Ginger or unemployed?

[afu]

Someone I know posted this on facebook (she has red hair herself, natural) and i immediatly thought of LHC...

http://www.vice.com/en_uk/read/question-of-the-day---would-you-rather-be-ginger-or-unemployed

I guess this is just another example of the attitude towards red hair in the UK

[HylianGirl]

Wow, I had no idea it was that bad.... ginger hair is so beautiful, and in my country it is rare and admired. Where does this hate come from?

[Madora]

I can't believe how people can be so dense. I'd rather be employed than worrying about my hair color!

[vanillabones]

Wow that's pretty strong. I wish I had red hair - it's beautiful. I know I would get a lot of jokes though. I wouldn't care much because I'd like it.

[Bagginslover]

Good to see some of the people who were asked the question thoight it was stupid too!

[afu]

I know, it's horrid/weird isn't it. We have a lot of Irish and red hair in our family, my youngest sister has naturally dark strawberry-blonde hair but dies it bright un-natural red. She used to get teased for her natural colour but she doesnt get teased for this super bright tomato red that comes out of a box.

I love red, i wish i could henna but it wouldn't go to the colour i prefer on my hair colour

[Anywhere]

I cant believe some people actually picked unemployed.

[hermosamendoza]

I had no idea the prejudice was against gingers in the UK!!!

[Anje]

People are horrible.

And what's that stuff about gingers having no soul? Don't they know that we earn a freckle for every soul we steal?

[jacqueline101]

Its silly to judge someone by their hair.

[redlocks]

I usually just read around the LHC forums but this time I have to say that not only UK is prejudiced. Even in my tiny country of Lithuania ginger is considered to be something sinister and terrible and a lot of people here would also choose unemployement. I've had ginger hair since I was little and got my share of nasty ginger jokes, especially in high school. The worst part was that I also wore glasses, which made my life even more difficult that it already was going through puberty.
So yes, I agree that the question itself is very, very wrong.

[Chimom79]

Red hair is so, SO beautiful! I don't get how there can be so much dislike of it.

[koala]

I think most of the people were joking. The question was silly and lighthearted. I was expecting something about gingers being discriminated against by employers, not people answering a ginger joke with more joking about gingers.

[Merlin]

Frankly, there isn't any issue in the UK for redheads - Mrs M has never had any trouble with her hair colour in any way, and we have never had an incident in any school in which I've worked where redheaded kids had any grief with their peers for being redheads per se.

[mrs_coffee]

I had never even heard the term "ginger" before South Park.

[metricfuture]

Hmmmm... I must have had to make that decision in a former life. I've been employed pretty much non-stop since I was 14, and I'm a redhead. :)

[Lostsoule77]

I think red hair is the prettiest, natural, hair color. I remember admiring the girls in H.S. who had it. Every time, save once, that I died my hair it was died red. I don't understand how anyone can make fun of it instead of cherishing it for the rare thing it is.

[Milui Elenath]

I am sometimes shocked at the amount of bigotry in the world. Substitute ginger hair for a skin colour, a sexual preference, a religious group or another minority group and this would not be considered a light hearted joke, it would be (hopefully) called what it is bigotry and hate speech disguised as funny. :( :steam

As an auburn hair with a very ginger friend I have to say I've rarely encountered comments even when we were younger. The occasional ones usually come from the elderly generation - about tempers - yeah do you really want to upset me then? :D

[terylenerose]

I'd actually have a hard time answering that question, because the two choices both sound fine to me (at least, provided I could come up with some other way of providing food). But then, I'm not everyone else in the world, and it doesn't seem right to pick "unemployed" if you think that is bad.
In fact, a girl at my school is red-haired, freckled and all that and, when questioned on it, she insists that "gingers don't have souls". I always found that very strange.

[brave]

and both have featured in various Channel 4 self-improvement shows.
How am I supposed to self-improve my gingerness?

It seems like the ginger prejudice thing is more of a running joke than anything to me. But I've never been teased for my hair, not in a cruel way. It seems like it's a safer replacement for racial humor or something.

[barely.there]

I'd rather be a ginger. ginger ladies are so beautiful.

[HintOfMint]

Where I grew up (California mostly), red hair was seen as the ideal actually. Every dude wanted a leggy redhead and every girl tried red at least once in their lifetime and loved it.

