Ginger & worried about the future.

[Noimusntforget]

Our gorgeous toddler Dd has red/ginger hair, she’s very pale, with blue eyes and barely there eyebrows and eyelashes.
We’re both dark haired, with tanned skin and blue eyes, our girl doesn’t really look like us yet. Where we are (not in the uk) ginger hair is seen as very unusual and special, but we plan to move back to the uk in the next few years. I have a red headed friend who was bullied for years. When I look at my sweet, innocent girl, I feel fearful for the way she might be treated in a few years.
Anyone else have a red headed child? Is her colouring likely to change at this stage (2.4 months old)
Her hair and colouring is stunning and special to us, but people can be arseholes in life and I feel sad if she’ll have to encounter that.

[ticktackted]

I'm ginger & had a v v bad time at school (mostly at the hands of one girl, though) - but, I keep being reassured that it is better these days, & if my kids are redheads it's unlikely to be history repeating itself! I get nothing but complements as an adult.

[ArranBound]

I would tell her every day how beautiful her hair is. She'll love it by the time she's 20 and looks absolutely stunning!

[Noimusntforget]

Thanks all,
I personally love it and feel she would be so different as a blonde or brown haired girl, it just isn’t her, so I see something so special and different about it.
We’ve only ever had compliments and it’s very much revered where we are, I just remember back in the uk during my school years -late 80’s/90’s, but it’s obviously changed and quite a relief to hear that!
I always said ‘Redhead’ then was told there was nothing wrong with saying ‘Ginger’ and I could/should say that? 🤷🏻‍♀️
@Girlyracer Why is it thought that way in your social circles?

[Poppingnostopping]

My hair has got lighter over the years and I now have blonde/red hair, a bit darker than proper strawberry blonde. I love it, and it hasn't got one grey and I'm over 50. Don't worry about that stuff, I have heard all about ginger bullying but although a few remarks were made at school, it was more my 'four-eyes' that were commented on, and I seemed to miss the worst of it all. I haven't had anyone comment negatively on my hair for 20 odd years or more, only positive comments.

[OhCrumbsWhereNow]

My 11 year old DD has been begging me to let her dye her hair red all year - she has a friend with the most glorious ginger hair and is super-envious. Friend doesn't seem to have any issues other than people constantly saying how lovely it is!

[thosetalesofunexpected]

Hi Op red hair whether strawberry blonde or whatever shade of ginger your baby daughter has, whether it changes a shade of hair colour or not.
Teach your daughter to have good self esteem/ cofindence in herself such as positive praise/reinforcements, so she is less likely to allow others at school to get her down emotionally, also are there dolls with ginger hair or good story books with a characters with ginger hair/good role models in popular culture with same hair colouring as daughter.
Also if she ever hope not but if she was ever bullied at school there is allways all kinds of martial Arts she could get into,plus learning self defence boost her cofindence its fun and can make friends through doing this activity..

[fuckfuckingcovid19]

I don't think it's a thing at school anymore. I've only heard the very odd negative comment about ginger hair from adults.
My niece has beautiful curly auburn hair, it's really stunning. I can't imagine she'll be bullied for it.

[BetsyBigNose]

My DM and her youngest brother both had the same colouring as your DD when they were small children, but both had auburn hair by the time they went to senior school at 11. Now at 61, my DM is olive skinned with rich brown hair, with a hint of red in the right light (and a few streaks of grey!). Neither of them were bullied for their colouring - although they were teased by their other siblings!

My DNephew is nearly 10 and is very pale and freckly with really orange hair. He's a popular, outgoing kid and another example of someone with ginger hair who hasn't been bullied. I wouldn't worry about it too much OP, if she's going to be bullied then the bullies will always come up with something to pick on and if it's not her hair, it'll be something else. All you can do is build her up and encourage her to talk to you if any bullying does start.

[uglyface]

I have taught at least one redhead a year for the last eight years and not one single comment has been made about any of them.

This is primary though, I don’t know if secondary is different...

[CouldBeOuting]

• That’s not prejudice! DDs family nickname is “Ginger” and she is totally happy with it!
  
  Really?! Um, that'd be like my whole family calling classes-wearing DS "four eyes" as his nickname? Sorry, I do think nicknaming your kid along the lines of their unusual physical characteristic is maybe not the best idea - whatever that characteristic is.*
  
  “Four eyes” would be taking the mickey out of someone’s disability not a physical characteristic.
  
