AIBU to be sick of these comments?

[SundayGirlB]

My baby is 5 months old and ginger. I LOVE his hair. It wasn't a surprise, both DH and I were ginger as kids and my side of the family are Irish and ginger.

It's the first thing people mention, which is fine. I think he is gorgeous. But I get so many comments like 'oh no, it's not ginger it's more blonde' or 'it will go blonde/brown' or 'are you worried he will be bullied?', 'ah, i don't mind it on babies but not adults' etc etc.

I am fine for him to be a little flamed haired beauty forever but seriously, he is only 5 months and already getting negative comments. People need to get over this ginger thing.

AIBU to dye my blonde hair ginger in solidarity and tell people to sod off?

Does this really happen? My daughter is 4 months and very ginger and not once has anybody ever said anything negative. People are constantly stoppingme and saying how beautiful her hair is.

Around 10% of Irish people have ginger hair, compared to about 1% of English people, so that's the association.

Well that and the fact most Leprechauns are depicted as having ginger hair and beards.

Anyway stupid, nasty fuckers bullied Mt sister about her red hair (we're part Ulster Scots) and it affected her.

They deserve some wrath if they mention it, in anything other than a positive way

Also as an aside do you not think that red hair has come to be regarded differently due to the likes of Julianne Moore, Jessica Chastain, Amy Adams, Emma Stone (who dyes hers red), Sophie Turner (ditto for got) etc etc. I thought the (very stupid) tide had turned.

Haven’t read the full thread but my MIL was in pure denial about my daughters hair colour when she was born ‘it’ll change, it’ll change’.

People never know whether to call it strawberry blonde or not. It’s bloody GINGER!!! She’s as orange as a carrot and she loves it. It’s sickening how pleased she is with herself

I do feel for my older daughter as she doesn’t get the constant compliments

They are twats. Ginger is gorgeous.

Around 10% of Irish people have ginger hair, compared to about 1% of English people, so that's the association.

It's still the vast minority . Wonder what percentage of Scots have red hair.

Well that and the fact most Leprechauns are depicted as having ginger hair and beards.

They're not real, you know.

What?? Leprechauns are not real?

Do you want to break that to my Irish family or shall I?

Well that and the fact most Leprechauns are depicted as having ginger hair and beards.

Also that was probably done by an American on the design of a lucky charms carton. Americans also blame indulging angry/temper on the "Irish in me" - and choosing to drink too much.

Do you want to break that to my Irish family or shall I?

Start with showing them the fairy scam thing by the little girls to plant the seed of doubt and then hit them with it.

Wow I'd be fuming. Also it's so shortsighted, I honestly don't know anyone who was bullied being ginger or wishes they weren't a redhead. It's something to be proud of seriously

I can't Tar....I just can't

I just Googled though and interestingly, the first drawing of a Leprechaun by Theodore W. Drake featured on the cover of Time magazine in the early 60s and it has black hair and a black beard.

I just Googled though and interestingly, the first drawing of a Leprechaun by Theodore W. Drake featured on the cover of Time magazine in the early 60s and it has black hair and a black beard.

There you go! I bet it was some American designing lucky charms who started the red head leprechaun thing.

Actually I find leprechauns creepy. I cant be alone in that (?)

I was flaming orange as a baby, tangerine. My family really celebrated because my paternal aunt had the most beautiful rose-gold hair and they thought it would fade to her colour. Sadly, I ended up naturally brown with reddish highlights by my twenties but dyed it back for years as it looked so much better with my skin tone - if I let the red grow out people would think I wasn't well from my skin colour! 😁

I'm from the north-east and there's a bit of a mix there, with Aberdeen having links to the Baltic and Scandinavia. My own father was tall with fair hair, pale eyes and skin that tanned easily. I managed to inherit the tanning skin together with the red hair - it's a mix that you find occasionally around Aberdeenshire when the Scots and Nordic genes mix. My father's favourite picture of me was of me around 11 with copper hair and beautifully brown, out in the Middle East.