ETA: not sure how it was for dudes, although I was acquainted with a pale ginger dude and thought he was hot (kind of an A-hole though).

[Maybe]

I think it is harder for male redheads.

My son is 8.5 and strawberry blond. His hair is absolutely gorgeous, as is he.

We have already gotten the commentary about gingers having no soul.

[Kelli Kat]

One of my sons is ginger and the other is a daywalker (yes that is a South Park joke (red hair, no freckles)) and they've never had any problems with it.

[TheMechaGinger]

This is hilarious! I visited the UK when I was 17 and saw lots of gingers around. I had no idea people disliked them so much over there. I hardly see that in the US

[Seeshami]

This is one of the reasons I stopped using henna. I was so tired of having to defend my hair color every single day.

[ladycaladium]

People are horrible.

And what's that stuff about gingers having no soul? Don't they know that we earn a freckle for every soul we steal?

If that is the case, I've stolen a lot of souls! I'm not ginger ginger but I do have a lot of freckles.

[Bagginslover]

A good male friend of mine is ginger, and he says he was bullied terribly for it all through school.
In the school I work in, I do hear the odd comment directed at the ginger haired students, and one of the commenters once even asked me why I dyed my hair to a 'freak' colour! (his word, not mine, he was dealt with!)
I have loved ginger hair ever since I can remember, and further back than that according to my Mum, and have tried to get the illusive colour through box dyes from the moment I was allowed to try.
I really don't understand the stigma this coutry has against ginger hair, I adore it!

[redsonjared]

Frankly, there isn't any issue in the UK for redheads - Mrs M has never had any trouble with her hair colour in any way, and we have never had an incident in any school in which I've worked where redheaded kids had any grief with their peers for being redheads per se.

I agree with Merlin. This is all just media hype, I've been a redhead for nearly 50 years in the UK and yes, whilst I got teased at school about it (who doesn't get teased about something at school for goodness sake!) that is it, there is no mass prejudice against redheads in the UK. All the comments I get about my hair colour are about how fabulous it is!

[clanless]

UK has a bunch of problems, ginger hate is one of the ridiculous ones.

[Bagginslover]

I agree with Merlin. This is all just media hype, I've been a redhead for nearly 50 years in the UK and yes, whilst I got teased at school about it (who doesn't get teased about something at school for goodness sake!) that is it, there is no mass prejudice against redheads in the UK. All the comments I get about my hair colour are about how fabulous it is!
Its not *just* media hype, as I posted right before you, a friend of mine was bullied terribly for his hair colour, and some of the students at my school are too (which is contrary to Merlins observations at his school. I'd say it was regional, but I know Merlin and I are local to each other ;) )
The media may hype it up, but it is a real predjudice sadly.

[Panth]

Frankly, there isn't any issue in the UK for redheads - Mrs M has never had any trouble with her hair colour in any way, and we have never had an incident in any school in which I've worked where redheaded kids had any grief with their peers for being redheads per se.

I agree with Merlin. This is all just media hype, I've been a redhead for nearly 50 years in the UK and yes, whilst I got teased at school about it (who doesn't get teased about something at school for goodness sake!) that is it, there is no mass prejudice against redheads in the UK. All the comments I get about my hair colour are about how fabulous it is!

Its not *just* media hype, as I posted right before you, a friend of mine was bullied terribly for his hair colour, and some of the students at my school are too (which is contrary to Merlins observations at his school. I'd say it was regional, but I know Merlin and I are local to each other ;) )
The media may hype it up, but it is a real predjudice sadly.

It *is* just media hype. School bullies target other children for hundreds of reasons - just to consider hair colour, if you're dark blonde you might get 'dishwater'/'dirty' blonde comments, if you're pale blonde you might get called albino, if you're black haired you might get goth/Addams family/emo comments, if you're brown haired then it could be ':poop: brown'.

Then of course, there's the old standbys of being tall, short, the oldest in the class, the youngest in the class, smarter, stupider, unpopular, too popular ... or, in fact, anything whatsoever.