  Nicknames are usually based around physical characteristics in my experience. I’ve heard of people being called “blondie”, “curly” etc. My mother was “little legs” as she was under 5’ tall, my guide leader was known as “twitch” as she was smaller than most of us guides. Having ginger hair isn’t all that unusual and it certainly isn’t in our family although DD is our only ginger in her generation. If she didn’t like it she’d soon say - when someone tried to use the “wrong” shortened version of her name she was very quick to say “I don’t like being called that but feel free to use x, y or ginger”.

[CouldBeOuting]

our guide leader was TITCH not Twitch (damn autocorrect).

[CouldBeOuting]

Great ginger song

[Gwenhwyfar]

"My niece has beautiful curly auburn hair, it's really stunning. I can't imagine she'll be bullied for it.2

1. Auburn is not ginger.
2. As I mentioned, red hair is seen as more attractive in females than males.

[Ber84]

Your daughter will be fine, she sounds very beautiful, I think red hair is very attractive on both genders, times have certainly changed, so please don't be worried about her been bullied, your stressing over something that may never happen, try focus on the now and not what ifs, it has helped me a lot with my own family, sometimes we overthink the worse.

[JeanMichelBisquiat]

@CouldBeOuting fair enough - the other examples you give still don't float my boat, I think because I always feel it's best not to focus too much on anyone's physical characteristics, but I am probably overthinking! Sounds like your DD is able to say loud and clear what she's comfy with 👍👍👍

I'm not sure how I managed to describe DS as "classes-wearing" anyway - that'd be jolly heavy 🤣

[IceSkater]

My friend has 3 red headed children who are all unique and gorgeous looking and all do child modelling and acting. They are adorable!

[ItsAlwaysSunnyOnMN]

Ds has red/ginger hair

Lots of people will say it’s strawberry blonde it’s not it’s golden red or ginger

His friends call him ginge from young some friends/family have called him ginger ninja non he takes offence to or said in a nasty way (and prepared him as many children have nicknames)

He doesn’t get teased only had compliments. once said he didn’t like his hair but he also didn’t like the shape of his head (he is 13 so not unusual to be critical of yourself)

Please don’t worry honestly I spent hours getting upset over what I though would happen and it really never has times really have changed

[Lemonyfuckit]

I'm so so glad people think the bullying for being ginger is much less of a thing now. I was teased for being ginger - I wouldn't say bullied, but a fair amount of teasing when I was at school (late 80s/90s) after we moved but also I didn't quite fit in for other reasons (had lived in London until 6 and then moved north to a very rural area) so I had a 'funny accent' and as people have said, children can be really mean and anyone slightly different can be a target. Didn't affect me too much, just made me cross, and didn't stop me loving my hair colour though, and as I've got older I've loved it even more and I hope I have ginger children! So I would be proud of your DDs gorgeous colouring, and hopefully from the sounds of it this is much more celebrated now.

[Lemonyfuckit]

Oh I used to adamantly add, when I was younger and people teased me as 'ginger' that "it's not ginger, it's auburn", because I knew they used the term ginger as an insult. Now, I really don't mind whatever term someone uses be it ginger, auburn, or red, I'm not sure the exact shade mine is but as far as I'm concerned, the more ginger/red/auburn the better.

[ItsAlwaysSunnyOnMN]

I think people use the terms auburn or strawberry blonde as they think people don’t want to be red or ginger

I’ve always said ds is ginger not strawberry blonde as so many will claim because he is and that absolutely fine

[CaptainMyCaptain]

I was nicknamed Ginger or Carrots at school but I didn't regard that as bullying. Other people had worse nicknames - a Welsh boy called Druid and poor Smelly Jim. It was pretty normal to have unflattering nicknames then.

[IrishMamaMia]

I think it's stunning and very special. It's especially beautiful on kids. I am Irish though I suppose.
Sadly most kids get bullied for something or other. It's just the way of the world but there's more awareness nowadays and teachers are trying to stamp it out.

[SurreyHillsGirl]

Red heads are beautiful. I highly doubt your DD will be victimised, more revered! I think the ginger stigma thing is very outdated and everyone I know loves ginger hair and sees it as unique and cool. A lot of models have ginger hair, something that would not have been heard of when I was at school (in the 80s and 90s back in the days when people did get bulied over ginger hair )

My gran had red hair and she absolutely loved it, she was stunning and was so sad when her hair turned white!

[SurreyHillsGirl]

*bullied

[Ellapaella]

I'm a redhead and have two ginger boys. I was never bullied and no one has ever said anything derogatory to them about their hair colour. We live in the North East and ginger hair is pretty common.