Gingerism. Am I unreasonable to think it should be outlawed by now (lighthearted)

[gingergenius]

So, obviously by my username you can guess my colouring, and I've recently read posts by pale-skins where people think it's acceptable to comment on your colouring, which often feel awkward, uncomfortable, rude or downright predatory. As an example, "do collar and cuffs match?" Is still (and I'm in my 40s) a favourite (my usual reply us: "what do you expect? Purple feathers?"

But I'd love to know, what's the cheesiest/cheekiest/worst comment you've ever had in relation to your looks? (If only to make me feel like I'm not alone!)

I posted recently about teenage girls who had thrown a stone at me and shouted 'ginger bitch.' But the last memorable incident was about 5 years ago. I'm in my 30s now and have grown a death glare and an intolerance of (jealous) idiots, but school was a very bad time for those kind of comments.

Fuck them and their Gingerist attitudes! I am 45 years old and naturally blonde. I STILL get asked about whether my collar and cuffs match. (At work, even) Cue death stare.... add to that the constant stream of fucking blonde jokes. (Like I haven't heard them a million times before....) How are they okay to ask at work? If they changed the word "blonde" to a specific race, they wouldn't be able to say it at work, would they? (And it's just not funny, let alone appropriate...)

Also I find the word itself, 'ginger' is used as an insult too often to consider it simply a descriptive term. It makes me shiver. 'Redhead' is much better.
Tim Minchin says it best in his song 'Prejudice'. Well worth a watch!

Sorry - just posted on the other ginger thread! There was the time at school I didn't have my PE kit and had to do the lesson in my knickers which caused me to have more comments than a non-ginger girl would have had!

My nephew is 4 and Ginger, DH looked at me and made a comment along the lines of "he inherited your batcrap mothers gingerness, he is going to hate his school years".

The worst I have witnessed was in the Air Cadets as a staff member. A Land Rover pulled up to us and two staff members got out, one with a box on his head. We asked why he had a box on his head.

The response was "because his gingerness offends me"

I was told the time I was doing PE in my knickers when I didn't have my PE kit that ginger girls should be wearing thick black knickers so that the rest of the class didn't have to see what colour my pubes were

Yeah angel cos ginger pubes are known to cause blindness. Ffs! Was it the teacher who said that?

No, Mandy, was the other kids

It's never, ever, OK to make insulting comments about anyone's hair, eye or skin colouring (or size/wearing glasses etc). It is all harmful and wrong.

I've watched and read up on the blue eye/brown eye experiment and you can see that it really doesn't matter what 'thing' people are picking on, it's not OK.

Phew. (Although still shit obviously).

Phew. (Although still shit obviously).
In what way?

What's the blue eye brown eye experiment? I'll go google.

Move to Scotland - much more common up here. My child is one of three with red hair in their class and ginger-ism just isn't a thing.

It's not a lighthearted topic.

I've always thought it's the English being anti-Irish/Scottish (I have both Irish and Scottish heritage).

Move to Scotland - much more common up here. My child is one of three with red hair in their class

Yep, I lived in Scotland and was once sat in the canteen with five other colleagues, all bar me were ginger.

Some absurd posh management drone came up from London and had a very slight auburn tint to her otherwise brown hair and opened her 'motivating address' with 'I always love coming up here because I'm not the only ginger'. How to lose a room in an instant. Especially as it was obvious she'd engineered the trip so she could shoe horn a visit to the festival and giving the workers a pep talk and having a bullshit meeting was a fig leaf for this.

Yoko I totally agree it is not a light-hearted topic. I can't imagine a thread called 'Racist bullying - light hearted'.

Mandate

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Elliott

vimeo.com/153858146

Please be aware the video contains language more normal in the 1960s and now recognised as very offensive.

I hate the way people can make such offensive comments about ginger hair and get away with it in tbe name of a "joke.." if it was about the colour of someones skin it wouldnt be a joke

Every time I see one of these threads I'm staggered. Why would you comment on someone's hair colour?

I know it happens but I still find it bizarre.

My only explanation is that some people have a nasty streak and enjoy putting others down. Red hair comments won't land you in court do they're safe to indulge.

Hello Ginge
How's your minge?
Is it red,
Like your head?

From school, from the boys, who then used to try and pin me down to pull my pants down to have a look.

I was told the time I was doing PE in my knickers when I didn't have my PE kit that ginger girls should be wearing thick black knickers so that the rest of the class didn't have to see what colour my pubes were hmm

No-one doing PE should ever be made to wear anything so skimpy that someone could tell what colour your pubes are

I was really bullied as a kid for having red hair. I'm still very sensitive over jokes now! Funnily enough I've seen on Facebook that one of the bullies' daughters has the most beautifulginger hair, I hope it's given that particular woman a chance to see what she did back in the day.

FIL was talking about someone who irritated him once and finished off with '...but he is ginger so there you go'. Everyone around the table looked at me and I could feel my face burning up. I should have said something at the time, and actually no one did it just went silent and then conversation moved on. But next time (I'm sure there will be a next time with him!) I'll be ready.

It's just such a knobbish thing to do. I'd never make jokes out of anyone else's appearance, I don't like the feeling that I'm fair game because I'm ginger.

I studied the blue / brown eyed experiment for psychology, it's fascinating.

I never got bullied per se, but there were comments all through secondary school. Mainly about carpets and curtains etc . I don't ever remember being very upset about it. As a pp has said, at least one of the main instigators now has a lovely red headed daughter! Plus when I was very young, I was always allowed to be Ariel when we were playing princesses
I've had comments about having a fiery temper to match my hair all through my life, but have never been offended by them. In fact, it's made me quite proud that people assume that I'm some badass bitch because I'm a redhead.
I've always had a bit of teasing at home, but it's always been good natured between and I really think it helped me to not get bothered by most of the comments I've had.
When I was young I hated my hair colour, not due to bullying, but because I was different and youngsters just want to blend in with everyone. Now I love it because it's different!

As a ginger myself I got bullied at school because of it. It really grips me that people think it's acceptable to make ginger jokes, would you do it to a person of colour, or LGBT?
I was at my sister's wedding many moons ago and two of her friends were sat behind me and my ginger eldest son. They whispered " I didn't know her sister and nephew were ginger ewww, I wouldn't have invited them". I come across this regularly and I've had blonde highlights for the past 20 years and my ginger is now auburn so I don't look it except for the fair skin.
I don't find it quirky or funny. I find it offensive.
Rant over!