[Toadstool]

merlin. I'm surprised you say that. In my school in the eighties, people were bullied terribly for being ginger. And i hear a lot of comments about it today. When I saw the link Afu posted, I actually thought "Great. Now other countries will learn what it's like in the UK."

[MonaMayfair]

merlin. I'm surprised you say that. In my school in the eighties, people were bullied terribly for being ginger. And i hear a lot of comments about it today. When I saw the link Afu posted, I actually thought "Great. Now other countries will learn what it's like in the UK."

Thankyou! I said something about this on another thread, about lots of people hating red hair in the UK, and I got a snotty comment from someone saying I was being harsh or whatever, XD
It IS different in the US mostly...
It's a bit like a thread I posted on this morning, about people disliking long hair, some people can't seem to accept accept that not everyone likes what they like and admire.

I've always spent about 50% of my time in the UK (London) and I've constantly heard rude comments about ginger hair in the media (only about natural red hair though)
A lot of people seem to dye their hair darker red, like burgundy shades, NOT "ginger"

it didn't stop me liking red hair my whole life, most of my mother's family are redheads and I always wanted it, which is why I started using henna. I never got any negative comments except for people asking why on earth I'd cover my real hair color (blonde)

[1nuitblanche]

It boggles my mind that this is even a question. Seriously, why would you want to be jobless (which kind of equates to being helpless) instead of having a hair colour that some people randomly decide to dislike?

[MonaMayfair]

It boggles my mind that this is even a question. Seriously, why would you want to be jobless (which kind of equates to being helpless) instead of having a hair colour that some people randomly decide to dislike?

It was just a question because someone thought it would be amusing, and they needed to fill some space on the website!

[sakuraemily]

What nonsense! How can anyone compare the two?
I like the opticians answer. He seems to be the most open-minded.

[redsonjared]

It *is* just media hype. School bullies target other children for hundreds of reasons - just to consider hair colour, if you're dark blonde you might get 'dishwater'/'dirty' blonde comments, if you're pale blonde you might get called albino, if you're black haired you might get goth/Addams family/emo comments, if you're brown haired then it could be ':poop: brown'.

Then of course, there's the old standbys of being tall, short, the oldest in the class, the youngest in the class, smarter, stupider, unpopular, too popular ... or, in fact, anything whatsoever.

Panth is quite correct - you get bullied for anything "different". The way the media report things I should not be able to go out without a pitchfork and firebrand waving mob chasing me saying "she's a witch, she's a witch" or some such thing.


Its not *just* media hype, as I posted right before you, a friend of mine was bullied terribly for his hair colour, and some of the students at my school are too (which is contrary to Merlins observations at his school. I'd say it was regional, but I know Merlin and I are local to each other ;) )
The media may hype it up, but it is a real predjudice sadly.

merlin. I'm surprised you say that. In my school in the eighties, people were bullied terribly for being ginger. And i hear a lot of comments about it today. When I saw the link Afu posted, I actually thought "Great. Now other countries will learn what it's like in the UK."

Bagginslover and Toadstool - that is not to say that I am discounting the terrible impact that being bullied has on people. It's just that this supposed "hatred" of red heads in the UK is a myth.

[mrs_coffee]

One of my sons is ginger and the other is a daywalker (yes that is a South Park joke (red hair, no freckles)) and they've never had any problems with it.

My son calls his older sister a daywalker all the time. They both think it's hilarious. I should add that Emma has waist-length red hair and has never once been teased for it. The most frequent reaction she gets is that people wish they had hair like hers.

[holothuroidea]

That article was horrible. Was it supposed to be funny?

It was disparaging to both red haired people and the "unemployed," and without an ounce of cleverness. I mean really, it's so sad to rely on bringing others down to make yourself appear humorous.

The author couldn't even construct the article or write properly. The only joke here is on them, and not the funny-ha-ha kind.

[cwarren]

I never knew having red hair was a problem (outside of South Park).

Everywhere I go, either men and women walk around with their natural shades of red hair or non-redheads are looking to buy red hair from a box.

[Panth]

Panth is quite correct - you get bullied for anything "different". The way the media report things I should not be able to go out without a pitchfork and firebrand waving mob chasing me saying "she's a witch, she's a witch" or some such thing.

