Ridiculous comments about red hair

[SweetSouls]

My child has a lot of fiery red hair. They are a year old.

They get lots of nice comments - old ladies in particular love him.

However I get some weird ones too. ‘Still ginger’, one of my friends comments whenever they see him.

Well this morning on the train, a woman came up to me to tell me my child would be very badly bullied at school because of the way they look.

They are one year old. Why would someone come and say that to me? It is absolutely bizarre.

I have a lot of very long red hair. So does my dc. We have both had mean comments. Over the years the number of awful men who have asked if ‘the collar and cuffs match’, who have said red hair = spicy in the bedroom (wink wink) when I was pregnant commenting that my baby might get lucky and inherit his dad’s (boring Mousy brown) hair, people who have felt the need to ask if I dyed my eyebrows (no), told me that I should shave my 3 month old dc’s hair so it grew back brown, the bullying in school was crazy, I was knocked over and my pigtails covered in mud aged about 8, and there was a song that went ‘g-g-g-ginger’ when I was about 14 which was fun.

however as I’ve got older I have learned to love my hair and would never dye it. Someone told me not long ago that it ‘glowed’ in the sunshine which I rather liked, and the OP is right - little old ladies love my dc’s hair and they make a beeline to us to compliment it!

How cruel. But I'm one of those older ladies who would make a positive comment. I love kids with red hair, I think they're so cute! I sometimes ask if there's any Scottish or Irish in the family. Not in a negative way.....my background is Irish and my mum, brother and nephew all had/have red hair, at least when they were younger. My mum's hair ended up being kind of auburn (she looked like Rita in Corrie) though later in life she had chemotherapy and lost it and it grew back grey. My brother's is now more kind of fair but my nephew is still definitely red and he's nearly 30.

Does it?!

Did you look at her other posts? I didn't show the best or most natural one. I think the lighting can be misleading in set up photoshoots. I respect your opinion though, I'm not a good judge when it comes to hair dye. Here's a more natural image.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CsvzGTbK9ri/?igshid=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng==

And this girl here who does a lot of cosplay is simply stunning too. I'd kill for hair like hers. Her account is just gorgeousness.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CvsmU6uMu05/?igshid=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng==

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cyt2GrOvwhu/?igshid=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng==

Anti red-hair bias must be rooted ultimately in jealousy.

Dd is 16 and has never been bullied over her hair. She attends the local comp, now in the sixth form. I've only ever come across people over the age of about 40 thinking it'll lead to bullying. Maybe it did when they were younger, but it doesn't seem to be a thing among younger people. Not where I live anyway, just outside South London. Kids are more tolerant of differences nowadays I find. Just tell them they're showing their age with their comments!

Unbelievable!

Ok my eyes have been opened. Disgusting

Just to add I remember other mothers talking about not wanting a dc with ginger hair when dd was about 5. (Tactful when dd was right there!) Also had a hairdresser saying her sister didn't want a ginger baby while cutting dds hair. Didn't go back. Actually it's not just older people, it's thick older people come to think of it. So tell people they are showing their age and IQ!

Honestly don’t sweat it- some people are just sad. Red haired family and I have taught my kids to embrace it. There are odd people in the world but actually my kids have only ever had positivity. My kids love their hair. They stand out from the crowd. I always told them if anyone says anything nasty just respond with ‘well I love it’ and ignore them.

I love red hair! I’m greying now but dye my naturally reddish hair a full on RED because i think it’s the most beautiful colour. I bet your baby is utterly gorgeous!

Having a red headed child does make them easier to pick out in a crowd.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/Cyt2GrOvwhu?igshid=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng%3D%3D

this woman’s hair pretty much identical to mine.

Same, we're English but have lived in Scotland for 27 years. Neither DH nor, nor our two elder DC, nor I have red hair , but DD3 does. She's 14 now, I think she has had only one incident of ribbing from a pair of pillocks, nipped in the bud swiftly, thankfully.

