That colleague made comment about ginger babies

[CheesexCrackers]

To be annoyed about a colleague making comments about ginger hair?

A colleague has recently come back from maternity leave and was talking about her dd.

She said she's so glad she's got brown hair, it would be the worst to have a ginger baby, I would of hated to have a ginger baby it would of been horrible.... she then glanced around the room and noticed my hair and made an awkward face.

I'm pregnant with my first and may well have a red haired baby, which I would personally love.

Is it the pregnancy hormones talking or am I right to be pissed off that she's targeting red hair.... and even red haired babies??

My sister said the same about not wanting a ginger baby..and ended up with a ginger girl lol… she was gutted.. and so is her girl 15 years later.. she hates her ginger hair and has been colouring it from a young age.. I wouldn’t want a ginger baby either.. only because I know how cruel people can be and how much stick they could face.. sad but true

Why are people so mean and stupid ?
I think ginger is beautiful and red hair in general . Im envious of such vivid locks . People should be proud of their hair and complexions but it must be hard to ignore such ignorance at times . What’s so amazing about brown hair ?? Being south Asian that’s our usual option 😂

Wow that's really sad. That's not my red headed daughter's experience at all. She's 17 and very popular and confident. Definitely not ashamed of her hair.
Do you think your sister being gutted to have a red headed daughter has rubbed off on your niece and made her ashamed of her hair?. It's your sister that should be feeling ashamed if so.
Where do you live that your niece has had horrible comments about her hair? My daughter hasn't experienced that where we live.

I love colour and think all shades of red hair look fabulous. Your colleague is ignorant and stupid, definitely not someone whose opinion should bother you. Treat her with the indifference she deserves and enjoy your little one.

Is 'gingerism' really a thing? I guess so. I've always seen it as just a joke, like slagging off the Welsh or the Belgians.

What a silly cow, of course you would feel upset. It’s pathetic and insensitive. Nothing wrong with ginger at all! And no I’m not ginger.

Ridiculous comment.My Mum’s side of the family are all red heads,from strawberry blonde to gorgeous auburn.

What an awful thing to say! I'm not ginger but love the colour and even if I didn't I would no way say anything like this! If my baby was born with a green face, purple hair and had whiskers I wouldn't care! Xx

Ignore the stupid bitch I always wanted a ginger haired baby but my two were so blonde there hair was white; but my friends little one is ginger & her hairs curly too & she’s absolutely beautiful her hair is stunning perfect little ringlets; so gorgeous all redheads are x

When I was pregnant with DS1 (mine and DH's first child), my SIL joked to my husband "OMG, let's hope he's not ginger, can you imagine?" Then turned to me, looked at my light ginger hair as though she'd never noticed it before, and awkwardly tried to backtrack...

DS1 and DS2 are both ginger - DS1 especially so, very thick red curls that he likes to keep long. He gets the piss taken occasionally at school, but also gets stopped in the street and complimented by women. I tell him the piss takers are just upset that they look so boring and forgettable.

It's so silly isn't it? Especially when you think of all the people who dye their hair red! I'm part of a ginger family, still ginger myself at nearly 75. People can be tactless talking of how they don't want a ginger baby, they are amazing!

We should ban the use of ginger. It is derogatory. My hair is Titian, my eyes are grey green. DD1 has young -fox coloured hair and true green eyes. DD2 is strawberry blonde with eyes of summer blue.
Ginger just doesn't come close to describing the various hues of red. If you are lucky enough to have a little red head teach her/him to walk with profe!

Pride. Sorry!

Ginger is actually creamy coloured.

You're going to need a lot more stamina as a parent and coping with the challenges your child faces - whatever colour hair they have - if you're floored by someone saying they didn't want a red head as a child.

Parenting dilemma no.1 - If your child comes home (as a red head) and says someone called him/her a name insulting being a red head, just how are you going to parent that?

Because you really should be able to cope as a parent with that.

Trust me every single parent on the planet has coped with their child coming home and saying someone said something nasty about them to them.

Just as you really should have been able to cope with your colleague.

Coping skills do people well in life, and set them up to be confident and successful. So stop being part of the perpetually offended and think through how you should have responded, in a mature and capable way.

