Maria Fowler- concerned mother of a ginger child

[Rfraser876]

Seeing Maria fowler (ex towing) in media recently about the comments that resurfaced of her responding to a twitter troll 'well your child is ginger' sparked up my own strong feelings... my DD who is 3 has red hair and I remember the comment mid labour 'ohhh the baby has ginger hair!' And it hasn't stopped being commented on and not always in a positive way. I see the memes online... some intended light heartedly but why is this ok? If it was skin colour or a disfiguration it wouldn't be ok to make constant and sometimes derogatory comments towards anyone and especially a child's appearance... so many people have said 'we just refer to our child are ginger or ginge at home so that he is hardened to it by the time they go to school' why should I... it really upsets me thinking of my daughter having fun made of her or even just constant comments on her physical appearance in future... suppose I am just looking for others opinions on how they feel is best to deal with the inevitable in future, maybe just needed to have a rant or someone to say they also feel the same on the matter.

I have red hair (slight reference in the name) but it’s faded a lot now (late 40s) i’m From the north and it wasn’t desperately unusual but I definitely had as many positive comments as negative (occasionally stopped by strangers in the street) and was the age when Julia Roberts and Nicole Kidman were totally rocking the look.

Have a 10-year-old DD now with a totally magnificent mane, we are in London and it is more unusual (but not amazingly so) I say own it, it’s her superpower!!!)

Just wanted to add that people never fail to compliment her on it, have been asked a bit about her modelling etc, it’s beautiful, so many people are trying to colour their hair red, and we have it naturally!

I'm sure your baby is lovely OP.

Amongst my Dd and her peers (late teens) the general consensus is that ginger hair is fab.

I understand where you're coming from, I grew up in the 80s and 90s and was taunted relentlessly over my ginger hair.

I'd like to think that times and people have moved on, if you do face any unkind comments, ask the person directly, would you comment on the colour of my child's skin? If no, well it's not appropriate to comment on their hair colour either!

And as for Maria... make sure that you're a good role model and mother to your child.
Google throws up some interesting and colourful things about her which will be available for all eternity and for HER daughter to read about.
I think you need to aim for the high moral ground and not believe that she's as influential as she thinks she is!

I'm a redhead and I've always loved my hair. I'm lucky I rarely had any negative comments in school but if some fool ever did try I'd just roll my eyes at them. Teach your daughter to be confident in herself, red hair is beautiful. One of my friends was red but constantly tried to dye it darker and called herself strawberry blonde, she got picked on for her hair lots, she was insecure and bullies knew that

I am a red head as is dd (5), it doesnt seem to be a big deal now like it was when i was a kid

Red hair on little girls is beautiful

My son has ginger hair. He’s a toddler and get complimented on it regularly. It’s not crossed my mind to be something to be concerned over.

Dd is 11 and goes to the local comp. She's never had problems. She was popular at primary and still is now. I think kids are more aware that bullying is wrong these days as schools do anti bullying work with them and kids know they could get into trouble.

I would love to have red hair and was hoping that DDs hair would turn out red, but it’s stubbornly blonde —though am still hoping for strawberry blonde—

Whoops pressed send too soon!
— as that’s her grandmother’s natural colour.

When I had a baby last year, i heard one of the ladies on my ward on the phone to a relative saying, "we can't tell what colour it is, he's completely bald, anyway as long as it's not ginger", from the rest of her conversation(witterings), she wasn't the most enlightened person, but it still hurt. I have a red headed son. I am aware of the negative comments you still hear on comedy programmes etc. I hate the thought that at some point my beautiful son will start to hear this type of thing. I agree it shouldn't be allowed on mainstream TV etc.

Also, the other thing you hear is what TIGER said eg 'its lovely/ok on little girls'. Do you mean it is not lovely on little boys? I find it amazing that people think it ok to comment on childrens physical characteristics like this.

My dd has amazing ginger hair.
Her nn at he has always been Ginger /Ginge (by siblings), she never sees that as a negative. If anyone calls it to be nasty she just doesn't react at all!

I'm a red head. I went to school in the 00s and was bullied terribly for my hair. You always get the older generation saying how beautiful it is, but kids really are awful creatures when it comes to bullying.

Red hair seems to be a lot more acceptable now and I truly hope it is. People dye their hair ginger purposely so it seems the stigma may have gone or be disappearing.

I'll never forget how ashamed I was to be ginger back then, though.

I do love my hair now.

I went off on a tangent there. I meant to say, I always said the same thing when I was younger. If it was somebody's skin colour being targeted, it wouldn't be acceptable, so why is it okay for hair to be tainted?

It's really unkind.

I'm the mum of a gorgeous red head (copper shade). It is nowhere near as bad as it was years ago. DS has had mainly positive comments and only a couple of negative ones - he is 15

Red hair on little girls is beautiful

Red hair is beautiful.

Fixed it for you. Red hair on anyone, male or female, is beautiful.