Unfortunately, this is not quite right. You don't have to even have anything 'different'. You just have to be someone. It's not about what you are like, it's about what the bully is like. That is the only common factor.

However, I very much agree with this:


Bagginslover and Toadstool - that is not to say that I am discounting the terrible impact that being bullied has on people. It's just that this supposed "hatred" of red heads in the UK is a myth.

[PrincessIdril]

I agree with Merlin. This is all just media hype, I've been a redhead for nearly 50 years in the UK and yes, whilst I got teased at school about it (who doesn't get teased about something at school for goodness sake!) that is it, there is no mass prejudice against redheads in the UK. All the comments I get about my hair colour are about how fabulous it is!

This. My town has a really high Scottish population, which means there is a reasonable amount of red hair around and I never saw people being bullied for it. This idea of "ginger hate" in the UK is one that has been pretty much created by the media.
Yes some people with red hair have been bullied, but you know what? So have people with blonde, brown, black .etc hair! If someone wants to bully you they'll figure out something.

What always annoys me is, I always see discussions about why "ginger hate" is bad buy no one ever stands up for blondes and says that dumb blonde "jokes" are not ok either!

[Kat]

Probably all the people who said "unemployed" never have been and never have been close to someone who was.

Of course, I think of "red hair" and "Ronald McDonald" red like they tell one guy as two different things. The latter is NOT natural but fire-engine red (and would probably keep you unemployed anyway).


I've always wanted to be a redhead too, ever since I was a little kid. I wish I had the huevos to henna my hair-- I did some hair that I saved out of my brush once and it came out a gorgeous Irish-setter red, just the color I'd want. I just can't be certain I'd want to dye my hair for the rest of my life-- and bleach, buzzing my head, or growing out very-obviously-two-tone hair for years aren't really acceptable options to me.


I love red hair. I know a girl who has THE hair from the girl in the movie Brave. I laughed my head off when that movie came out because I immediately thought of her, and judging from her Facebook page, so did everyone else she knows. :) She's gorgeous.


But then, I have never seen this in the U.S. Ever. At all. My entire life. In the UK, is it related to some sort of old Britain/Ireland rivalry or something??

[truepeacenik]

People are horrible.

And what's that stuff about gingers having no soul? Don't they know that we earn a freckle for every soul we steal?

:misskim:

Even with better sunscreen habits I have freckles. They are sneaker than when I was young, but they are present.

What I greatly dislike is the f3tishizing of reds.
I have a dear friend who was born in HK and he was set up on blind date after blind date with women who were into him only for his ethnicity.
We have had long, interesting convos about people lusting after you for a visual cue only.
Lust after our brains, maybe?

I tire of the leering request to prove my red. I flash my armpits.:D

[Toadstool]

So, some people experience it as a myth. But in my experience, which is equally valid, I have all my life seen people being bullied, denigrated and put down for having red hair.
Just because some of you haven't seen this prejudice doesn't render it "media hype".

[Merlin]

(which is contrary to Merlins observations at his school. I'd say it was regional, but I know Merlin and I are local to each other ;) )
.

But then again our students are all local while yours are not so maybe it is geographical?

Or perhaps when mummy and daddy pay so much they feel it entitles to be rude about other people more :p

[Bagginslover]

But then again our students are all local while yours are not so maybe it is geographical?

Or perhaps when mummy and daddy pay so much they feel it entitles to be rude about other people more :p

It seems to be the British kids, 90% of the overseas students are in different classes ;)
You are right about money=rudeness in a lot of cases though, some of the things I've heard them say, to staff and their peers, followed buy 'my parents pay xxx I can do what I want' are just shocking!

I don't think the anti-ginger thing is soley a UK issue however. One of my colleagues is Indian, and apparently in her culture, a ginger person in shunned and is an embarrassment to the family. Having been brought up in the UK, she doesn't think that way, but her parents generation do, and her ginger cousin has had lots of problems.

[Masara]

I grew up in the UK. One of my friends was teased because he had red hair. Another was teased because she was very overweight. Another because of acne. I was teased because I was very thin. Then there were those who suffered comments about glasses or braces on their teeth...

Sadly, a lot of people ( not just children) are unkind. They search out what makes people different and they use it to hurt them.