My favourite singer had red hair, at least until it turned grey. 😅

Red haired people often have beautiful clear and fair complexions, I find. I'm envious.

Ignore these stupid, ignorant people, OP.

I’m a redhead and, not usually one to sound my own trumpet, it’s gorgeous. Any bullies at school are just thick. They’d find something else if it wasn’t the red hair.

My DS2 is strawberry blonde with striking ice blue eyes and he’s already a hit with the girls at sensory class 😂

Build confidence in your child, which I’m sure you are, and they’ll rock their red hair.

Bitch 😂

God has favourites.

She looks lovely but I feel like she has made having her hair into her whole personality 😂

Yes it is.

Negative comments about skin or hair colour/type/length/weight are just as offensive as each other

It's not like we have any control over how we're born

Negative remarks about how we were born, what we're born with and how we or our parents 'cope' are an offensive attack on us

All the many little wisecracks have a cumulative effect on our perception of ourselves and can trigger body dysmorphia.

(Btw my fave singer is not Mick Hucknall, a man who really ought to learn to grow old gracefully. Garish dyed red hair framing a wrinkled face is so not a good look.)

With hair that gorgeous hers and yours, I think I would too!

In fact I'd be bloody smugly insufferable to everyone.

Extensions, gotta be. I'll keep telling myself that. Beeyatch.

Try some Medieval studies, maybe the Inquisition would be a good place for references - or History of Art and some literature, such as Dickens or Shakespeare (Fagin and Shylock).

You'll find red hair is used as an identifier of Jewishness in the context of racism and abuse.

That's really sad op. Your child will experience some negative comments, that's life.

I know what you mean. But commenting on skin colour isn't always racist or aimed at "people of colour" E g. "wow your face is so red!" ( rosacea), " why are you so pale, you look unwell" ( to a pale white person) etc

It's not about whether you think ginger hair is beautiful or not, its the fact that people with it are treated differently or at worst subject to abuse. I'm not ginger but my sister, my MIL and DH are. My sister has beautiful thick glossy hair and was always proud of hers, she constantly is complimented on it. On the other hand my (now almost bald) DH had fuzzy wiry hair that would grow up and out, afro style rather than down. I'll be honest, I never liked his hair. But there are many types of hair, colours or textures that I don't like. Everyone has preferences but they would never comment, especially when types of hair are so often connected with race and those comments could rightly or wrongly be construed as a racist slur. But the difference is because he was ginger he was bullied and teased constantly over it. He often makes the point that on the media it's the only thing remaining that it's ok to poke fun at, comedians on panel shows often joke about it, for example. 'Gingerism' or whatever you want to call it is a real thing, it is the subject of very real prejudice for many. I think we need to call this out each and every time, just as we need to call out other prejudices.

Ugh.. I have two lovely little gingers. One time a lady in a shop said about my son 'oh dear, hopefully it'll change colour as he gets older' 🙄🙄

This is a discussion I had with sixth form students this week. Apparently, girls ‘get away with it’. I’m ginger (female) and have 2 redheads in my form, one boy. He is not bullied, according to him.

In the west coast of Scotland where sectarianism is still rife, having red hair can be a problem. I come from a very ginger family. My older sister got beaten regularly by bullies at school for being ginger and my little brother was jumped and viciously beaten whilst waiting for a train when he was a young teenager for having the audacity to exist with red hair.

Social and interpersonal discrimination still absolutely exists for people with ginger hair and with Irish ancestry. The more structural and institutional racism that people of colour experience is not the same. It doesn't mean that on a personal level the impact of discrimination can not be devastating.

Op - I have heard literally everything there is to say about red hair. My ex's sister told me she would have an abortion if she knew she was having a ginger child. She also told me she didn't eat orange food whilst she was pregnant just in case- so that tells you the level of her intellect. Please don't let other people's waffle affect you or your beautiful child.