hair. DH loves red hair. All DS's 'girlfriends' (he is 8) have been redheads.

[steff13]

I'm aware of the anit-redhead sentiment in England, but we don't really have that in the US. My middle son is a redhead (although when he was little he would insist it was orange), and it's seen as unique and special.

It's really a weird thing to bully someone over.

[GnomeDePlume]

The scary thing is that you will get high profile comedians making anti-red hair jokes. I wonder if in years to come some of these comedians will be rather shame-faced about their comments in years to come.

It is the viciousness of some of the comments which is so shocking. Apparently intelligent people expressing a prejudice with such hatred.

I dont know whether there is some underlying fear which is being expressed.

[steff13]

anti-redhead

[Myfanwyprice]

I've got red hair and suffered years of bullying because of it, I spent my 20's highlighting my hair, but now in my 30's and with both my dc being redheads I've learned to love it.

However very recently a customer at work said to me that I'm lucky she likes me as she usually hates gingers, and she especially hates ginger children; I did just laugh it off, but it is so hurtful.

[fairyfuckwings]

I have to say this has not been my experience at all.

Both me and my 14 year old daughter have red hair and I got a lot more abuse in the 70s and 80s than my daughter has ever had. Whilst my daughter has had the odd insult ( and I'm of the firm belief that's there's always some "difference" that kids will pick up on and be nasty about if their so inclined) I would say the vast majority of comments we've both had have been complimentary.

In fact only this evening I've been complimented on my (now dyed) red hair. I love red hair and so does my daughter.

Maybe we're just lucky that we live in a particularly "ginger loving" area?

[WorraLiberty]

I dont know whether there is some underlying fear which is being expressed.

Fear??

[steff13]

However very recently a customer at work said to me that I'm lucky she likes me as she usually hates gingers, and she especially hates ginger children;

Oh my goodness, what a terrible thing to say!

You're lucky she likes you?! As if you'd be devastated if an ignorant prejudiced fool like her didn't like you. Hmph.

[IfAtFirstUDontSucceed]

I don't understand it either :(
When I was pregnant with DS there was obviously talk about who he would look like. I have dark hair and DH has much fairer hair. I was very surprised at the idiots making a remark along the lines of "just as long as he's not ginger"!

[muttonjeffmum]

My step-sister, whilst looking at my beautiful, red-headed daughter said that if she had a ginger child she would send it back. Needless to say there is no love lost between us. ....The bitch.

[TheWickerWoman]

Ha, you have a point there, ouryve

[ScarlettDragon]

I can ever understand the knobheads who abuse people with red hair. I'm so envious of people who are natural redheads. My natural colour is the most boring mousey brown colour. I've spend the past 2 decades dying my hair various shades of red trying to find the perfect shade and still haven't managed it. My best friend as a teenager had the most gorgeous natural strawberry blonde hair and it was so thick. I was very of her.

People who abuse people because of the colour of their hair, or skin, or gender, or clothes [insert as appropriate] are just vile, jealous and insecure people.

[MsPeterPan]

There are no obvious red heads in either mine or my ds's dads families. Where my red headed son came from is anyone's guess (no, not the milkman eitjer). But I'm told there must have been a red hair gene somewhere back in our ancestory....imagine that? The red hair must be one hell of a fighter!

Years ago here in Dublin, our zoo was promoting a new orangutan enclosure. Anyone with red hair got into the zoo for free on a given Sunday that Summer so I went along with ds. The whole zoo was awash with red heads and a smaller number of very confused but amused tourists!

[ScarlettDragon]

*never not ever

[Myfanwyprice]

steff13 I know, I'm a lucky girl!

And don't even get me started on the amount of people who I've heard say (not just to me) things like as long it's not ginger during pregnancy - because the baby's hair colour is always the main concern!??!

[MrsAtticus]

I agree, I don't understand why it's seen as OK to make jokes and tease about it.

[Toizzy]

I've lived in France my whole life and it's a common "joke" here as well so not just in England.

[LadyLemongrab]

I remember reading about a study which suggested there were certain factors which attracted negative reactions to redheads and it wasn't the hair colour as such.

Tried googling, wonder if anyone else remembers it?

Basically people were asked to evaluate how they felt about people in photos. The least favourable reactions were actually about skin tone/eyelashes/eyebrows.

So a picture of a redhead would trigger a more positive response if the skin tone was darkened or made less pink. Same if eyelashes and eyebrows were made more visible/darker.

Can't remember exactly but think the theory was the 'negatives' (pink skin, undefined eyes) led to an unconscious idea that those people were unhealthy. Which I guess is pretty much the same thing as prejudice against 'unattractive' people - healthy skin, balanced features etc = attractive.

Whatever, the only reason a person is made fun of is because there's a charmless twat in their vicinity.

[steff13]

Years ago here in Dublin, our zoo was promoting a new orangutan enclosure. Anyone with red hair got into the zoo for free on a given Sunday that Summer so I went along with ds. The whole zoo was awash with red heads and a smaller number of very confused but amused tourists!

How fun! My father's hair was red, but it was more auburn, whereas my son's is red red. I always wanted red hair, and colored it for a while, but I've come to accept my natural dark brown.