I was, once told that I couldn't be a real redhead as I have green eyes 🤔😳

My son is super ginger and luckily have never received any negative comments. I say luckily, I mean for the other person as I'd tear a strip off them. His hair is gorgeous! I tend to find the opposite though, in that people marvel at his hair colour and older women in particular seem to want to stroke him a lot, which can be irritating at times but is well meaning. I doubt DS will get bullied for it, as he's quite, errr, robust when push comes to shove! Long fuse but he doesn't take any shit. He's well liked though, and there's two other red heads in his class so someone wanting to bully for hair colour would have quite the fight on their hands I think! DS is quite resilient to a bit of playful banter though (my dad in particular has toughened him up and calls him 'ginge'...and DS calls Ddad 'baldy'). I thought being ginger is quite sought after these days. It's just bloody hair at the end of the day though isn't it. Seems daft that peoole place so much emphasis on it, negatively or positively!

It is simply incredible that ginger hair, in this day and age, is still regarded suspiciously by some folk. It’s akin to a form of racism. Suspect that these negative comments are from people ‘of a certain age!’

Is your son really ok with your dad calling him names @Cecilandsnail?

My dad thought he was toughening me up and being funny by calling me ginge and various other names in relation to my hair colour and it made me hate him with a passion ( in a teenage-angst sort of way). We're not close at all now and I think that's part of the reason why. He thought I was ok with it as I always answered him back and called him chubby etc, but inwardly it knocked my confidence an awful lot.

Any colour of flame hair here is admired and valued for the beauty it is.

It really isn’t. I have several ginger friends who have been badly picked on because of their hair. Mostly men, but one of the girls I know gets a hard time about it too.

Wonder what percentage of Scots have red hair

13%

@SundayGirlB I haven't RTFT but you should definitely listen to Prejudice by Tim Minchin. Hilarious and accurate!

I guess a lot of people don’t find orange hair particularly attractive. But they certainly shouldn’t say it. Very rude to mention it. I think it’s a thing in NZ. Ive heard lots of people say they hope their baby doesn’t have ginger hair.

Agree with Worra.

Ginger threads will never attract those who do criticise or bully the gingers. Just lots of fishing of those who love it.

In North-East of England 70's 80's at school, and probably still the case, it was a trigger bullying feature, usually along with white skin and freckles.

No idea why, just another human.

Red hair is so beautiful. My DP has long red/ginger hair and it's so beautiful. I love his pale skin, light eyelashes, tall stature and bright blue eyes. Honestly, I'm spoilt for any other hair colour. Redheads all the way. I say this as a short, black haired, olive skinned half Turk.

DS2, now 24, had gorgeous bright ginger hair as a baby & toddler. I was desperate for his hair to stay that colour and thought it might as there is lots of red hair in my family, but it didn't, it got darker & darker throughout his childhood. His hair is now dark brown with strands of copper in the right light - but when he forgets to shave his beard is ginger

@Idontwanttotalk sorry I forgot about this thread and just saw your question. Yes it's just a preference. I dont particularly find men with blonde hair attractive either. Not sure why they just don't appeal. I think of it as kind of a non colour, a bit wishy washy. Again I'm not going to comment on anyone's blonde hair in real life though! Love dark hair though.
The point I was trying to make was that not everyone finds red hair attractive and that's ok. Reading this thread it would seem that everyone that doesn't have red hair is massively jealous of those who have red hair naturally and that simply isn't the case otherwise we'd all be dying our hair ginger wouldn't we?

Again people who comment on a person's hair colour in real life are very rude and need to give their head a wobble.

imvisiblewomenmustberead yeah he's good with it! With the playful name calling there's also so much affection too. My DS grew his hair LONG for a while. We/he did get a fair few negative comments from that but my DF was his biggest advocate and defended and complimented his hair choice (in earshot) all the way so DS knows he isn't being serious. He compliments and bigs DS up as much as teases him. There's no malice whatsoever. Plus DS gets so much positive attention (ludicrous amounts!) from his hair that he's very confident in his look. I was super skinny for years and DF's nickname for me was 'bones'. Even though I was self conscious about my weight I never ever took it as anything less than affection from him. He has a warm piss taking way about him that goes for everyone. It's just his way.