Why is 'gingerism' an acceptable form of prejudice?

[Pacific]

Came home from a late shift last night to find my cool and handsome 13 year old DS crying after some cyberbullying because he has reddish hair.

The story came tumbling out between sobs. He had been out on Saturday afternoon with his pal and their respective 'sweethearts'. The two girls also happen to be best friends.

After they all split up and made their way home about tea time, Ds was getting hassled on the bus home by some local neds getting called 'ginger c**nt' etc. They got off at the same bus stop. One punched DS. DS retaliated (he is rugby player) and ended up giving the boy a bloody nose. The boy's friends ran off when they saw DS not to be messed with but bloody nose boy has threatened DS that his Dad and big brother will get him. This is not an empty threat....we know who they are. DS is now terrified.

Next thing that happened, On facebbook last night DS's girlfriend's best pal started taunting his girlfriend about the ginger hair. DS somehow managed to see this convo. It was really horrible stuff and coming so close after the attempted beating (just for having red hair FFS) was all too much for him and he was sobbing his heart out. I haven't seen him cry in years.

Bastards. Why is this OK? Why do people pick on redheads? Where did this come from? Why is this prejudice not tackled?

Depends how nastily they are "making fun" of her.
I am going for the approach of occasional affectionate nickname in the hope that when they start on him at school he won't be taken totally by surprise.

ya for redheads!

I'm a blonde who dyes her eyelashes and darkens her brows because I look a lot better that way - why is it unacceptable to suggest that a red head will look better that way?

And men can dye their eyelashes - I know men who do!

there is a red haired special needs girl in my dd's year. she was left alone in the playground (year 9,so 13/14 yrs)nobody was her friend til my dd befriended her...also a redhead,but not as bright,more strawberry blonde i guess.

they call themselves the ginja ninjas and they are quite popular in school now. dd was laughed at by her group of friends for being friendly with a sn girl,a ginger one at that,but they accept her now. she was on the verge of leaving the school and going back to a sn school,but seems she is happy and thriving now. all it took was a bit of ginger nerve!

It isn't acceptable. It just happens. Of course it shouldn't but it does.

Same for fat people, skinny, tall people, short people, freckly people, people with big noses. Anyone who stands out. Humans are shallow especialy when in mobs

Sorry about your lad though.

thesecondcoming please do ask them why they think the possibility of the baby being ginger is a problem. On behalf of all of us!

It shouldn't be. Just as it is wrong that people are prejudiced against those who are overweight/different religion/different skin colour/wear glasses/whatever.

We live in a society that thinks itself so PC but is actually incredibly prejudiced. I don't know what the answer is. IME, those who are prejudiced against a certain thing, are that was because they are ignorant.

Sorry, no help to you and your son.

Have a look at this . There is some strong language that you may wish to censor for your son.

Historically ginger hair was regarded as a bad thing as it was thought it was caused by the parents having sex during menstruation and that was a sin. Pretty weird.

I grew up in Ireland and some of the red-headed children were taunted about it - but it was usually the ones with very bright, more orangey-hair. For example, my cousin was nicknamed "Marmalade".

I don't find red hair particularly attractive but then I don't like blonde hair either (except on young children) but that doesn't mean that picking on red headed children (or adults) is remotely acceptable!!

Katisha I just don't understand how parents who make fun of their DC's hair colour, or indeed any part of their DC's are 'helping' their DC.

How can calling your DC names help them?

If you think it will prepare them for possible bullying episodes,how will it do this?

I just can't imagine any effect this may have apart from teaching your DC that it is in fact acceptable to call someone names based on their hair colour.

After all, if your own parents are name calling because of your hair colour, why is it wrong for anyone else. More so if other people hear you.

I just don't get it.

It's just not acceptable imo, and to have your parents calling you names is beyond my comprehension.

I hate gingerism. I have two gorgeous red haired boys and I would hate for either of them to be bullied about their hair colour. DS1 (7) hate his hair colour and wants to dye it as soon as he can. DS2 (4) couln't care less atm, but he has autism and is oblivious to things anyway.