Strangely enough, I had several red headed friends at school and only one was teased for it. No-one said anything to the others. I think that if it hadn't been his hair, the bullies would have found something else.

Now, 30 years later and in a different country, I have pupils who won't wear glasses because they don't want to be teased, I hear comments about curly hair, about straight hair, about height, weight, clothes ..... Every year, at least one parent will come in and say their child is upset because the others are making rude comments about them being shorter than average (mainly 12 year old boys who haven't had their growth spurt yet) It is a problem and these kids suffer, but I'm not going to start saying that France has an "anti small people" problem.

[Panth]

So, some people experience it as a myth. But in my experience, which is equally valid, I have all my life seen people being bullied, denigrated and put down for having red hair.
Just because some of you haven't seen this prejudice doesn't render it "media hype".

Yeah, and loads of people I know have been bullied throughout school (and sometimes beyond) for being 'geeky'.

Bullies will be bullies.

You know people where the reason given for targeting is having red hair. I know people where the reason given is dressing goth, or loving computers or still having an active imagination after puberty. It doesn't mean there is a nation-wide prejudice against any of these people. That is the point I am arguing.

Never mind anything else, bullies at school do not constitute the entire nation. There is a very big difference between 'being ginger is one reason a school bully might target people' (my argument), 'loads of ginger get bullied at school' (your argument (?)) and 'all gingers get prejudicial treatment in all areas of the UK in all walks of life at all ages' (the argument if there is a 'national prejudice').

[MonaMayfair]

So, some people experience it as a myth. But in my experience, which is equally valid, I have all my life seen people being bullied, denigrated and put down for having red hair.
Just because some of you haven't seen this prejudice doesn't render it "media hype".

Ha! That's what I was thinking as I read on through this thread.
I still stick by what I said earlier, BUT people keep mentioning this word "bullying" which wasn't what I was referring to. I said that a lot of people in the UK dislike (very loudly) "ginger" hair, and there's a LOT of jokes and insults in the media.

I don't call any of that bullying, in fact I get irritated by that way that word is thrown about, it seems just in the last few years.
At school you do get teased if you're ginger, blonde, unattractive, too good looking, tall, short, thin, fat, have an unusual name (or even a normal name that rhymes with something) etc. That's not bullying in most cases, it's teasing and we all do it to each other.

Although I can think of a couple of UK cases of redheads that say they WERE very much bullied at school because of their hair color. One is the very cool and gorgeous Shirley Manson (lead singer of Garbage) and the other is Karen Gillan from Dr Who (both from Scotland)

[Bagginslover]

Many mothers I know say that if their child had been born ginger, they would have dyed it from birth. That sounds pretty anti-ginger to me

[MonaMayfair]

Many mothers I know say that if their child had been born ginger, they would have dyed it from birth. That sounds pretty anti-ginger to me

Oh I've heard that too; and people practically praying that their babies wouldn't be born with red hair.
I was born with ginger hair myself, but it turned to blonde with a few weeks. I don't think my mom would have dyed it since she has red hair herself!

[Lunadriael]

I come from the UK and I have a couple of friends with very bright ginger hair, and a lot of people love it (including me) and give them compliments regularly.

They both get the 'gingers have no soul' comments, etc. as well, but they seem to be playing with it themselves and find it funny. I'll often see posts on facebook where they're laughing about it; it's usually their friends making the jokes with them. I never saw the friend I went to school with get bullied or teased about her hair during her younger years at all. So it probably depends on your background. You tend to learn hate from others around you. The actual article seemed quite tongue-in-cheek, and most of the reactions weren't demonstrative of ginger hatred.

Plus lots of people will dye their hair ginger or a darker red here, and it tends to be their favourite colour.

There are some who hate or bully those the ginger haired, but it's definitely not everyone. There's also a lot of men who are lusting specifically after celebrities/women with that colour.

I think hate is just confined to the closed-minded or the jealous, and as other people said, it's not only related to one hair colour or appearance. People get comments about all kinds of things. Anything they can use to make them feel they own you better. It only works if you let them get to you. ^^

[joflakes]

What aholes. Ginger hair is beautiful and rare and should be savoured! I've dyed my hair ginger many a time and am currently red and get nothing but compliments when I sport either/or. Fools that made that article. Judgemental fools!