Redhead/Ginger?

[Geiamama]

SOmetimes people are cruelest when they are trying to be nice!

My two youngest children are two little girls with the most beautiful red hair, porcelain-pale skin and piercing blue eyes. They are like little china dolls. But with BOTH girls I lost count of the number of 'supportive' comments like "I'm sure their hair will probably get darker like you and their older brother's", "don't worry, their hair will probably go blonde in the summer" or even "if they really hate it when they're in school they can always dye it"!!!!

My little dolls; Katy 6mths and Sera 2yrs

My little dolls; Katy 6mths and Sera 2yrs

My ray of sunshine Katy

Sera and I off to feed the ducks

 

[Foofoogal]

They are beautiful. I prayed and prayed and prayed and finally we got our precious red headed grandson.

Goodbye everyone!

 

[Amy Jeanne]

I had gleaming red hair when I was a kid. Now it's mousy brownish-reddish. I do dye it.

 

[Fleur De Guerre]

Ginger prejudice is the last one seen as perfectly acceptable, and it makes me sad. My last chap was ginger, and I actually asked him once if he got much hassle at school. He looked at me like I was a total mentalist and said, 'Literally. Every. Single. Day'. I have a bit of a thing for redheaded men, and at least if I ever have kids with one, I'll probably be doing my bit to continue the gene as my dad was (when he had hair!).

 

[JimWagner]

This "Ginger prejudice" is one of those things that looking in from the outside is completely incomprehensible.

 

[Amy Jeanne]

I've never been prejudiced against or made fun of for having red hair. Nothing but compliments my whole life. People have actually asked me what "hair dye" I use when it was natural. Or if I wore a "wig." lol

 

[Fleur De Guerre]

It's definitely a UK thing. Redheads are admired in the US, mercilessly teased here.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Why is that, I wonder? Is there some cultural trope that hasn't made the Atlantic jump? I grew up with some pretty merciless kids, and if there was anything for them to razz about anyone, they'd find it -- but I can't think of a single case of a redheaded kid being picked on for redheadedness. We tend to associate it with wholesome/cute/Norman Rockwell/Huck Finn type kids here, not anything that would be likely to set off bullies.

 

[Red Diabla]

Why is that, I wonder? Is there some cultural trope that hasn't made the Atlantic jump? I grew up with some pretty merciless kids, and if there was anything for them to razz about anyone, they'd find it -- but I can't think of a single case of a redheaded kid being picked on for redheadedness. We tend to associate it with wholesome/cute/Norman Rockwell/Huck Finn type kids here, not anything that would be likely to set off bullies.

Eh, I definitely got razzed for being a redhead as a child out here in California. It was NOTHING compared to the horror stories I hear coming out of the UK, though.

Speaking of, I'm going to London for the first time later this month...I wonder if adult redheads get grief for our hair color in the UK, too?!

RD

 

[PADDY]

Might be an anti-Celt thing with the English (Scots, Irish, Welsh are 'often' portrayed as Gingers by the English). Me personally? I LOVE redheads. I think it's a gift

 

[LizzieMaine]

Ah -- that explains why it *isn't* a common thing around where I live -- we're very heavily Celtic in ancestry here. The toughest kids on my block were named O'Brien, which suggests the Irish had little to fear in my neighborhood.

 

[Fleur De Guerre]

Eh, I definitely got razzed for being a redhead as a child out here in California. It was NOTHING compared to the horror stories I hear coming out of the UK, though.

Speaking of, I'm going to London for the first time later this month...I wonder if adult redheads get grief for our hair color in the UK, too?!

RD

No, no worries. None of the natural redheads I know get stick in London. One of my friends even dyes her hair a very natural ginger/red, and gets admiring remarks (if any).

I have no idea where the ginger-bashing comes from, but it seems to be pretty universal.

 

[Geiamama]

They are beautiful. I prayed and prayed and prayed and finally we got our precious red headed grandson.

Goodbye everyone!

Thank you :love: and congrats on your grandson arty:

 

[Geiamama]

Might be an anti-Celt thing with the English (Scots, Irish, Welsh are 'often' portrayed as Gingers by the English). Me personally? I LOVE redheads. I think it's a gift

Ah well that might explain a bit. I am Welsh and my husband is of Scottish ancestry so that's probably where my girls get it from.
I whole-heartedly agree with it being a gift. I may be biased but hair that looks like spun copper when the sun hits it could ONLY be a blessing.

 

[MikeBravo]

Interesting note

Anybody with red hair in Australia gets the nickname "Blue" or "Bluey". Don't ask me why

There is also a "Redheads" brand of matches in Australia, the old and new box pictures below

She's hot, especially on the right

 

[Wesley Milton Dagwell III]

The history of redhead bullying is one thing - but I get the impression that much of it today is a recent cultural invention. Like a new joke that people saw on TV and wanted to be in on.

 

[Red Diabla]

The history of redhead bullying is one thing - but I get the impression that much of it today is a recent cultural invention. Like a new joke that people saw on TV and wanted to be in on.

I know that Southpark made fun of people making fun of redheads with the whole "Gingers have no soul" tagline(which my fellow redheads and I have a lot of laughs about). I don't know when the current round of uberbullying started with redheads, but this round does seem to be fairly new.

RD

 

[Wire9Vintage]

Of course, when wanting to find them, I can't find two articles to add to this discussion. I remember them because my daughter is the only red-head in the living generations of our family (a great aunt had red hair, and we think a great grandfather did...). Always: "Where'd she get that red hair?" If she were adopted, or from another marriage, or what-have-you... this would be a difficult question to deal with. THINK, people, THINK!

Anway, back to my subject. I remember reading two articles over the years, one: that people with red hair inspire comment like no other (brunettes, when's the last time someone commented on your hair color? blondes? greys?). Having red hair (and there are many, many shades of red hair! the redder, the "worser") seems to "allow" people to comment, whether nice or nasty. Other people simply don't have to put up with it.

The other article was a scientific study that was to determine which country actually had the most red-haired people (again! which country has the most brunettes or blondes? who cares??). It was England! Not Scotland and not Ireland like most would imagine.

It's all just really weird, isn't it. I think because red hair is rarer than other hair colors and because it is so beautiful, it simply inspires jealousy. And jealousy can be nasty.

 

[Geiamama]

Always: "Where'd she get that red hair?" If she were adopted, or from another marriage, or what-have-you... this would be a difficult question to deal with. THINK, people, THINK!

Tell me about it! If I have to hear one more "must come from the milkman" jokes, I may snap! Especially when the are in front of my husband AND my children!

 

[Berlin]

My mother is a redhead, and so are her brothers and sister and my grandma,too.

In the Netherlands, gingers are very popular, but only the last few years.
My mum has been bullied terribly at school (circa the '60s). Every single day, and it still effects her. She dye's her hair brown cause she's ashamed of her red hair. The brown makes her face looks harder which I think is a pity, and she looks at me if am insane when I said I want red hair myself.
But I only inherited her freckles.

It's a shame that people are getting discriminated because of their haircolor...