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??

Gross. Two of my siblings have red hair. A “friend” at uni kept talking about how she’d have a ginger kid adopted and how disgusting it was to be ginger. She had a real bee in her bonnet about it. I remember showing her a picture of my siblings and her face went a bit white and she never said anything like that again. Stupid dickhead to say it in the first place though - no better than racism.

I wish you'd have turned around and said something along the lines of 'yeah I suppose it's much better to have brown hair, it's so common your dc won't stand out and be special that way'

She's a twat

I'd love to know precisely what demographics of people hate redheads. It's such a weird thing that I haven't encountered in other countries.
I would be beyond thrilled to have a rh child.

This had me pmsl🤣🤣🤣

I'm ginger and honestly I am relieved that my daughter isn't. It's probably a bit shit of me but I'm still a bit traumatised by bullying I endured in childhood and would not want her to go through that.

I hate people talking like this, its more commonplace than people may realise.
I am red headed and wouldn't give a shit if it was aimed at me, but I was very self consious of my hair as a child.
I remember at my neighbour's daughters christening, her ginger daughter, people were joking that they couldn't blame her having a bonnet on the baby, as it would hide her hair.
People make jokes about ginger hair in front of me and then realise and say to me that my hair isn't actually ginger, is it? well, yes , it is as ginger as ginger could be.
and even some family members say they would dye their babies hair or leave it on my doorstep if it turns out ginger, all in good humour but not nice.
Oh, and I LOVE my hair.

Silly woman. My husband has, or maybe had, red hair. My kids missed out on it. I can remember once looking for them in a ball pool at a play centre and thinking it would be a lot easier if they were ginger!

I love red hair but I do think that people can be really rude about it. My husband has always owned it and has met fire with fire so to speak. 🤣 You need a quick come back. Someone else mentioned up thread, rather ginger than rude, and I think that's perfect. Make sure you teach your baby that!

I think, as a PP has said, it originated as anti Irish sentiment. Most likely the people who tease red heads today don't know that, it's just something that has become ingrained in some areas, but it probably originated as prejudice against Irish immigrants to England, like my ancestors, and reflects the history of the two countries.

🙏

And there was me wishing for a red-haired baby, and all three of mine are blonde. They say it skips a generation and my Mum has lovely auburn hair, so I had everything crossed. Your colleague sounds absolutely intolerable and pathetic 🙄

She's an ignorant person, her grammar is appalling, too.

Eg: ''Would of hated to have had &c''

You should have replied ''I would have hated to have been born with your level of prejudice' and stalked off, swishing your red hair proudly.

I remember when my dd was born and a friend met her for the first time. The first thing out of her mouth was ‘oh my god she’s ginger’ she didn’t mean it in a good way.
Ive done my best to bring my daughter up to be proud of her hair colour and I don’t think she’s suffered any prejudice because of it so far. It’s beautiful but my friend at school was horribly bullied because of her hair

I’m ginge and comments like hers really dented my confidence as a child. Fortunately, my parents and grandparents all really loved my hair, and told me constantly.

Why are people such twats about red hair?!

She was very very rude.

I can never understand why people are so weird about ginger hair or red hair. I think it is beautiful.

I have a ginger daughter who is almost 8 so still very young. My son is almost 12 and in high school, and I'm so grateful he is not ginger as a couple of his friends are and the children are absolutely disgusting towards them because of it. It just shows that this is learned behaviour by bully adults, as kids don't care!
One thing I did notice though, when my eldest 2 (1 blonde, 1 brown hair) were little, no one ever commented, but my youngest was born and all I heard was how beautiful her hair is. She has also recently picked up on this and asks why everyone comments.

It's very much a sense of humour thing. "The Ginger Gene"!!

All 3 of my children are dark blonde, as am I and my husband, but my grandad was a red-head so I carry the ginger gene, and my hair certainly has a ginger tinge to it. My brother has a very ginger beard! Two of my cousins are VERY ginger.

I know many people who joke about the ginger gene, but have never come across anyone who meant it in a nasty way - quite the opposite that most people love red hair and the ginger gene is something to be proud of!

If people judge based on someone's hair colour then that makes them rather thick!

Well, you've clearly led a charmed life, because it's a very real (and bizarrely, still broadly acceptable) prejudice.

I don't get the anti-ginger thing either. Dp is a rare strawberry blonde with grey eyes and it's such a lovely combination. He's had someone in the past say considering he was ginger he was good looking....very rude and odd. And when I was pregnant people would ask what I'd do if dd came out ginger which always baffled me. My response was always it'd be amazing, mixed race children with red hair are so unique. She didn't though lol.

So it's not OK for me to be proud of carrying the ginger gene?? I'm quite proud of my red headed ancestry thanks!

I have to say I absolutely hate the ‘red hair is so beautiful’ and ‘red hair gene’ lot, not as much as the bullies obviously.

I’m not some freak of nature or exotic bird. Sometimes white people have red hair, it’s not unusual, it’s not special it’s just normal and when it’s on your head every day of your life it gets rather tedious when people keep pointing it out.

Wow! That's the kind of comment I'd be reporting to HR. That kind of prejudice is not acceptable. Neither is insulting a pregnant colleague's unborn child.

I used to work with a guy who was anti ginger and who has two little ginger nuts for kids. Sweet!

The ginger gene runs rampant in my family and I always regretted missing it. I simply don't get this prejudice. Ginger hair is amazing.

We have many red heads in our family and I had felt that these stupid comments on red hair had started to become less common.
In fact many people say how beautiful the colour is.
Your colleague is a rude, unthinking woman!

I dye my hair bright ginger every 6 weeks. I would kill to have it grow out of my scalp naturally!

I am ginger, honestly, thought this sort of thing should be over by the time you leave school.
I personally don't want my child to inherit my colouring, but not because of how it looks (couldn't give two hoots about that). It's more that my skin is so fair, burns so easily that I have a lifetime of being careful in the sun, going red easily and frankly it's a pain that I'd rather they didn't have to put up with. But for looks? oh jog on, silly colleague.