This thread has made me grateful that the kids at my daughter's South London Comp are less thick and nasty than some ginger hating adults. She's never had any issues. Only seen it on mumsnet.

She might be eating her words soon. No guarantee her child will keep their dark hair.
My Dd was born with a mass of straight dark hair. It then fell out and grew back in curly and Ginger.

What tide?
people having negative views of ginger hair is no lessor more common than 50 years ago.
my grandma as a red head
a school friend in my preteens was red headed
2 other school friend in my secondary were red heads, but one of them had 4 red headed sisters, all of different shades from copper to strawberry blond
One of my son is red head and now red bearded

all had negative comments by some people,and other people comment on how lovely it is. Those people span 4 generations!

red hair is rare so always gets noticed and some people seem to think it’s ok to make comments, stereotypes or judgement about.

now If you’re talking back to pre 1200 century, particularly women, then fair do, but even Elizabeth I was red haired and generally admired for it, as was her father.

Erm… I’d think the responses to this thread were testament to the changing tide? I didn’t think what I’d said was that controversial?
There is a changing opinion to red hair. My kids don’t know anything about taking the piss out of ginger haired folk and I’m sure we’re not the only ones.

I don’t think it’s dying out at all. If this thread had (somehow) existed 50 years ago, I’m sure it would have had similar responses.

Same at dd's school thankfully. Ginger bullying isnt a thing. They see it as something older generations did. They are more tolerant in many ways than when I was a kid.
I assumed that was the norm among young people, but it looks like some posters are saying they live in areas where there are still thick/nasty people bullying kids for characteristics they have no control over. Poor them.

Both my DC have ginger hair and I’ll be honest, I struggled a bit at first. DC1 was born strawberry blond and DC2 was born white blonde. Over time they both went incredibly vibrant ginger. Almost orange. Nothing subtle about it. I had to teach myself to like it if I’m being hand-on-heart honest. I think they are both absolutely gorgeous and I love them more than I could ever express. But it’s taken me a while to truly love their hair, and I do have moments where I really worry they’ll be picked on at secondary school. They go to a lovely primary school right now where they both have lots of friends and nobody has said anything negative about their hair. I also agree with a previous poster who said the tide seems to be slowly turning and ginger hair is not seen as quite so negative as it was maybe 15-20 years ago.

However I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before some idiot says something to one of my DC, and all I can do is build their self esteem up now so that when it happens, they can be brave enough not take it to heart. It makes me so upset and anxious though to think of them experiencing this kind of bullying.

I’ve had moments in the past where I’ve felt it’s a shame that they have ginger hair because they’re both so good looking, that was the one thing that “let them down”. I have also felt guilty that it was mine and DH’s genes that have caused them to have an appearance that might cause them to be ridiculed in future. I feel terribly ashamed of myself for thinking like that now, I have never and would never say out loud any of the things I’ve said here, and I’m intentional every day with the compliments I give them both for their hair but also for their character traits. I hope they grow up knowing that their looks are the least important thing about them.

My baby boy has ginger hair and vivid blue eyes- he is so striking and gets (lovely) comments wherever we go.

However, my MIL frequently laments his hair and has made comments about dying it since he was born. His thick, red hair fell out about 2 months after he was born and then she became convinced he was going to be blonde. It grew back the same colour and she was gutted.

She HATES the fact that people ‘always have to comment on his hair’ when she takes him out and I love that it winds her up! He’s totally gorgeous and she’s a prejudice cow.

I think it’s because it’s a rare colour we are picked on- I always had a red, shiny bob, loads of compliments, best compliment,a woman said to my boyfriend at the time, your girlfriend has the best head of hair I have ever seen on female 😊huge green eyes too.
I remember a girl in my class, stuck a lump of chewing gum in my hair, had to have it cut out.. jump to yrs later, same girl now with a shiny, red bob 🤔said I thought you hated ginger hair? Well her reply was she was so envious of my hair all along😩you can’t say certain things about ethnic minorities, it’s deemed a hate crime but people can say derogatory things about us gingers & it ok- well it’s not ok! I will never dye my hair to fit in with what is deemed to be normal. Love, love my hair 🤩

Yeah that's the lazy "it's just banter" thing that people come out with when they are being really offensive and don't care who they're offending. "Slagging off" people because of their nationality or hair colour really isn't acceptable, is it?