Thesecondcoming, I had the opposite when I was pregant with DS3. Both DS1+2 have red hair, and people were saying "hopefully this one won't be". As it happens, ds3 has dark hair like me, and the comments go along the lines of "he had a lucky escape then" . I usually just say that if he feels left out, he can always dye it ginger when he is older

Because when I do it it's not teasing or taunting. My thinking is quite possibly flawed but it is my hope that it will act as a sort of vaccination.
Of course when the wankers turn on him and start calling him ginger in true nastiness of spirit maybe nothing will actually help prepare him for that. But I don't want to exacerbate his problems (when, not if sadly, they come) by making him think that ANY refererence to his hair colour is meanly meant.

Surely gingerism should be treated just the same as picking on someone because they are a different colour. After all, this hair colour is much more common among certain ethnic groups in NW Europe, i.e., Irish, Scottish, Scandinavian and Russian (BTW, the "Rus" in Russia means red, from the hair colour).

It's just depressing becaise people who wouldn't dream of making a racist remark think comments about red hair are tres witty...

My sister has beautiful long red hair, mine is blonde and I have always been jealous. She had comments all through school but always rose above it. I loved it when I read Ilovetiffany's post about "Ginja ninja's" as this is what my sis and 2 of her red head friends used to call themselves.

The most important thing is self belief so positive re inforcement about how beautiful/handsome your red head children are is the best way forward.

Katisha

Wondering what it is you do call your DC now then.

I'm not ginger but thought I'd add my two pence worths anyway... completely agree that it's not on. Even police officers aren't allowed to use the word ginger to describe someone's hair colour.

I'm a natural blonde and have been treated differently and teased becasue of my hair colour in the past (combined with my big bust).

I'm sure it's hindered me getting techy jobs when I left uni, and even when I did jokes were made about me not being such a dumb blonde after all...

Sixty percent of women who dye their hair do so at home. Of them twenty six percent choose to go blonde, twenty seven percent go basic brunette, and thirty percent choose to become redheads. The sale of at home red dye kits has gone up seventeen percent since the year two thousand hit.

Red hair is a genetic mutation.

Redheads don't turn grey. Red hair turned sandy, then white. They are also found to loose their color later in life than people carrying other hair colors.

In Denmark it is an honor to have a redheaded child.

Redheads have a lot to smile about, We're like Marmite to men they either love us or hate us but bear in mind we're also thought to make the best lovers!

I've read something about anti-gingerness being a remnant of anti-Celtic prejudice, this may be bit far-fetched though, and it wouldn't seem to fit with ginger-bashing being either a recent phenomonen or it being prevalent in Ireland & Scotland.

Tattyhead, the reason that victimisation of people with a particular hair colour is not treated in the same way as racial discrimination is because people with red hair have not, as a group, experienced:

1. Worse treatment at the hands of the police both when accused of a crime or when dealt with as the victim of a crime.

1. Fewer job opportunities.

1. Underperformance at school.

1. Less opportunities that are not in proportion to their qualifications when applying for University.

1. Worse housing in both quality of the residence and amenities in the area.

1. Lower incomes.

1. Historically, a different legal status to the rest of the population, including slavery.

So red hair is similar to being very short or tall, or wearing glasses, or having large breasts. It something that can be used as part of bullying someone, and that is very wrong. But people with red hair have not had an equivalent experience to people with a different skin pigmentation and do not experience similar levels of economic and social exclusion as a group.

Katisha - my parents used (and still do) tease me a LOT.

I'm not red-haired, but they'd tease me about lots of other things (being skinny, sulking, how I talked), in an affectionate way. My dad always said it was to prepare me for going to school, and it's better to learn to deal with teasing coming from someone who loves me unconditionally.

It really did help, because it meant I reacted less when someone picked on me and the less you react, the more likely the bullies are to leave you alone. You're not fun.

It all depends on what you say and how you say it.

I have a friend with the most beautiful red hair and I've never known anyone to make negative comments about it, if anything everyone's been envious of her (she lives in mainland Europe). In fact before coming to UK I had never heard of gingerism and have never been to another country where it exists. I am not saying I had never heard people being teased or picked on because they have read hair but never in the scale they do it here. I really can't understand why people think it is acceptable.

It is easier for a Ginger girl than boy imo. As I said earlier dd1 has beautiful comments whilst ds2 gets an oh you poor thing look. They are both Ginger rather than red.

We have never teased him about his hair, but he does know that others might pick on him because of his hair colour - we've warned him about that.

I hate gingerism, I have long auburn hair and DD is showing signs of having the same colour (if slightly darker), my hairdresser says that my colour is the most asked for in terms of dye but it has taken me until adulthood to truly love my hair due to taunts etc from childhood.